Little Red Poorhouse

By 1965, unless school funds match increasing enrollments, the U.S. will be a pauper in the midst of plenty. So declared the National Citizens Commission for the Public Schools, in a sobering 62-page forecast on school finance issued last week.

Key facts and figures.

¶ If the present tendency toward larger families continues as predicted, 48 million children will be of school age (5 to 17) by 1965, one-third more than this year's total. Merely to provide them with 1954-style facilities will boost annual school expenses from around $10 billion to at least $13.5 billion.

¶ To absorb the increase in pupils and bring all substandard school expenditures up to the present annual average ($247 per pupil) will require another $1.2 billion.

¶ A total of $17.1 billion will be required for all U.S. public schools to match the 1954 top outlay (by New York State, which spends $356 per year per pupil).

¶ Even spending $17.1 billion on education will hardly put a strain on the nation's pocketbook; by 1965 the U.S. is expected to produce $525 billion worth of goods and services (1953 figure: $365 billion).

How can the nation tap its increasing wealth for more public schools? The Citizens Commission takes no sides: either state or federal revenues "can provide the increase in the amounts required to educate 48 million children in 1965. The problem is to select the best [combination] to meet education requirements . . . at the local level without federal control."