Senator HUMPHREY. Then, too, may I go back a moment. I surely want to concur in that point of view. I think possibly, as you know, Mr. Ewing, that is the way I feel about it.

I feel that these matters of public works are as fundamental to citizenship opportunity as educational public works and are investments, and I think we ought to start getting our terminology straight, particularly in the minds of those of us who are here in public responsibility, and in the minds of the public.

People talk about Government money as if it were an expenditure; yet, when the same thing is done by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Co., as they do in New York City, and take my insurance policy money and build houses, they say it is an investment. I concur that it is an investment, and say a Government expenditure is a productive investment on the part of government.

Would you concur in that?

Mr. EWING. I would absolutely, and I believe that the entire expenditure in education, in maintenance, operation, and construction can be justified over and over on a dollar and cent basis.

As I said in my statement there, the actual figures show that the earning capacity of people who have gone through grade school is more than those who have had no schooling, that the earning capacity of high-school graduates is more than those who have graduated from grade school, that college graduates earn more than the other two groups. It is an absolutely good, sound economic investment.

After all, the wealth of this Nation does not consist in the gold that is hoarded at Fort Knox; it consists of the men and women who are working and producing in this country and the better lives that we make them and the happier we make them-that is the wealth and not gold at Fort Knox.

Senator HUMPHREY. Now, on the economics of it, we are confronted with the three alternatives today in the Congress:

One is to raise taxes, the second is to curtail expenditures, and the third is to practice what we may call reasonable economy and possibly have to be faced with some deficit.

You pointed out that in a period of great depression people would be charging in to Washington and up to the Congress saying, "We have. simply got to have tremendous sums of money for public works."

We have a philosophy that the time to build schools and the time to build hospitals and the time to build highways is the time when people are so poor they cannot afford them. That is the old philosophy. Wait until the whole thing breaks down and then build it up.

We ought to realize that there are now three and a half million unemployed, a cut-off in retail sales, a cut-off in industrial production. Therefore, a well-planned systematic flow of Federal revenue into the economic process of the private economy will do much more to bolster up that economy than to wait until we get to the bottom of the pit before you give it the economic adrenalin for economic resuscitation.. That is the point of view, I think, which has to be expressed when we talk about these public works projects.

Mr. EWING. Senator, to my notion the ideal of any policy that. Congress pursues that the Federal Government could do is to use its position to make possible full employment. That is the ideal. We will get along, our taxes will be collectible, they will be easily collected.

92679-49

if we have good employment. There will not be the drains or anything else. That should be the ideal rather than just saving some money, because if by spending some money we can keep the machine going and keep full employment, we will get far greater returns than in false

economy.

Senator HUMPHREY. That is right. In other words, economy is not always spending just a little, it is spending well and productively. Mr. EWING. Wisely.

Senator HUMPHREY. We will have the next witness now, who I believe is our Commissioner of Education of the Office of Education, Mr. McGrath. Thank you very much, Mr. McGrath, for waiting for us. Go right ahead.

STATEMENT OF EARL J. McGRATH, COMMISSIONER OF

EDUCATION

Mr. McGRATH. The schools of the Nation are facing today an increasingly critical shortage of classroom space to house the swelling school enrollments. The high wartime birth rates were reflected in the number of children entering school for the first time in the fall of 1947. Entering classes are increasing and will continue to increase by about 1,000,000 children each year until at least 1955.

Senator HUMPHREY. May I take the privilege of occasionally interrupting you for purposes of emphasis and clarification because I am convinced that your testimony is going to be about as important testimony as we are going to receive in reference to any of these educational problems.

I think everybody is quite delighted that we have you as Commissioner of Education. I am going to exploit you, so to speak, as we go through this.

The last sentence that you read was that "Entering classes are increasing and will continue to increase by about 1,000,000 children each year until at least 1955."

Rather than leave that standing as it is, on what set of facts are you basing that general estimate or conclusion?

Mr. McGRATH. On the Bureau of the Census estimates, official estimates of the Bureau of the Census.

Senator HUMPHREY. In other words, we are going to be faced, then, in our school facilities with the problem of being able to house an additional million

Mr. McGRATH. Every year until 1955.

Senator HUMPHREY. Until 1955.

Mr. McGRATH. Yes, sir. Those estimates are based on the projection of the birth rates of the last few years.

Senator HUMPHREY. Very good.

Mr. McGRATH. The United States Bureau of the Census estimated that 34,040,000 pupils will be enrolled in grades 1 to 12-that is, first grade through high school in 1958-59 as contrasted with approximately 25,800,000 during the current year. This means that at least 7,500,000 additional pupils must be provided for in the public schools during this 10-year period. It will take at least 250,000 additional classrooms to house this increased school enrollment.

But the increased enrollments due to high wartime birth rates are not the only factor contributing to the increasingly critical shortage

of school housing. The recent war resulted also in the greatest population shifts of any period in our history. California, Washington, Oregon, and many other States gained population rapidly. A few States suffered net population losses. This shifting and reshifting is continuing even today. In these population migrations a few sections of the country may have extra schoolrooms; other sections of the country have terrific overcrowding of school facilities. Some of these population shifts are due to Federal activities. Others are the result of industrial and agricultural developments. Whatever the causes, the result has been development of particularly acute school building problems in many areas in nearly every State.

Another factor contributing to the present school housing problem is the need for relocation of school centers in alarge number of States. The small inefficient school districts with one- and two-teacher schools, still prevailing in many States, are being replaced by larger and more efficient administrative units and attendance areas. Modern school plants, suitable for today's educational program, are necessary to replace thousands of these small and obsolete schoolhouses.

The obsolescence of much present school housing is apparent even to the layman. School housing is not just shelter for pupils and teachers. It is space and equipment functionally adapted to the development of skills and learnings by pupils. Broader objectives, more diversified courses, and current teaching methods have made many school facilities obsolete as well as inadequate.

Again, more schools are being developed as educational, cultural, recreational, and service centers for their communities. Greater community use of the school plant requires expansion and alteration of many existing facilities and calls for a broader concept for planning new school plants.

Finally, the neglect of regular building maintenance programs, due to manpower and material shortages, in war years and which, Mr. Chairman, you have already referred to, is a further complicating factor. Thousands of school buildings which normally should have been replaced have been continued in service and allowed to fall into a poor state of repair. As a result, many school plants now in use are not only obsolete, but are insanitary and unsafe as well. Since 1940, only a few of the urgently needed school plants have been provided.

While it is not possible to determine accurately the need for replacements of these obsolete structures during the next few years, studies which have been made in a number of States show that rather substantial rehousing will be necessary. Replacements equivalent to at least one-fifth of the existing school plant facilities would appear to be a conservative estimate. Thus, in addition to the 250,000 classrooms, already mentioned, to house increased school enrollments, another 160,000 classrooms and related facilities will probably be required for rehousing purposes within the next 10 years. In addition, it is estimated that another 40,000 classrooms and related facilities may be needed for extensions of the public-school program to include kindergartens and junior colleges. In other words, we shall need in this country an estimated 400,000 to 450,000 new classrooms and related service facilities such as corridors, toilets, gymnasiums, and so forth, in the next few years.

In the fall of 1947 the Office of Education, in cooperation with the National Council of Chief State School Officers, made a questionnaire study of the needs for educational facilities. This study revealed their estimate of the urgent need for approximately $6.6 billion for land, buildings, and equipment to replace or modernize unsafe and obsolete public elementary and secondary school facilities and to provide new facilities to accommodate present school programs and enrollments. A recheck last December-December 1948indicated that their estimate had increased to over $8,000,000,000. Other studies have been made, indicating that these rough approximations may be entirely too conservative and that the amount required may run as high as $11,000,000,000 when proper allowance is made for the rapidly increasing enrollments. However, it should be pointed out that these are informal estimates only. No valid. data on the total required will be available until carefully planned studies have been made in all States on some uniform basis to assure the comparability of data.

With your permission, Senator, I would like to file for the record a tabulation headed, "Estimates by States of public elementary and secondary school plant needs." This gives the detail, Mr. Chairman, of what I have just said.

Senator HUMPHREY. We are happy to receive it.. (The document referred to is as follows:)

Estimates by States of public elementary and secondary school plant needs

Estimates by States of public elementary and secondary school plant needs—Continued

1 These estimates are based on returns from the respective State departments of education in response to a December 1948 request stating * total estimate should"

a. Be based on a 6-year school plant program, 1949 through 1954, exclusive of funds obligated for projects started prior to January 1, 1949;

b. Include sufficient instruction rooms for a full school day for predicted enrollment, and desirable supplementary space such as assembly, physical education, and lunch facilities;

c. Be based on public elementary and secondary school plant needs for the entire State, including all independent city systems, and including kindergarten and grades 13 and 14 where these programs are operated under public school authority;

d. Include land, new buildings, additions, equipment, fees, and major alterations exclusive of normal maintenance; and based on a building cost index of 356 (figure for November 1948); and

e. Be based on reasonable total needs regardless of sources of funds.

? These figures have been added to original published data.

3 Partial returns from a similar request in October 1947, were projected to a national estimate of $6,600,000,000.

Mr. McGRATH. Under present conditions, because of high construction costs, it is impossible to provide needed school facilities at prices which seem reasonable in comparison with costs a few years ago. Some persons believe that since construction costs are so high, it would be wise to wait a few years before building on the assumption that prices will drop considerably. It must be recognized that nearly a million additional children will be enrolling in schools each year for the next few years.

Senator HUMPHREY. I think that is quite an important point to emphasize, that, unfortunately, some of the people who view the economics of the situation are unwilling to view the obstetrics of the situation.

Mr. McGRATH. It is a good point, Mr. Senator.

Senator HUMPHREY. And generally the people who view the economics are beyond the time that they need to view the obstetrics of the situation. I think that ought to be somewhat emphasized. I am speaking for my own generation.

Mr. McGRATH. These children cannot mark time pending the possibility of price decreases. The Nation cannot afford to handicap the education of its children by failure to provide adequate school