brought on largely by tension generated by frustrations in trying to resolve just exactly what your and Lister's bill would do. Parenthetically, on that trip I had lectured to the Armed Forces Staff College on national strategy. It was the eighth class before which I had appeared. I had to admit to these officers that progressively I had become less and less optimistic about chances of successful defense of this Nation. I no longer had confident answers to some of their burning questions.

I just plainly don't feel up to revising this letter now. Please forgive me. I've said what I have to say and perhaps a bit bluntly, but you remember when you used to be my assistant in history when I was assistant professor at the University of Alabama, I called them as I saw them then. I still do.

Despite the fact that this has been a long letter and should be revised, I consider it to be the most important letter I ever wrote. If the figures I suggest in title V are shocking to your colleagues, I trust they will remember their shock in realizing the significance of Sputniks I and II-The "Pearl Harbor of American education"-plus the shock they experienced when first they realized the significance of the hydrogen bomb-"one bomb, one city." I think H. R. 10381 is one of the most significant proposals every to be considered by the House, but its present provisions are inadequate to meet the current emergency. This is no time for congressional timidity.

Now, Mr. Chairman, as I have said, this gentleman had gone to a lot of trouble to prepare his statement and he was scheduled to deliver it and I thought out of consideration for the conditions which exist that it was entitled to more than passing consideration.

I thank you very much for letting me read it.

(Whereupon, the subcommittee proceeded to other business.)

SCHOLARSHIP AND LOAN PROGRAM

TUESDAY, MARCH 18, 1958

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

SUBCOMMITTEE ON SPECIAL EDUCATION

AND SUBCOMMITTEE ON GENERAL EDUCATION,

COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND LABOR,
Washington, D. C.

The subcommittees met, pursuant to recess, at 10:15 o'clock a. m., in room G-53, United States Capitol Building, Hon. Carl Elliott presiding.

Present: Subcommittee on Special Education: Representatives Elliott (chairman), McGovern, Wainwright, and Nicholson.

Subcommittee on General Education: Representatives Bailey, Thompson, and Frelinghuysen.

Staff members present: Fred G. Hussey, chief clerk, John O. Graham, minority clerk, Charles Ryan, general counsel, Kennedy W. Ward, assistant general counsel, Russell C. Derrickson, chief investigator, and Mary P. Allen, clerk (Subcommittee on Special Education).

Mr. ELLIOTT. The subcommittees will be in order.

Today our first witness is Dr. Ruth Stout of Topeka, Kans. Dr. Stout is vice president of the National Education Association, and is at present director of field problems for the Kansas State Teachers Association.

Miss Stout received her A. B. and M. A. degrees from the University of Kansas. She received her doctorate from the University of Minnesota, and has done additional graduate work at Columbia, Northwestern, and the University of Chicago.

May I say to you, Dr. Stout, that we are happy to have you here this morning.

We have arrived at the stage that comes every year in Washington, when we have more committees than we have room, so we meet practically wherever we can find a place. We are fortunate, maybe, that I happen to be a member of the Committee on House Administration which meets in this room, and we usually can get this one if we have trouble meeting elsewhere.

The point I want to make with you, Dr. Stout, is that we are happy to have you, and that you may proceed to give us your testimony in any manner that you see fit to do.

We are happy to have the people who accompany you here today. We have from my hometown Mr. G. T. Patrick, who is superintendent of schools of Jasper, Ala. We are happy to have him here.

Dr. Raymond Christian, superintendent at Madison County, Huntsville, Ala.

We have here Walter McKee, superintendent at Montgomery, Ala., and Mr. R. J. Browder, of Gadsden, Ala.

As I understand, there will be some other members of the Alabama group who will be here perhaps later.

Miss STOUT. Thank you, Congressman Elliott.

STATEMENT OF RUTH STOUT, VICE PRESIDENT, NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION

Miss STOUT. With your permission, I would like to introduce into the testimony a speech made by Dr. Corey, who should be making this presentation, were he not ill. He made a speech last week in San Francisco before the regional meeting of the American Association of School Administrators. We have only the one copy, if I may give it to Miss Allen. Perhaps we can get copies for you later.

Mr. ELLIOTT. Let me say at this point, Dr. Stout, that Dr. Corey's statement will be made a part of the record.

Miss STOUT. This is in addition to the testimony which he prepared. Mr. ELLIOTT. This speech will be made a part of the record immediately after all testimony by you has been finished.

Miss STOUT. Thank you.

We do have copies of the testimony which Dr. Corey would have presented. I shall read parts of that comment and on other parts, in order to cut down on the time just a little bit.

As you already know, of course, I represent the National Education Association, which is a voluntary professional organization of over 700,000 active members, a majority of all the teachers in the Nation. We believe that the Federal Government has a responsibility with the States and local communities to support public education.

For many years representatives of our organization have appeared before this committee and similar committees to present this viewpoint. In addition, during the past few years we have also appeared in support of many emergency programs.

We have consistently held that the schools of our Nation are faced with such critical problems that action by the Congress of the United States is imperative. Unfortunately, to date, the Congress has not seen fit to take any action on any major proposal.

Opponents of Federal support have insisted that the crisis in education is a figment of the imagination of the educator who is primarily interested in a Federal bureaucracy. These critics point out that, although the Congress has not taken action, the schools are still operating and, although there has been no Federal program for building construction, schools are still being built.

They fail to point out that though schools are still operating, over 800,000 children are on half-day sessions and though buildings are being built there is still a shortage of 140,400 classrooms to house our growing school population adequately. This means an educational loss for our children that cannot be measured in immediate terms. The education a child loses today will be reflected in the economy of tomorrow.

I might interpolate and say that not only is there a schoolroom shortage in many areas of the country but in the area that I come from, in the Midwest, there is a great shortage of qualified teachers

who we are not able to secure because we are not able to pay them salaries high enough to keep them in the profession.

Fortunately, however, these events have awakened a lethargic populace into taking a critical look at, and a renewed interest in, our schools, although we are certainly vulnerable. Many people are now interested in the problems of the schools and in correcting the shortcomings.

It is now recognized that it couldn't have happened overnight— the shortcomings of today are the result of the problems of yesterday. The shibboleths of "progressive educators," "frills and fads," and "return to the fundamentals" will no longer be accepted by thinking people. People are now demanding basic facts. There is a growing realization that the professional educator has been predicting accurately although like a voice crying in the wilderness.

In 1951 the educational policies commission of the National Education Association stated:

Twice before, within living memories, major national crises have been allowed to undermine the schools, to create a legacy of neglect which continues to enfeeble and harass the schools today, to weaken the power of the Nation to withstand subsequent crises, and to injure beyond repair the educational opportunities of two generations of Americans.1

The satellite program of today which has emphasized the shortage of scientists and technicians has created an obvious national crisis. At the same time it has pointed up the fact that education is of national concern. The future of our Nation is so closely related to the public school that the Federal Government can no longer afford to ignore what is happening to the schools.

Education in our present-day complex industrial society cannot be treated solely as a local problem. It is directly related to the national welfare and must be of concern to the Congres of the United States.

Economic growth is related directly to education. No country has ever achieved high economic status without high educational status. The United States has led the world in education, and has led the world in productivity. The economic growth of the U. S. S. R. has followed closely on its emphasis upon education.

From the economic point of view education is an important kind of capital investment. The education of our youth is our most potent form of capital investment. Economists believe that money spent for public education probably increases the national productivity more than expenditures for any other single function of government.

We are all aware that economic growth is tied in very closely with educational opportunity. We have incontrovertible evidence that the communities that have the highest educational level also have the highest economic level. Economic growth cannot be maintained unless we increase the number of persons receiving education and the amount and quality of education they receive. It is possible that spending twice as much on our schools would, in the long run, increase our productivity.

The educational policies commission of the National Education Association has also pointed out that:

Continuous education for replacement of economic knowledge and skill is of supreme importance in a technological society. The length of the period of train

1 Educational policies commission, National Education Association, Moral and Spiritual Values in the Public Schools, Washington, D. C., the association, c. 1951.