I do not have available the figures, but I would venture to s at least half of our school districts are up to the legal limit o bonded indebtedness.

Mr. LAMBERT. The important point here is not the fact tha States and many local districts could do more, but it is a ques whether the Federal Government can escape the consequences not doing more.

Mr. THOMPSON. I was struck recently by a statement wh President made, quoting Abraham Lincoln, to the effect that I ception of the Federal Government's responsibility is to do States and the people that which they cannot do so well for selves. I have paraphrased President Eisenhower, who parap Abraham Lincoln.

Mr. BAILEY. Off the record.

(Discussion off the record.)

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. What would your answer be to your ow tion, Dr. Lambert? Do you think, if there has been a fail responsibility at the local and State levels that that automa creates an obligation of the Federal Government to step in and vacuum?

Mr. LAMBERT. I am saying that if they do not, the Federal G ment still does not escape the consequences.

I think we all know that national defense is going to be mo more a matter of brain power competition. We are seeing tha

now.

The question is: What happens if schools deteriorate? N defense is a responsibility of the Federal Government-and w now of the direct relationship between education and the ma development of brainpower in respect to the national defense p

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. That might, of course, lead us to a fa vigorous interest in the educational system than we have yet It is because of this vacuum I am very much concerned with w are doing. But I am still asking you the question, which you answer, and that is: If there has been a failure at the local and levels, does that automatically create an obligation on the part Federal Government to step in?

Of course, any consequences would be shared by the Natic might affect the national defense. But you did not answ question.

Mr. LAMBERT. I would answer your question "Yes."

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. And do you think in that stepping-in that we should try to insist that the local and State responsi are continued insofar as they can be?

Mr. LAMBERT. There is a maintenance of effort index in this 1 Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. No, not for the first 3 years of the prog Mr. LAMBERT. That is true. The reason I suppose the first were exempted was the fact that there will be some necessary ments. As Mr. Bailey knows, in the development of any new cial aid law at the State level, there is usually a period of adjus so that financial programs will not be thrown out of kilter in th ous local districts.

Mr. THOMPSON. Well, consideration has to be given to the fa many State legislatures meet only every 2 years, too.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Would there not be a downward adjustment of the State's responsibilities, or certainly no increase of State or local responsibilities if we do provide this massive dose of Federal dollars? Would it not be important to other levels of government to do as little as possible, and if the Federal Government is stepping in in a major way to help solve some of these financial problems, that that will relax the efforts being made somewhere else, unless we have some specific provisions, such as matching funds, which require a continued effort?

Mr. BAILEY. May the Chair at this point observe, gentelmen, that I, and, I am sure, the committee, are enjoying this interchange of views here. It is quite informative and quite interesting, but I am sure there will be a quorum call in the House within the next 5 minutes, and we are going to have to call an end to the hearings today. Doctor, do you have any material that you care to file beyond your formal statement?

Mr. ALEXANDER. Yes; I hope that certain sections of my written testimony, if not all of it, that I have not touched on, can be filed. I was going to talk about the need for additional services, such as libraries, counseling, and teachers of handicapped and gifted children, and also about the need for additional equipment. It seems to me that all of these things are required. But this can be filed and that will suffice.

(The written statement referred to is as follows:)

TEACHERS, CLASSROOMS, AND QUALITY INSTRUCTION-STAtement of DR. WILLIAM M. ALEXANDER, PROFESSOR OF EDUCATION, GEORGE PEABODY COLLEGE FOR TEACHERS, NASHVILLE, TENN., AND PRESIDENT-ELECT, ASSOCIATION FOR SUPERVISION AND CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT, NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION, WASHINGTON, D.C.

Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, during the past 25 years as a teacher, and a supervisor, and a trainer of teachers, I have seen great variations in the quality of instruction and curriculum available to our children and youth. At the upper extreme I have seen classrooms in which almost every known need for high quality has been met; I have also seen classrooms in which the reverse is true. Although there are variations in the quality of other professional services, low quality education has the longest lasting and most adverse effect on the citizens of our Nation. An untaught or mistaught youngster may result in a potential civic leader becoming a public liability and nuisance. In most professions, the incompetent, professional person may run out of clients, but under existing teacher shortages, the incompetent teacher is all too frequently kept in the classroom, thus plaguing the efforts of pupils to receive quality instruction. A poorly prepared and ineffective teacher may lose the opportunity of further schooling for his pupils.

Our first line of national defense sags at its most critical point. Quality education is being denied to millions of our young people. The lag between low level schooling and the high level ideals of our people must be decreased. Although money alone will not solve all the problems of providing quality education, many critical problems in education cannot be solved without adequate finances. Good schools exist only as certain essentials are provided them. These essentials, we know, are: (1) competent teeachers; (2) enough classrooms to maintain a full school day for classes small enough to permit effective teaching; (3) a well-rounded program of studies; (4) adequate special services, such as libraries, guidance, and education of exceptional children; (5) wellequipped classrooms in all curriculum fields.

THE NEED FOR COMPETENT TEACHERS

Mr. Chairman, I am sure the facts of the national shortage of qualified teachers are well known to all the members of this committee. In the postwar years school boards and school administrators throughout our Nation have been 37378-59-4

working incessantly to secure persons who meet even minimum qualifications for teaching. Although these qualifications have been increased in past years, they are still below training standards for professions requiring no more exacting skill and knowledge. Most educators are convinced that a fifth year of college training should be required of teachers; yet, 29 percent of our elementary school teachers today have not completed a fourth year of college.

The importance of competence on the part of each teacher is emphasized by the fact that the average elementary teacher who retires this year will probably have taught approximately 1,000 American citizens, and the average high school teacher about 5,000 persons. For a moment, let us examine the educational ill effects of only 100 ineffective high school teachers who retire. A half million American citizens might not have received adequate instruction in the high schools. The possibility of such an undesirable influence on America's future is an alarming threat of the present teacher shortage. It matters tremendously to our Nation whether future citizens have profited from the impact of a skilled, informed, personable, and creative teacher in each year of their school or have had a school career spotted with instruction by temporary, part time, or unqualified teachers who have been employed merely to "keep school open." Continually staffing our elementary and secondary schools with competent teachers would do more than any other long-term program to develop and sustain children's and youths' interest in learning. Persons who lack adequate preparation for teaching can rarely interest others in the subjects they teach or successfully guide children and youth in learning activities. A survey cited in Better Schools (a publication of the National Citizens Council for Better Schools) last September revealed that in one out of three communities reporting a decline in science enrollments, the teacher was named as the No. 1 factor. In the cases where the teacher was named as the No. 1 factor, he was described as "poorly prepared," "uninspired," or "uninteresting." We all know teachers who make learning exciting, and who nurture the dreams and aspirations of excellence in terms of each pupil's capacity. The current and long-range need is for more, many more, of these competent teachers. They must come, I believe, from the group of able young people, who should enter teaching rather than other cur rently more lucrative careers.

The failure of many high-ability youth to take college training is both an indictment of and a potential loss to our profession. Undoubtedly many of that half of the upper one-fourth (in ability) of high school graduates estimated not to go on to college could become effective teachers. We desperately need more of this able youth population to aspire to teaching careers. At the same time, there is the unhappy reflection that many of these boys and girls might have been inspired to seek college training and teacher education had their teachers been more skilled in motivating and counseling their pupils. It has been my personal experience in working with hundreds of teachers that the single most influential factor in motivating a choice of a teaching career was the inspiration of an outstanding former teacher.

The recent efforts of the Congress in its passage of the Hill-Elliott bill to encourage more of this group to train for teaching are laudable and helpful. Yet until the Congress provides funds to help reduce the gap that exists between the salaries the college graduate can get in teaching and those he can get in many other fields, the intent of the Congress in its passage of the Hill-Elliott bill cannot be fully realized. When 1959 graduates see public school teachers rushing from the classrooms to part-time jobs in order to support their families, are they any more likely to select teaching than graduates of the past?

The tragic, continuing loss of men from teaching is a constant concern in providing high quality education in our schools. Granted that both men and women are needed in teaching, I believe a more balanced distribution of men and women teachers would improve the interest and application of our students. The presence of more men in the classrooms of elementary schools, as well as secondary schools, would be a constant reminder to students that education is a highly desirable profesison. It is disheartening to note from recent surveys of the National Education Association's research division that only a little more than one-half of the men now teaching say they would choose teaching if they could start over.

If we are to attract and keep competent teachers, there must be more promise of an income sufficient for the teacher to have an attractive style of living, to continue his studies, and to give full working time to his profession. A dismal fact about teachers' salaries is that this year only one teacher in five

makes $5,500 or more. Teaching must not be considered only working in classrooms with boys and girls. Teaching must also include planning and study necessary to provide the best possible learning opportunities for pupils. Teaching cannot be a part-time job if the teacher operates at a high level of competency.

THE NEED FOR MORE CLASSROOMS

Statistics as to the need for more classrooms just to house the increasing pupil population have been widely cited. Although the States and local districts have whittled away at this problem, still an additional 140,500 were needed this fall— 65,300 for enrollment increases and 75,200 to replace unsatisfactory rooms now in use. At the present rate of backlog reduction (1.3 percent last year) many pupils who entered inadequate and crowded primary-grade classrooms for halfday sessions last fall will have been graduated from high school and will be enrolled in college before the primary-grade rooms to which they are rightfully entitled are constructed.

Looking at the same problem in another way, these intolerable facts are noted: 1. In the urban school systems, over 21,000 elementary school classrooms are overburdened with more than 35 pupils each.

2. Over 6.5 million of our elementary-school children are in classes of over 30 pupils each.

3. Almost 300,000 elementary pupils are on half-day sessions, and the figure seems to be growing, not shrinking.

These conditions are not restricted to low-income areas or to any one section of the country. They cut across urban and rural lines, high and low income areas, central city and suburban areas, north and south, east and west. The bulging oversize elementary school classroom is a problem that plagues virtually every major city.

Instruction of high quality does not typically take place in overcrowded classrooms. All that we know about good curriculum and teaching underlines the importance of a full schoolday in classes small enough in number for the teacher to be able to work with individual pupils as need arises. In the half-day session the teacher is too rushed to do more than hear children recite; there is no time to help each of them with his arithmetic, his reading, or his science project.

From my experience and study I have found that in most subjects and grades the teacher simply cannot put to work the most effective techniques of instruction when the number of pupils exceeds 30. In the early years of school little children profit by a great deal of personal attention from their teacher. Skill in reading, writing, and arithmetic comes more quickly as an alert teacher sees difficulties and helps children overcome them. In later years, too, as boys and girls are beset by all the competing influences of our civilization, they need the frequent personal attention of their teachers.

Faced with large classes and, all too frequently, with out-of-school duties or other employment, many teachers simply do not have the time to plan adequately, gather materials and resources for instruction, or check and review the work and progress of individual pupils. As a matter of fact, the recent Conant report recommends that no English teacher be responsible for more than 100 students.

Although experimentation is underway with larger classes for some purposes and with television teaching, we cannot anticipate any fundamental change in the need for personal, teacher-pupil relationships. For every increase in class size that may be effected in a school, there is need elsewhere in that school to reduce size for instruction of various groups for various purposes. As we learn better how to handle deficiencies in such areas as speech, reading, and writing, additional corrective instruction is essential. As talented youth are identified at an earlier age, we must be able to give them more specific, individualized, and challenging learning opportunities.

THE NEED FOR A WELL-ROUNDED PROGRAM OF STUDIES

During the past year the attention of both the public and the teaching profession has been focused on problems of secondary education. The criticisms, appraisals, and studies have all confirmed one glaring fact long argued by many educators: a well-rounded program of secondary education can be provided more economically in larger schools.

Although there are many deficiencies in our secondary schools, most of them arise from the strenuous effort made to provide a program suited to the abil

ities and needs of all American youth. Such an exclusively academic program as some critics would make uniform in 1959 for the 90 percent of youth now in school, may have been suitable for the 10 percent in school when the influential "Committee on Ten" recommended such a program in 1893. However, the trend throughout the past 65 years has been toward differentiating the program to suit the abilities and needs of the total youth population. A fully differentiated program is an expensive one, including a full academic program for some pupils, an equally full prevocational program for others, and adequate courses in English, history, and other social studies, mathematics, science, art, music, and health and physical education for all. When a high school simply cannot provide such a varied program, its pupils may suffer. Substantial increases in school finances are essential to support a wellrounded elementary and secondary program for all children and youth. If small communities insist on maintaining their small schools, they can add to their programs only by organizing new classes taught by additional teachers. If they move toward consolidation, new buildings must be constructed. The latter far more efficient and ultimately more economical step will be taken more readily, previous experience indicates, if funds from beyond the local district are available to help in building the consolidated school.

THE NEED FOR SPECIAL SERVICES

High quality curriculum and instruction require far more special personnel and facilities in elementary and secondary schools than present financing makes possible. Among the more acute needs are those for libraries and librarians, guidance centers and counselors, and rooms and teachers for children and youth with various exceptional characteristics.

As the store of human knowledge expands, and it is currently expanding at a phenomenal rate, each person can retain only a smaller and smaller proportion of the total body of knowledge. Ever better informed teachers are necessary if a proper selection of essential information is taught and, especially, if our boys and girls are taught how to find the information they need as adults. Clearly, citizens of the future must be better factfinders, rather than just fact retainers.

Indispensable to this learning of how to learn is the school's information center, the library. Here must be stocked not only the appropriate periodicals and volumes of biography, fiction, and general reading materials, but a comprehensive collection of tools for the learner: atlases, encyclopedias, dictionaries, recordings, pictures, card catalogs, indexes, and reference works appropriate to the level and studies of the school. Managing these essential instruments of learning must be well-qualified librarians, fully competent in regard both to these materials and to their use by children and youth. The library is an integral part of the instructional program, not an adjunct.

Especially at the high school level, increased counseling services are essential. Indeed the Conant report makes this recommendation No. 1 proposing that there should be in the secondary school one full-time counselor (or guidance officer) for every 250 to 300 students. Last year it was estimated that over 15,000 full-time counselors were needed to provide 1 counselor for each 300 secondary school students. The need for counseling is further underlined by Conant's recommendation No. 2 that it should be the policy of the school to provide an individualized program for every student, such a program to be worked out cooperatively by each student and his parent with the help of the counselor. If our schools are to use to the full advantage of students what is readily learned about them from modern tests, marked increase in counseling services must be made available. Although the Hill-Elliott bill of 1958 provides substantial help in the training of counselors and the provision of certain services, there remains the primary need of sufficient salary in the basic teacher salary schedule to recruit promising young men and women to fill the counseling positions. Furthermore, counselors must have space in which to counsel pupils and file their records-space not now provided in many already overcrowded buildings.

Educational facilities and the number of personnel for teaching exceptional children have increased greatly in recent years. Many State-supported programs have been developed for the education of mentally and physically handicapped children. Much experimentation is currently being conducted in the education of exceptionally gifted children and youth. Thousands of boys and girls at both ends of the scale of normality, however, are inadequately provided