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NATIONAL NEWSPAPER
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Published Every Thursday al Raeford, N.C. 28376
119 W. Elwood Avenue
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PAUL DICKSON Publiiter-Edilor
SAM C. MORRIS General Manager
MRS. PAUL DICKSON Society Editor
MARTY VEGA Reporter
Second Class Postage at Rael'ord, N.C.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1975
Behind Troubling
Teacher Strikes
Teachers' strikes around the country - both threatened and
under way - reflect basic problems underlying the U.S. system of
public education, most importantly how it is funded.
So far, teachers involved in contract disputes have refused to
work in 10 states, affecting nearly a million students. Even more
troubling, contracts in about 2,100 school districts remain
unsettled, including New York Boston, Los Angeles, and San
Francisco. This is about twice last year's level, according to the
National Education Association.
There can be no doubt that the cost of public education is rising
rapidly, a function of an inflation - ridden economy and
increasingly assertive teachers and administrators. Whereas the
number of students has dropped steadily in the last four years
(200,000 fewer this year than 1974), the cost of education will go
up $11 billion in 1975.
Faced with demands for tighter budgets, local governments no
doubt would be looking for ways to cut school costs in any case.
But the heavy reliance on the regressive property tax makes the
pressure on school boards around the country that much greater.
Some states (New Jersey, for instance) are slowly moving toward
other ways of paying the costs of education while eliminating the
sharp inequities between school districts. It can be hoped that the
court-ordered action there will spur other states to adopt better
ways of meeting school costs.
It is the prospect of larger classes, reduced school personnel, and
the elimination of special programs that worries many educators
today. This is a valid concern, and it is extremely unfortunate that
many in local government are meeting the fiscal pinch by cutting
into a service that represents an essential investment in the future.
But teachers' demands include a good bit of self-interest, too.
Faced with layoffs in some cities, they are worried about job
security. Most of them earn less than SI4,000 a year and they
justifiably wonder why other public servants requiring less formal
training (policemen, firemen, and even garbage collectors) often are
paid much more.
At the same time, however, wage disputes highlight legitimate
questions about teacher pay scales, the ease with which raises are
attained in some places, and a tenure system which, although
necessary, protects many incompetent teachers. Too many students
leave school unable to use the fundamental tools of written
language for job purposes. The particularly nettlesome issues of
accountability and productivity must be realistically addressed both
by teachers and their employers.
It is wrong to effect economics which in any way jeopardize the
quality of education, but it is also irresponsible to demand more
than school boards can realistically afford. For many teachers,
elected officials, and parents the opening of school presents a
confused and complicated situation which will demand the utmost
in clear-headed thought and responsible action.
-Christian Science Monitor
Browsing in the
of The News-Journal
25 years ago
Thursday, September 7,1950
A committee from the Raeford
Baptist, Methodist and Presbyterian
churches announced this week that
Mrs. T.N. McLauchlin had been
employed to teach Bible in the Hoke
county high school two days each
week during the coming school year.
Archibald Keahey Currie of
Raeford died in a Fayetteville
hospital at eight o'clock last Friday
night after having been a patient
there for four days.
J.B. Mclntrye, operator of the
Raeford Theatre, said this week that
the owners of the building had
decided to enlarge and remodel it in
the near future and that plans are
being designed for a building about
60 feet longer than the present house
and completely modern in every
respect.
Pvt. Thomas R. Inman, son of Mrs.
O.C. Sanders, is now with an
Infantry unit in Korea.
15 years ago
Thursday, September 8,1960
The Raeford Junior Chamber of
Commerce undertook an ambitious
project on Friday when it set up a
station on highway 401 south and
started dispensing free cold drinks to
the passengers of cars passing
throuj^ion the main artery.
The Hoke High School Bucks are
doing their last minute preparation
for Friday nights game with
Lumberton.
The United Fund Board of
Directors met in the Johnson
Company office Friday afternoon
and adopted the SI6.000 budget
submitted by the budget and
admissions committee.
? ? ?
Chief speaker at Monday night's
Booster Club meeting was Horace
Hendrickson, former Duke
Suarterback and onetime coach at
te University of North Carolina,
N.C. State College, Elon College, and
the University of Pennsylvania.
Ninety-nine percent of those interviewed are in favor
of the teachers' right to strike against the public1
?by Marty Vega
Secret Letters Here
Ever since the Kissinger garbage
caper, hard working reporters have
been roaming Washington
neighborhoods checking out garbage
from the homes of congressman,
judges, cabinet members, and
influential leaders who make the
news. We have come across some hot
items, copies of letters written by
Congressman Ewing E. Swertman
and carelessly discarded in an alley
behind a Georgetown head shop,
which we are fearlessly publishing.
General Manager
Washington Redskins
Football Club
Washington, D. C.
Dear Fellow Sports lover,
I am greatly sorrowed to discover
that my request for six 50-yard line
tickets to the Redskins - Dolphins
game has been returned with a note
stating all seats have been sold.
/ consider this most unfortunate,
as I had hoped to convince myself
through personal research RFK
stadium is being put to use and
should not be demolished by
Congressional order to make room
for a military archives warehouse.
Therefore, much as I hate to
Puppy Creek
Philospher
Dear editor:
People are always talking about
government meddling in business,
which is different from business
meddling in government, but I have
discovered an altogether new side to
this situation.
According to articles I've been
reading in the papers, the U.S. Postal
Service is planning on raising the
price of mailing a letter from 10
cents to 13 cents.
Of course there's nothing new
about that, the first class rate has
been going up steadily for the past
few years - a classic example of
inflation: while the quality of letters
hasn't gone up, the cost of sending
them has - but what is new about
the rate increase is the timing. The
report is that the rate will go up in
December, just ahead of Christmas.
Remember what happened this
past summer just ahead of the
Fourth of July holidays when
everybody and his kids had trips all
planned? The oil companies raised
the price uf gasoline 3 cents.
With shrewed timing, the Postal
Service plans to raise the price of
stamps 3 cents just ahead of the big
Christmas card season.
I'll tell you. it's one thing for
government to interfere with
business, but when it starts imitating
business, that's something else.
Who does the government think it
is. anyway? Does it think it's as big
as the oil companies?
Changing the subject, I couldn't
help but notice a comment by a TV
newsman the other night while he
was reporting on a teacher's strike in
Chicago. "Instead of being in the
dass room this first day of school,
the kids are instead on the streets,"
he said.
You can blame the schools for a
lot of things those days and in many
cases be right about it, but if the
half-million or so Chicago kids are
either in school or on the streets,
something could be remarked about
the parents. That is, it could except
for the fact the word "chore" has
been abolished from the English
language.
Yours faithfully,
J.A.
introduce a bill that might
inconvenience your organization, it
appears / have no tangible reason for
withholding my proposal to destroy
the facility where your team
reportedly plays
Should you happen to run across
any solid evidence that would cause
me to change my mind, please leave
it in my name at the box office
under grandstand 'C' a week from
Sunday.
Lawrence Y. Wintergreep
Foul Weather Rubber Goods
Muck ton, Ohio
Dear Larry,
Forgive my apparent delay m
answering your letter of Feb. 4,
1974, which mentioned your firm
was faced with bankruptcy and
desperately in need of help. / was
merely waiting to respond until 1 had
som good news to pass along.
I am delighted to inform you Foul
Weather stands to profit greatly from
the big appropriations bill 1 am
pushing through Congress for
military aid to Nepal. As you know,
it probably rains a lot there, and I
foresee no difficulty in getting you a
Pentagon order for at least 500.000
lank windshield wiper blades.
Actually, lorry, I do foresee one
minor difficulty. I may not be able
to win passage of this bill before the
next session of Congress, bv which
time I may not be in Congress to do
it. My re - election chances are not so
good, mainly because I've slaved
here pulling strings to help you while
my pinko, peacenik, anti - military
opponent, backed by the ami -
rubber goods lobby, has been out
drumming up big campaign
contributions.
Currently, I'm afraid I'll come up
about S10.000 short of my needs for
winning another term, and it would
be a tragic irony if you had to close
down because I've devoted my usual
fund raising time to efforts on your
behalf and
Stories Behind Words
by William S. Penfield
Cockney
In Middle English a small,
misshapen egg, generally with no yolk,
was called a "cokeney," meaning
cock's egg. It was said facetiously that
since the hen couldn't have laid such a
malformed egg then the cock must
have.
"Cokeney" later was used to denote
a spoiled or foolish child, then by
extension any foolish or effeminate
person. English country folk then
applied the name to any townsman,
who supposedly was ignorant of
country ways.
The word became "cockney" in
modern English and was restricted in
meaning ? a native of London,
especially of its East End.
Garnish
"Garnish," which means to deck
out or adorn, originally meant to
warn. A warning resulted in
preparation of a defense. Therefore,
"garnish" acquired the meaning of "to
arm". Later, the w^rd was used to
refer to armor itself, and then to fancy
armor.
The next step resulted in the word's
present meaning.
From the definition of something
elaborate, the meaning of "garnish"
was extended once again ? to make
something elaborate by adorning or
decking it out.
CLIFF BLUE ? ? ?
People & Issues
FUND RAISING - Hundreds of
Uemocrat leaders from across North
Carolina will gather at Morehead City
lor fellowship, and politics and
refreshments this Saturday, Sept. 13.
Candidates and "would be"
candidates for governor, lieutenant
governor and other district and state
offices will be plentiful and glad -
handed.
It used to be that the Jefferson -
Jackson Day dinner in Raleigh was
the one Democratic fund - raising
party of .the year. Now there are
three or four. The second annual
turd ? raising dinner started was the
Vance - Aycock" meeting in the fall
ol the year in Asheville. Later, a
down East dinner was started and
held at Wrightsville Beach. Then this
year a Piedmont dinner was held in
Greensboro, about which we did not
hear a great deal.
OTHERS - It appears that the
Democratic Party in North Carolina
is not die only political entity in
North Carolina with fund - raising
problems. Some of the presidential
candidates including North Carolina's
own Terry Sanford are having a
tough time raising sufficient money
to carry on a campaign under the
new political fund . raising laws.
Sanford s statement in Boston several
days ago criticizing President Ford
tor the latter's statement opposing
busing as a method to promote
school integration could hardly be
expected to help him in North
Carolina where a recent survey shows
78 percent of the 700 people
interviewed agreed with the
statement: "Busing to achieve school
integration of public schools should
be stopped."
A great majority of the people of
the South and apparently of the
nation have accepted "Freedom of
choice without reservation; but
apparently they are just as strong
against forced busing" for school
integration.
COMMISSIONER OF LABOR -
, r ei Dn11pa*inR of Commissioner
of Labor Bdly Creel marked the loss
r ki8?u ?SIeward in public service
for North Carolina. He was a devoted
public official who served the public
The passing of Commissioner Creel
will give to Governor Holshouser the
opportunity to fill a second vacancy
on die Council of State. His first
appointment to the Council of State
was James H. Carson, Jr., to the
Attorney General's office, a post
rfu c c Robert Morgan to run for
ih c ,Senale- Carson lost out in
the tall election to Rufus Edmisten
111 the Democratic landslide.
As of now the Democrats feel
P'ctty confident of carrying the
complete slate to victory in 1976 --
unless they have another primary
where the wounds do r.ot heal as in
RenMPUBL|CANS - The
Republicans appear to be coming
back to life in North Carolina and are
beginning to feel that 1974 could
have been only a temporary back -
ash from Watergate. It now appears
dial the GOP will have a primary for
governor, probably between David
Flaherty and David Jones, each
The last two weeks of August, I
went out into the state to listen and
talk to people just to find out what
they are thinking. It was an
extremely worthwhile and
productive trip.
I believe it was Woodrow Wilson
who said that Washington is the
worst place to be if you want to
know what is going on in the
country, and I feel that is still true
today. 1 wish more of my colleagues
in the Senate would go back to their
home states and take a similar trip,
because I believe it might change
their minds on some current matters.
It was not at all surprising that
people in both large cities and small
towns voiced concern over the
economy. Inflation and
unemployment touches almost every
family in one way or another and has
created real problems in day - to -
day living. Most people who talked
about this seemed to blame both
government and industry
principally the big oil companies -
for helping get us into an economic
mess.
and not always from sources one
would expect.
There was the lady in Charlotte
who was worried about the Food
Stamp program. And she is a
recipient of food sumps herself.
She said she was worried becau*
she saw people in her neighborhood.
heading up a state department under
Governor Holshouser, who says he is
keeping hands off the 1976 GOP
gubernatorial primary campaign.
HEW & UNC - Concerning HEW
pressure on Dr. William C. Friday,
President of the University of North
Carolina and the UNC Board of
Governors, to locate the proposed
new veterinary school at A&T in
Greensboro rather than at N.C. State
in Raleigh. Dr. Friday said last week
that neither he nor the board of
governors would be moved by undue
pressure from Washington.
If more school authorities would
stand their ground when they are on
solid ground and know they are right
there would be more respect and
support for education in the state
and nation. But. when officials
almost jump out of their breeches
when HEW SAYS "boo!" what can
you expect?
TEACHER STRIKES - We hav*
been reading about teacher strikes Ih
some of the big cities in recent days.
As we look at these "teachers" on
strike on television we can't help but.
wonder if the students are losing very
much by being out of school a few
days or weeks. Can they be the
"dedicated" type that we used to
hear about?
N.Y.'S PENSION PLAN - One
newspaper has termed New York
City's pension plan as the most
generous in the solar system." WeB,
it may now be generous but if the
city keeps dipping into the pension
fund as it did last week, to pay
current expenses, when pension time
for some arrives it just could be like
Old Mother Hubbard's cubbard -
bare!
Letters To
The Editor
Again, the needs of the private
interest groups have been served by
our County Commissioners as they
have been in the past. By approving
the by-pass road around Raeford,
they have served notice that we do
not need any transit dollars in -
Raeford. We will surely lose a good
portion of these dollars because most
traveling people will bypass a town
whenever possible. I imagine that the
town of Red Springs will greatly
appreciate this as they will probably
pick up some of this money that we
will lose.
Also in the past, 1 have been led to
believe that the Chamber of
Commerce was designed to keep all
the business possible in a city, not
turn it away. 1 am not a member of
the Chamber, nor do 1 intend to be
after having seen the actions of the
manager of the Chamber on this
matter.
In closing, I will say that I hope
sometime in the future, the people of
Hoke County will elect some County
officials who will serve all of the
people instead of a few private
interest groups.
Joseph B. Thompson, Sr.
Owner/Thompson Bail & Tackle
Report
To The
People
by Senator Robert Morgan
who are not qualified, getting the
stamps and selling them. She is afraid
that if the abuses continue then the
whole program may be stopped and
that people who really need the help,
like herself, will suffer.
Then there was the small ?- town
service station operator who had
received a letter that very day from
his oil company saying that he could
expect gasoline prices to go up as
soon as controls ended on August 31.
He said this bothered him because
many of his customers were forced
to travel to larger towns where their
jobs were and he felt that they
simply could not afford to pay
higher gasoline prices.
People such as these, who came
voluntarily to give this sort of
information with no thought of
personal gain, made the two weeks
very, very profitable to me.
Of course there were people who
had all sorts of personal problems,
some of whom we could help and
some we couldn't.
At the end of my travels, 1 sensed
that there is a feeling of frustration
among our people and that middle -
class Americans feel that they are
being burdened with too much
bureauracy. I don't think they want
government out of their lives
completely, but they feel that there
are too many rules and too many
See SEN MORGAN, page 13