Page images
PDF
EPUB

URBAN AFFAIRS AND ADULT EDUCATION

CHAPTER I

ADULT EDUCATION AND EMERGING URBAN PROBLEMS

In recent years, educators have turned their attention increasingly toward population trends and the educational problems arising therefrom. The educational administrator is especially concerned with population growth and movement since any demographic changes, whether in the city or country, inevitably affect the educational institutions of the areas. Already the educational consequences of population growth and movement are quite apparent in the inadequate number of schoolrooms and other facilities throughout the Nation. The future pattern and growth in urban life will doubtless affect educational planning even more profoundly.

A historical view of American society since World War I shows changing patterns in the rising tempo of population, urbanization, technology, economic conditions, international relations, and educational development. This has been the era of greatest expansion and innovation in adult education.

As urban communities expand, new problems which did not exist at the turn of the century are created. The mobility of the American people creates new communities overnight in some areas and drains from others potential leaders which they need so desperately. It has been predicted that, within a few years, the majority of Americans will be living in 1 of 15 great, sprawling supercities which are urban regions involving not only cities but their suburbs and neighboring

towns.

IMPACT ON EDUCATION

This vast concentration of population in the urban and suburban areas of our cities has created educational problems far beyond the existing ability of most educational units to handle. The areas are faced with decisions for making wise land use for school facilities, and in developing a sound tax structure to support the needed educational programs and services.

Our growing urban civilization is characterized by rapid technological change and complex community institutions and services which create need for particular knowledges, skills, and understanding on the part of those who make up the urban society. Since adult migrants and their families add to the growth, size, and complexity of our cities, their needs in turn have their impact upon the educational patterns and facilities in schools for children as well as youth and adult programs.

The unique task of adult education is to help old residents and newcomers in the city understand the basis of order and security in a world

of rapid change. It should assist them in constructing realistic goals, discovering the community resources available to them, and in solving their problems with a minimum of difficulty.

From the various research studies which have been made, it is known the education of migrants will be less than that of urban adults of the same age. Generally, the adult migrant will manifest all of the inadequacies of too little formal education. Therefore, ways must be found to convince such adults of their need for education. It is safe to conclude that the most of the migrant's education through the schools has been serving the rather minimal needs for the 3-R's in a family centered, low-productivity economy.

The newcomers to the city consist of heterogeneous groups. They are made up of various age levels. There are varying proportions of males and females, and of single, married, divorced, and widowed perEach of these classes, in turn, consists of persons of more or less intellectual endowment and educational achievement at various stages of the educational ladder.

sons.

SOCIAL DYNAMITE IN OUR CITIES

Dr. James B. Conant in an address delivered before the Conference on Unemployed Out-of-School Youth in Urban Areas, sponsored by the National Committee for Children and Youth in Washington, May 24, 1961, reported on a series of studies which were conducted in several slum areas of large cities to find out what the facts really were. In a slum section composed almost entirely of Negroes in one of our largest cities, the following situation was found. A total of 59 percent of the male youth between the ages of 16 and 21 were out of school and unemployed. They were roaming the streets. Of the boys who graduated from high school, 48 percent were unemployed in contrast to 63 percent of the boys who had dropped out of school. In short, two-thirds of the male dropouts did not have jobs and about half of the high school graduates did not have jobs. It seems clear that, in such situations, students may well ask why bother to stay in school when graduation for half the boys opens onto a dead-end

street?

Conant found an even worse state of affairs in another special study in a different city. In a slum area of 125,000 people, mostly Negro, a sampling of youth population showed that roughly 70 percent of the boys and girls, ages 16 to 21, are out of school and unemployed.

In the U.S. outlying areas under U.S. sovereignty or jurisdictionPuerto Rico, American Samoa, Canal Zone, Guam, and the Virgin Islands there are 516,000 persons 25 years of age and older with less than 5 years of school completed. The rate varies from 6 percent in the Canal Zone to 20 to 24 percent in American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, and Guam to 55 percent in Puerto Rico.

DISTRIBUTION OF FUNCTIONAL ILLITERACY AMONG THE STATES

The problem of limited educational attainment is not, however, limited to particular areas or population groups. Rather it is national in scope. In New York State the number of adults with less than 5 years of schooling is nearly 800,000. In Illinois there are 365,000 and in California, 505,000. The corresponding numbers in

Kentucky, Michigan, New Jersey, and Ohio exceed 200,000, while in Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, Oklahoma, West Virginia, and Wisconsin the numbers range from 100,000 to 200,000.

CONSEQUENCES OF LIMITED EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT

Lack of schooling results in lower earning capacity, higher rates of unemployment, more dependence on public aid, and higher rejections for military service.

1. Occupation and earnings

A direct relationship exists between an adult's educational attainment, his occupation, and, consequently, his earnings. The amount of formal schooling a person has received is a major determinant of his occupational group.

Among men 18 years old and over in 1958, 60 percent of the college graduates were in professional and technical fields, and about 20 percent were managers, officials, or proprietors. Among men who completed high school, but did not go beyond, a majority were found in three occupation groups craftsmen; operatives; and managers, officials, or proprietors. Those with some high school, but lacking 4 complete years, and men who finished elementary school, but who did not go on to high school, were most likely to have become operatives or craftsmen. Those with lesser amounts of education were most usually found-when employed at all-in farm, service, and unskilled laboring jobs.

Of all employed men, as of 1957, in the age group 35-54 who had completed less than 8 years of elementary school, 92 percent earned less than $6,000 per year. In contrast, 65 percent of high school graduates and only 29 percent of college graduates had income below this level.

Employed workers with an eighth grade education or less have 65 percent of the incomes beyond $1,000 and $1,500, and 61 percent of the incomes between $1,500 and $2,500.

2. Unemployment and underemployment

Unskilled workers have the highest rates of unemployment and the lowest average level of education. A Department of Labor study for March 1959 showed an unemployment rate of 10 percent for workers with under 5 years completed, a rate of 9.8 percent for those with 5 to 7 years schooling, 4.8 percent for high school graduates and 1.8 percent for college graduates.

The rate of unemployment among proprietors, managers, professional, and technical personnel was slightly over 1 percent. Clerical and sales workers were unemployed at rates of approximately 3 and 4 percent, respectively. But semiskilled workers were out of work at the rate of 72 percent and unskilled workers at the rate of about 13 percent.

3. Public assistance

Recipients of public assistance are more likely to be persons of low educational attainment. A 1957 study in New York, for example, revealed that almost a fifth of the mothers on the aid to dependent children rolls had not gone beyond the fifth grade. This study further showed that, among families receiving general assistance, half the

family heads had completed no more than 6 years of schooling. Illinois reported in 1960 that a fifth of their ADC mothers had not gone beyond the sixth grade. In Louisiana, in 1954, half the ADC mothers and three-fourths of the fathers in the home had received only a fifth grade education or less.

4. Military service

In World War II, some 400,000 illiterates were accepted for military service. The Armed Forces provided these men with the educational fundamentals necessary for useful service. Another 300,000 illiterates equal to 20 army divisions were rejected completely.

During the Korean war over 19 percent of all recruits were rejected from military service on grounds of educational deficiencies. Experience showed that many of these men could learn, but overcoming their previous educational deprivations was costly and time consuming. Draft registrants rejected for "mental reasons," including educational deficiencies, ranged from 56 to 39 percent in the four highest States. Ten other States had rejection rates exceeding 21 percent.

From July 1950 to September 1961, over 900,000 draft registrants out of 6 million examined were rejected on the basis of a mental test alone. This number was almost as many as were disqualified on medical grounds. Low educational attainment was the largest single reason for rejection.

PROJECTED EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT OF THE POPULATION

Although lower educational attainment is most prevalent among older persons, the problem will continue for many decades. The Census Bureau estimates that by 1980 there will still be more than 5 million persons 25 years of age and older with less than 5 years of education completed if present trends continue.

URBAN RENEWAL AND REDEVELOPMENT

Here I wish to talk about the redevelopment of our cities and something called the bulldozer mentality-all very important for adult education. Two years ago I spoke at a conference called by the Federal Housing Administration on the role of education in urban renewal programs. What I said then was:

Sometimes a city does decide to rehabilitate itself and finds enough community support to move forward with a program. Too often, then, it settles for simply tearing everything down and rebuilding with poor conceived complexes that resemble rabbit warrens which may or may not solve a social or business problem, but theoretically should serve an economic and social purpose. It sometimes substitutes a sort of urban theatrical performance for a search of urban purpose. In theory, this way lies more tax receipts and solvency, and that's all that matters.

But is it?

I think not. Increasingly we must bring the adult education process to bear on our city planning if we are to succeed in passing on to future generations better cities than were handed down to us.

CULTURAL DEPRIVATION

The conditions existing in the blighted and slum areas of many of our urban cities suggest specific changes which our communities should

« PreviousContinue »