rags i: AF 2 ae PAGE SIX Cable television holds the promise of new educational and cultural horizons for Dallas School District students and citizens. Cable Television (CATV) was originally designed to bring clear television reception to viewers out of normal broadcast range. Recent Federal Communications Commission rules and regulations have insisted that cable an- districts. At the same time cable companies may provide additional regular programming, - special sporting and cultural events, and opportunities for citizens to be heard on subjects of concern. Modern technology has even made two way television com- munications via cable connections . a reality. The F.C.C. also required interested school districts to approach local cable companies so cooperative planning could begin that would lead to a smooth and effective operation. District elementary buildings presently receive television signals from the cable operated by the Back Mountain Cable Company. The Dallas Intermediate School is not con- nected to the cable but receives signals from its own master antenna system. The junior and senior high school buildings are connected by television cable but not tied into the local cable company’s distribution system. \ Each school building already has an antenna system that provides every classroom with television signals. The great majority of classrooms are equipped with television receivers. The Dallas District’s earlier committment to television as an instructional tool makes it possible now to move toward the goal of providing interschool television com- munication. A proposal was written and submitted to the Pennsylvania Department of Education requesting National Defense and Education Act, Title II, Special Funds to tie the district school buildings into the cable system. The plan will allow television broadcasts to originate at the junior high school and be broadcast to all other district buildings. Community subscribers to television cable service will also be able to view those programs broadcast over the district’s educational channel. The project proposal included the necessary cable and equipment to tran- smit a signal from the junior high school television studio to the cable company’s line located at Lake and Center Streets. As part of this project, additional video tape recorders and camera equipment were requested for use at elementary level and make it possible for teachers and in more creative learning activities using the television medium. At this time word has been received that 50 percent of the total projected cost of $13,000 will be reimbursed through NDEA funds. This project will greatly extend the capabilities of the present educational television system. The potential instructional gains from this system appear to be limited only by the imagination of those responsible for its use. Among the many instructional ad- vantages are: Provide for flexible scheduling of broadcasts and rebroadcasts at times most opportune for instruction. Extend the services of special area teachers, i.e., art, music; physical education. In-service education for teachers and staff. Live productions of students. Student drama productions. Drug and alcohol abuse programs. High school equivalency courses. Pupil activities. Demonstrations for teachers. Community organizations programs. Forums. Cultural events. SHE AND MANY OTHER USES. parents and PROPOSED RECEIPTS Estimated Cash Balance $124,285 Estimated Real Estate Tax 1,200,733 Estimated Per Capita Tax 77,778 Estimated Earned Income Tax 1 % Shared 200,000 Estimated Real Estate Transfer Tax 1% Shared 32,000 Estimated Payments in Lieu of Taxes 10,000 Estimated Delinquent Taxes : 25,000 Estimated Utility Realty Taxes, Act 66 8,560 Estimated Tuition 7,570 Estimated Earnings from Investments 3,022 Estimated Rents 4,000 Estimated Miscellaneous 50 $1,692,998 Estimated State Appropriations 1,838,171 Estimated Federal Appropriations 15,000 ; $3,546,169 Assessed ‘Proposed Percent of Valuation Millage Collection $21,564,900 Xx 058 96 % (Real Estate) $1,200,733 " PROPOSED EXPENDITURES Administration $162,004 Instruction 1,757,591 Pupil Personnel Services 74,967 Health Services 51,149 | Pupil Transportation 158,700 | Operation and Maintenance 406,445 Fixed Charges 231,499 Food Services 12,260 Student Activities 49,448 Community Activities 15,911 Capital Outlay 23,145 Debt Service 504,000 Intersystem Payments 84.050 Federal Appropriations Reserve 15,000 $3,546,169 Plans are being developed to implement a Career Counseling project. The basic plan includes the assignment of a coun- selor for the Dallas Junior and Senior High Schools. The counselor will provide students with career and occupational information. He will also work with teachers in developing updated oc- cupational and vocational learning ac- tivities to be integrated into various subject areas. The program is designed to help students learn about broad fields of work and to assist them in seeing the relationships between these fields and their curricular choices. Students will also have the opportunity to attain accurate updated information about the oc- cupational world and be helped to un- derstand the significance of vocational planning. Information will also be ployment. The program will be supported through Vocational Education funds. According to recent research, there has probably never been a time when the need for vocational or career ‘information and counseling for young people has been as pronounced as it is today. The U.S. Department of Labor predicts a labor force of one hundred million workers by 1980. The greatest impact, according to researchers, will be the dramatic increase of young adults into the work force. It is expected that career counseling will be of assistance to students as they develop plans for their futures. Of the students currently in high school, only 50 percent may go on to complete college level work and earn the bac- calaureate degree. That means that the other 50 percent should be receiving op- portunities for more specialized vocational planning and counseling. They should also be receiving some sort of occupational training, some salable skills, but only the students enrolled in business education or the technical school are. Sidney Marland United States Com- missioner: of Education, has reminded educators across the nation that ‘‘the liberal arts and sciences of the traditional college-preparatory curriculum are desirable for those who want them and can use them. But for many of our young people such knowledge is neither useful nor joyful. In pained puzzlement, they toil at watered down academic courses and end up being offered what amounts to irrelevant, general educational gap.” One of the first attitudes that must be changed is that of academic snobbery. Teachers, students, parents are all guilty of trying to separate education into parts and usually arrive at a false dichotomy between things academic and things vocational. All education is really career education. Every student belongs in that category at some point. Those that decide to pursue the collegiate route to the career of their choice need specialized counseling in college admissions and related procedures. Students not planning to at- tend college are also in need of specialized counseling. Counseling that will also assist them in pursuing a career of their choice. The universal goal of American education should be to prepare every young person graduating from grade 12 to be ready to enter some form of higher education or to enter useful and rewarding employment. Achieving an educational goal of this type requires a new educational unity. The curriculums must be blended into a strong secondary program that balances academic and career education and believes in the im- Counseling is another step toward major educational improvements for all students. : Simulate The American Experience classes of Mr. James Bamrick and Mr. John Johnson recently completed playing the simulation game ‘‘Ghetto”. The students know that millions of people in the United States live in poverty but don’t know how it feels to be poor. As the student plays the game he assumes the role of a poor person living in an inner-city neighborhood, and his goal in the game is to plan the life strategy of this person. In playing the game he encounters the discouragements, frustrations, and occasional good luck that are the common lot of the poor. All of the players in the game have different ages, educational backgrounds, and family responsibilities, and each player is given a certain amount of time each round to spend improving his living standard. These hours may be spent in school, work, recreation and relaxation, hustling (any illegal activity), welfare and or neighborhood improvements. There are INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS To undergird a changing curriculum, a school needs material in all record forms. An instructional materials center is organized in a manner to provide maximum use of materials by pupils and teachers. A modern library has both printed and nonprinted materials touching on all levels. It includes equipment such as screens, projectors, ear phones, work cubicles or carrels, film strips, etc. As members of the instructional staff of the school, librarians not only work directly with teachers and pupils, they also participate in curriculum planning and development, and work with the guidance department in providing materials for personal, educational, and vocational guidance. "Ghetto" requirements and risks involved in most of the categories. For example, the hustler may get caught and go to jail, or he might be hurt in a violent encounter. Through investing in neighborhood improvement, players attempt to change some of the social pressures that affect their lives. The game is played for ten rounds, each round representing a year in the player’s life. As a result of playing the game an in- dividual may gain a better undertanding of these aspects of ghetto life: improving a person’s economic status depends upon wise use of available time; an early in- vestment in education pays off throughout life; the condition of the neighborhood affects all residents whether or not they are concerned about; and the people of the neighborhood must work together to improve it. An important part of the learning that results from simulation games probably occurs during the discussions of the game which follow it. The students then have a chance to compare strategies and the simulation to the real world. The following are student responses to the discussion question ‘‘What are some of the frustrations of living in poor inner-city areas that you feel as you play the game?”’ “Being victimized, mothers had to pay a babysitter to go to work or school, having so many kids, not having enough money, being sent to jail and losing everything, nobody tries to help you, you can’t look for- ward to anything, you try to get ahead but there is always something blocking, hard to get a job, and sometimes you feel as poor as those people are.” Hopefully the game and the following discussion helped the students to better realize the emotional, physical, and social world the poor inhabit.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers