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K
eep on truckin' George McGovern
They said it couldn't be done. But apparently he is
doing it and doing it well.
From a dark-horse candidacy built on a peace in
Southeast Asia platform, he may be personally
responsible for narrowing the field of Democratic
presidential contenders to three or less. Among those
left in serious contention for the nomination, he now
holds an undeniable lead.
The meek-mannered history and political science
professor named George McGovern is dead set on
becoming the next President of the United States.
Hailing from the midwestern prairies of South
Dakota, the 49-year-old senator sets forth a strong
brand of rhetoric not typical of those actively seeking
"the highest governmental spot in this country.
The most recent tabulation of Democratic
National Convention delegates committed to
McGovern is impressive. United Press International
predicts McGovern now has 235Vz delegate votes,
with second running Sen. Edmund Muskie polling
only 1382. A final tally of 1,509 out of a possilbe
3,0 16 delegate votes are needed to win the party
nomination.
In a most unfashionable way, McGovern was the
first national figure to oppose U.S. involvement in
Southeast Asia -six months after he was elected to
the Senate, in 1963. Another example of his political
foresight dealt with United States relations with
Communist China. As a professor at Dakota Wesleyan
from 1949-1953, he advocated the establishment of
diplomatic recognition of that country.
Among the many pieces of significant legislation
McGovern has supported and sponsored, many are
bills dealing with civil rights. He co-sponsored every
piece of civil rights legislation enacted during the past
decade.
When declaring his candidacy in early 1971,
McGovern said, "I believe the people of this country
are tired of the old rhetoric, the unmet promise, the
image makers and the practitioners of the expedient.
The people are not centrist or liberal or conservative.
Rather, they seek a way out of the wilderness."
George McGovern offers the people of the United
States their only hope of creatively emerging from
the wilderness.
Barry Pilger
7VS J? 'f rtlwawW
The era of the one-room schoolhouse is still with us. An
October 1971 study revealed that there are a total of 103
one-teacher rural schools in Nebraska. These schools enroll five
or less pupils each.
There are 1,294 school districts in Nebraska, the state with
the greatest number. Texas follows with 1,167, Illinois with
1,146, and California with 1,117, Midwest states comparable to
Nebraska have far fewer districts. Colorado has 181; Iowa,
453; Kansas, 31 1; South Dakota, 233.
Nebraska has too many school districts. This decreases the
quality of education for students in rural areas and increases
the cost of education per student in those districts.
Why is Nebraska dragging its feet in reorganizing school
districts, an accomplished reform in other midwest states?
W.A. Schindler at the statistical services office of the State
Department of Education gives two reasons. Even though it
costs more to educate each of a small number of students,
most rural communities would be taxed more if they were to
consolidate with one or two other schools. This is because
more students would be given an education of higher uniforn.
quality. Rural areas are jealous of their independence and do
not want to forfeit a measure of local control.
Some consolidation has occured. In 1968 there were 2,172
districts; in 1949, 6,734. The number of districts, though
reduced, is still unworkable. Students are suffering from the
resulting inefficiency.
The October study makes it clear that the smaller the
school, the greater the chance that the quality of education
will be substandard. There are 990 unaccredited school
districts, 76 per cent of the total number. They train eight per
cent of all students enrolled, or 27,024. The enrollment in
these 990 unaccredited schools reflects their small size.
The unaccredited school offers less than a comprehensive
educational program, although it is approved and operates
legally.
Large schools, conversely, often receive the highest "A A
accredited" rating. Of the 26 school districts so designated, 24
are school systems with over 1,000 enrollments.
The lack of a standardized, accreditable high school
education throughout Nebraska has a distinguishable effect on
the quality of education at the University of Nebraska.
A survey of 181 high schools that sent students to the
University last fall showed that 102 schools had graduating
classes of 75 or less. Students from these schools comprised
over 20 per cent of the University enrollments.
There has been only limited success in educational
innovation at the University of Nebraska. Student response to
unstructured learning situations such as Centennial College and
the independent study course has been qualified.
Undoubtedly, the ability of University students to respond to
such educational settings is influenced by their previous
educational experience.
The high school student with a narrow range of educational
experience is likely to find the unstructured learning situation
confusing and stagnating. Educational reform at the University
depends, first and foremost, on student initiative and
responsiveness.
If there is to be educational reform at the university level,
there must first be reform of education in primary and
secondary schools. Rural Nebraska's public schools should'
consolidate to make the secondary education of uniformly
high quality.
This would be of significant value to the University and its
currently stunted, educational growth. School district
reorganization is the indispensable next step in statewide
educational reform.
PAGE 4
THE DAILY NEBRASKAN
THURSDAY, APRIL 27, 1972