on c-span.org/city toward. -- city tours. in 1957, the soviet union orbit.d sputnik into american educators reacted with surprise and determination to improve education. next, the left commissioner report on the status of schools at the time. teacherssuggests that are underpaid, parents are apathetic and too many students drop out before they graduate. >> johnny is my given name. america is my nation. the schoolhouse is my learning place. ♪

>> johnny is my given name. narrator: that's a rhyme children used to scribble in their schoolbooks a long time ago, a time when the school was built, a time when we were proud of being educated. through the years, we've lost some of that pride, taken our education for granted, and even grown neglectful. all around us, things have been changing. we have gone from the one horse shade to the space satellite, and now schools have a lot to do with national security and our survival. now there's trouble. and we realize the trouble is with brains and training and technology. so, in 1957, a lot of americans began to take their schools a little more seriously.

this is a report on american schools in 1957, what they did, what they didn't do. what they needed and what they didn't need. it is a report by the office of education in washington. my name is alan edwards. here's the man who is making this report, united states commissioner of education, lawrence jeter thick. >> you know, americans are used to doing things in a big way. we have some pretty huge enterprises in this country. and one of the biggest of them all involves children. i'm talking about the american school system. anything that big has problems. the two major problems of our educational system involve teachers and classrooms. i wish i could say, as i began my first report to you, that we had a qualified teacher in every classroom in our nation. i can't, though. it's a sad fact that we are short about 135,000 teachers. and the shortage is growing

worse. why? i suppose the best way is to look at a teacher and find out one of the reasons. ♪ narrator: here's a gas station attendant. he works six hours a night, six nights a week. the difference between this gas station attendant and most others is that this one has a bachelors degree and a masters in education.

he's a teacher at a high school. and the reason he works at a gas station is because teaching doesn't pay him enough to support his wife and two children. he likes being a teacher, but he's beginning to get a little tired of working 14 hours a day. >> i don't know. what are you doing at 4:00 anyway? >> a lot of difference between what it is and what you thought it would be. you wanted to mold minds. you like the idea of being with young people.

you're building something and keeping young yourself. but that isn't the way it works out. there's a lot more, coming home late at night from the gas station, trying to get a few minutes work on the phd thesis, correcting papers, what you do and what you try to do. i don't know. he's thinking of quitting. and this teacher represents some of the reason why 95,000 men and women left teaching and one year. this year, 1957. america needs 135,000 more teachers.

and as the shortage grows, we hear sudden demands for teachers to turn out more scientists and technicians, a larger reservoir of skilled and informed citizens. is anything being done about this? not enough. teachers are well aware of the problems, but the public has been apathetic. to begin with, teachers must be kept free for the all-important work of teaching. teacher aides are one answer. some communities have them supervised laboratory work in high schools. or perform the clerical functions that take highly trained teachers' precious time. or the picking up after, all the things that keep the teacher from teaching. and then there's money. some of us spend more on our automobiles than the total salary of our teacher we ask to train our children.

you are the only people who can raise teachers salaries. you must understand their problem and then act. some communities are trying to do something about it. but others aren't, for the simple reason that many people don't care. only 10% of parents with school age children ever attend a pta meeting. over the years, there have been strong voices for action, organizations like the national education association. the nea celebrated its 100th birthday in 1957, 100 years dedicated to bettering education in america. ♪ narrator: another organization, the future teachers of america, is trying to introduce more youngsters to teaching. this is a step in the right direction.

too few have heeded the warnings about the teacher shortage, a shortage made frighteningly evident by the present global crisis. ♪ narrator: there is a very real connection between the crisis in our schools and the crisis in american technology. american citizens must solve the teachers problems. we have a choice. either pay the price of devotion or pay a far greater price in years to come, when our teacher shortage goes from a crisis to the blackness of american tragedy. >> right now, our states and local communities are putting in a really heroic effort to solve the classroom shortage. but like mice on a treadmill, we have to run furiously just to stay in one place.

america, no matter how we figure it, was short 159,00 classrooms in 1957. about one million children right now are being shortchanged in their deserved education because of half-day sessions. if a child should have half-day sessions from the elementary grade through high school, is robbed of 2.5 years of schooling. years he can never get back. ♪ narrator: this is a school in an american city. schools like this were built years ago. they might have been replaced, but the second world war prevented that. so, here they stand, decaying. ♪

narrator: we wouldn't live in buildings like these, but a good many american kids are educated in them. the war froze building materials, but it did not slow up the baby boom. children kept right on being born, but no one was building schools. the result, classroom shortage. right now, we need 159,000 more classrooms. there are reasons for the shortage. the war was won. another was something called population mobility. people are moving. arriving and departing. deserting one area, building up another. and so in one place, this much classroom space isn't needed

anymore. in another place, it's desperately needed. ♪ narrator: aside from depriving a good many children of proper

education, overcrowded classrooms mean overworked. one of reasons why a lot of teachers want to quit. an answer to the problem is the regional schools. one school shared by two or more communities who can't individually afford new buildings and teachers. children learning together, and learning better because two committees saw a problem and met it. ♪ narrator: an idle school is expensive. there are various ways of making such a school pay for itself in

the off-season. year-round classes might be one answer. another is evening classes for adults. new citizens learning about america. the idle school can be used for special classes for young people who have to catch up or move ahead faster. special classes for handicapped children. ♪

narrator: sometimes the federal government creates a sudden increase in population in an area as a large military establishment. here, the government helps build schools. next year, congress will again take up the debate for federal aid to school construction and many other aspects of education. these are only partial answers. the main answer has to come from your local community. so far, your community has not solved the problems. >> new schools. that's sure going to shoot the tax rate up. $40 this year, $42 next year. what we need is a little economy around here. narrator: sure, we do. but then we better economize on our children. ♪ narrator: on their brains and on their future, if we aren't willing to spend it on schools.

a child, your child maybe. just what is his future worth? >> children like this one. this is eric. at the moment, he is five years old and very preoccupied with that truck he's playing with there. eric is really quite unaware for what lies ahead for him. but we are not unaware of what lies ahead for eric. we are very concerned because eric is going to be faced with a problem far more difficult than any that faced his grandfathers, a world plunged into the sudden reality of what had once been man's maddest dreams of achievement. basically, above and beyond the vital components of teachers and classrooms. it's a job involving the very thing that eric is going to be taught, all summed up in the one

word, curriculum. narrator: look at all these people and all this material. what is it all for? to educate a single child, not a class of children, but one, single child. it looks like a great deal, but it takes a great deal to put one child all the way through school. eric is in the middle of his elementary schooling. 50 or 60 years ago, when his grandfather was in the same grade, he got reading, writing, arithmetic, period. let's listen to what eric's learning this morning. >> [speaking foreign language] that is the noun. the verb is in the present tense in that sentence. the cat is on the table. narrator: french. >> whoever heard of teaching french in grade school, of all

things? why in the world would anybody want to learn french? narrator: why in the world? well, for one thing, the world has gotten a lot smaller since you went to school. right now, america needs linguists to translate vitally important writings, and we don't have enough of them. >> well, all right. but you know what they did in school today? they had an election. what do you think of that? narrator: how old were you before you understood the way our government works? eric understands at his age. even though he lost the election. >> french. elections. what happened to the things we learned in school? narrator: they're still taught, but differently, and made a little more interestingly, a little more in tune with the world our kids will have to live in. it's a big job, but it gets bigger.

♪ narrator: and eric gets bigger. suddenly he isn't playing on swings and slides anymore. he's in high school and he's at the point of deciding what he's going to do for the rest of his life. if he's lucky, he'll go to a high school that has a counseling system to help him make the right decision. ♪ >> well, we've gotten your test scores and it looks to us if you ought to think seriously about engineering.

now, there are several courses here i would like to recommend to you. narrator: so, eric agreeing, he starts in. math classes, drafting classes, all the things his career will demand of him. ♪ narrator: all the things good health demands of him. all the things that life demands of him. all the things that he demands of his school. that is the problem. how much we demand of our schools. >> the schools ought to teach matters vitally important. >> i want my boy to learn a trade. >> dentistry. >> typing. >> hairdressing. >> ceramics. >> cooking. >> fix cars.

narrator: how much should the schools do? some people seem to feel that the schools should do just about everything, everything that homes and clubs and communities used to do. some seem to feel that the schools should endlessly give and get no increase in salaries, no increase in funds, and no increase in personnel. the time has come to redefine the function of schools. the time has come to decide just what it is our schools must teach, and to relieve them of those tasks that others should rightfully assume. this too, you must decide. >> let me give you an example or two about how desperately america needs well-trained men. by 1960, operators for 210 atomic reactors will be needed. by 1980, they think we'll need 90 times that number. only high school graduates need

apply. to meet all of these demands, we have one final thought, the problem of persuading young americans to stay in school. to go on to college. narrator: 10 american high school students and the statisticians have figured out just what's going to happen to them. four won't finish high school for one reason or another. of these six who will graduate, three will go on to college. and of these three who go on to college, one and a half will graduate, one and a half of 10 now in high school will graduate from college, 150 out of 1000, a pretty small percentage for a country that is suddenly come to realize that its survival depends on highly trained brainpower. this girl just quit high school. why?

>> i just can't keep my daughter interested in school anymore. she wants clothes and a lot of things we can't afford to give her. narrator: yes, she wanted the glamour and pay of a good job. so she went job hunting. ♪ narrator: only high school graduates need apply. so, she ends up taking what she can get. tests have shown that she could -- would be capable of much more with the right education. sometimes a student has no choice in the matter. this boy should be in college. he works for a company which employs scientists and engineers. with enough education, someday he might be a scientist or engineer. but even though america desperately needs scientists, this boy sorts mail.

if it were not so unfortunate for the people involved and the nation involved, it would be a little ridiculous. first, the girl who wanted a good job, wise counseling could have corrected her misconceptions. >> there are a lot of things you have to figure on. the first is what we call job limitation. if you leave now, you want -- you aren't equipped to do very much or earn very much. here in school, you can learn typing, shorthand, and other skills that will help you get a better job immediately after you finish high school. narrator: but how do you get the money for him? scholarships are one answer. this book, put out by the office of education, lists hundreds of them. but these are not enough to go around. america's problem is deeper than money. it's deeper than the need for aids and grants. the problem involves our entire concept of education, not just

problems of teachers, education, and student dropouts. here's a problem for a big nation, a rich nation, a nation perhaps so content with the material that it has neglected the intellectual. the time has come for america to realize that our citadel now is the intelligence, imagination, and curiosity of the trained mind. we cannot fortify america's educational system with teachers who can make more by driving a truck. in buildings unfit to house the children of america. by the waste of latent ability. the answer lies not in the stars, but very close to every american, as close as your own child. and as close as the school your child attends. if we understand our schools problems, spend for its services, comprehend its limitations, then shall we be armed, spiritually, physically.

then shall we have a peace rich with the wonders only the mind of a man can create. >> this, in essence, is my first annual report to you on the problems and progress of american education. naturally, it is impossible to include in this short time, the total story of american education in any one year. so, we have concentrated on a few major areas. inevitably, the problems of american education come back to the local community. if the problems are there, we must start there to find the answers. how do you want these youngsters to grow up? math taught because there isn't sufficient classroom space for them?

indifferently taught because the teaching profession may fail to uphold its outstanding people? half taught and prepared only for mediocrity because nobody encouraged them to stay in school? any or all of these things could happen to the children in your community unless you take an active interest in your school, in all schools, and express the interest meaningfully. express it in letters to your school board. city and county officials. state and national legislators. finally, to conclude this report on education in 1957, it is a pleasure to introduce the honorable marion be fulsome, secretary of health, education,

marion b. folsom, secretary of health, education, and welfare. mr. folsom. >> here in america, the welfare and happiness of the individual citizen is a goal of our society. we believe this world is governed by moral law. we believe that in such a world, there is infinite worth and dignity in the individual human spirit. out of this belief comes greatness as a nation. the all around the world today, liberty and freedom are challenged by a system of tyranny. that system holds as a goal of life for each individual, to study the materialistic letters to the state. the communist state, therefore, according to the government concept of the national enemies. in this struggle between liberty and tyranny, between morality and materialism, our free education system plays a crucial role which best meets the needs of its people. an education in large part determines how effectively american people work in the cause of human welfare.

each person in america, therefore, has a tremendous personal stake in meeting and solving the problems of education, which have been discussed on this program. these problems are grave and they are upon is now. now is the time for each of us to accept our responsibility to support better schools and colleges for all young people. now is the time to act on this responsibility. in so doing, there've our own future and the cause of freedom everywhere. ♪ [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2020] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

>> american history tv is on social media. follow us on c-span history. ago on july 15, 19 45, the secret manhattan project culminated when the first atomic bomb exploded in the new mexico desert. atomic bombs on top of hiroshima and nagasaki, japan. the atomic bomb project was so secret that harry truman did not know about it until roosevelt died april 12, 1945. next on american history tv, president truman's grandson

participates in a national world war ii museum discussion titled franklin d roosevelt, harry truman and manhattan project. joining him is director paul historian ed engle. -- edward lengel. edward: i am edward lengel. i'm joined today by two gentlemen. the first is paul sparrow, who is director of the franklin d roosevelt presidential museum and library in hyde park, new york, following a career as a documentary filmmaker and a senior executive at the museum. paul has been directing the roosevelt library museum since 2015. he will be talking obviously about fdr and the manhattan project. our second guest is clifton truman daniel who is the eldest grandson of president harry truman.