A HARPOON
FOR MR. CHIPS
IJOHSJ. SYNQi
Here is one that promises to
stir up the animate:
Professional education jour
" nate, for some time now, have
been proposing to turn ithe tab
les on Mr. Chips. They propose
the teacher, rather than the
student, 'be held accountable for
the student’s (lack of) progress.
That’s something new and
that ought to do it.
In essence, this is how the
proposal would work: \
Private educational firms
would bid for 'the right to guar
antee certain learning results
for deficient students. Fifth
grade pupils, say, who were per
forming at Third-grade level
would be guaranteed1 to be
brought to standard, to their
grade level.
Intriguing? Sure is. But I
have no idea it will work; that
all students can be brought to
today’s (yesterday’s?) standard.
In the first place, such a pro
posal flies in the face of the
labor union that is the National
Education Association. In the
jargon of these unionists, “ac
countaibli'ty” translates into
“piece work”; if you don’t cut
the buck you don’t get paid.
And the NEA, you may be sure,
wants no such precedent as that
hanging about its edges. It is not
going to permit any upstart pri
vate contractor to enter its pre
serve and “piece work” it out of
business. Fbr, truth is, there is a
lot that can be done for the
kids — and would be done if i
teacher accountability were a
factor — things that are not be
ing done under the union that is
the NEA. Establish accountabili
ty and the NEA would' wither
and die.
That is one reason — and
reason enough — whv I do not
believe the effort will ever be
given a fair chance or, if given
a chance, will be administered
honestly.
An even more persuasive rea
me m thing, the latest gim
mick i-r I suspect all sorts of
provisos (escape clauses) will be
inxxxnporated in the fine print.
Such provisos as make allow
ances for “deprived” children,
and' “underprivileged” children
and all the rest of it. Such as
■these, I suspect, will not be re
quired to achieve at the true
level of “prived” or “privileged”
children. Educators are not go
ing to Mow the gaff, you know.
Even so, if teacher account
ability were by some miracle
brought to bear, children, Black
and White alike, would benefit.
For 'they would learn in their
own racial way, each at his indi
vidual capacity, s.
“Racial” way? Certainly, ra
cial way, for the races learn' dif
ferently, you should know,
Blacks More by rote than other
wise; Whites, principally,
through abstract concepts.
Which is another stumbling
Mock for the teaeheraccoumt
aihility contractor — given inte
grated schools.
No, I don’t think it will work
And I think you will hear, the
screams of Mr. Chips when (if)
he begins to feel the point of it.
Airman Edwards to
Dover, Delaware
• Airman William T. Edwards,
son of Mr. and Mrs. Willie T.
Edwards of 411 Edgehill Ave.,
Kinston, has graduated' at Shep
pard AFB, Tex., from the Air
Force air passenger specialist
course.
The airman, who was trained to
schedule air passengers and
cargo, is being assigned to Dov
er AFB, Del., for duty with the
Military Airlift Command1 which
provides global airlift for mil
tary forces.
Airman Edwards is a 1969 grad
uate of Grainger High School.
Red Cross Water.Safety Chairman
Offers Some Excellent Advice
v *»»* wv vv*vb UU. U1IV UI.VTTU'
irngs each year result when peo
ple who have no intention of get
ting wet fall into the water from
docks, boats, bridges, shores, or
pool decks — often only a few
feet from safety, Leroy Pittman,
Red Cross Water Safety Chair
man, said today.
“Most drowninigs result be
cause people violate or ignore
good- water safety practices, Pitt
man said.
Statistics reveal that drown
inigs around the home — in
pools, bathtubs, wells, cisterns
and cesspools — claim over 700
lives each year.
Three chief causes of home
pool drowninigs are: temporary
lack of qualified adult supervi
sion; absence of, or inadequate
safeguards, such as fences and
rescue equipment; and the in
ability of victims to float or
swim.
The home pool drowning rate
is 'highest among children under
four; therefore, home pool own
ers should take regular precau
tions around the pool site and
make the area “kidproof”.
Pittman stressed that one wa>
to make sure children can’t ac
cidentally fall into the pool is
to erect a fence of sufficient
height around the facility, keep
ing the gate locked at timer
when there is no supervision
available for swimmers.
The shallow and deep ends oi
the pool should be clearly mark
ed with 'buoy lines. Breakable
items such as glasses and bottler
should not be allowed arounc
the pool area. And rules shoulc
prohibit running or “horseplay’
near the pool edge.
Since the majority of drown
mgs occur within a few feet o:
safety, it is often possible foi
a nonswimimer or an untrainec
swimmer to perform a nonswim
ming rescue -safely, Pittmar
said.
The rescuer should limit per
sonal contact with the victin
and always maintain firm con
itaet with the shore. The res
cuer’s weight on the shore oi
pool deck should be kept low o
slanting backward. If the victin
is within arm's reach, the res
cuer should lie flat on the deck
and extend one arm, holding the
deck or dock with the other
arm. He can then grasp the vifc
tim’s wrist and chaw 'Mm to safe
ty- /
Should the victim be beyond
•arm’s reach, the rescuer can ex
tend such items as a shirt, towel,
coat, branch or pole, and allow
the victim to grasp one end and
then pull him to safety. A line
ring buoy or an innertuibe can
be thrown to a victim who is be
yond reach of an extension res
cue, Pittman said.
“A swimming rescue would
only be attempted by someone
who has had lifesaving training,
Pittman concluded1 “Otherwise,
a double drowning can occur.”
WHAT IS THE ANSWER?
by Henry E. Garrett, Ph.D.
Protestor Emeritus, Psychology. Columbia University
Past President American Psychological Association
m&Mmk
• waii«ii/ in yuui vpm
ion, who are the best spokesmen
for the South, today?
A: That calls for a subjective
judgment, of course (I take it
you refer to the race problem).
Senators Thurmond and Stennis
reflect pretty wel majority
Southern views and they should
not be underrated. But neither,
in my opinion, is as effective as
George C. Wallace. Nixon is not
out after either Thurmond or
Stennis.' He is out after Wallace
— and that, I think, is the best
evidence. Certainly, Wallace has
r
unjiic mme lu ea&e uu
the South than either of the
others.
CHARLES HAM IN GEORGIA
Marine Lance Corporal Charl
es E. Ham, son of Mr. and Mrs.
William H. Ham of 2511 Register
Drive, Kinston, is now serving
at the Marine Corps Supply Cen
ter, Albany, Ga.
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i
wu iiuujo vwii a lavi vi me -
and integrated schools: Negroes,
as a race, are not the intellectual
equal of White people, as a race.
That disputed fact is what the
civil-rights shooting is all about.
Disputed or not it is true. See
this:
Research results (paid for by
HEW Monograph No. 90, 1963;
Vol. 28 No. .61) when opposed
to normative White IQ averages
show IntelJ’ecitu/aP.ly-Very-Super
ior Whites ait a ratio of 44-to-l
over Very-Superior Blacks; Su
perior. 27-to-l; High Average,
' 26-to-l; on down to Defectives
which show the reverse, Blacks
8-ito-l over Whites.
Such is 'the raw material inte
grated-school .teachers have to
work with; all such tpachers; ev
erywhere. And it tells why there
are so many “under-privileged”
* slow learners and why there al
ways will be. Moreover, it tells
why I do hot believe any private
contractor with his wits about
'him wouM guarantee to bring
all children to grade level.
—^ uumiiy he would not risk
odsng beyond the Sixth-grade
level since the Black with Black
average intelligence (IQ-80) can ’ t
s beyond the
Sixth grade—not if Mark Hop
were on the other end of
y, White or Black,
of 80 nan so beyond
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