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University Daily Kansan
Tuesday, May 21, 1963
We Still Need More
It has been pointed out, and fairly, that a recent Kansan editorial—by inference—leads a person to assume that all the good teachers are leaving Kansas and only the second-raters are staying.
The editorial in question pointed out that an outstanding teacher is leaving KU. It was also pointed out that he is leaving because he can get more money elsewhere.
But it certainly is fallacious to infer (as the editorial tended to do) that things are so bad in Kansas that only the dregs of the teaching barrel remain in the state.
THE SAME EDITORIAL expressed distress over the apparent lack of leadership in the state to fight for better salaries for teachers.
But the fact remains that Kansas is losing good teachers because the state is not among the leaders in the national salary scale.
THOSE WHO ARE staying in Kansas are by no means starving. Their children are not forced into the streets with tin cups nor do their wives take in washing or scrub floors (for money).
Happily, there are many good teachers who remain in Kansas and more are coming and will continue to come. At every school in the state there are teachers who challenge the minds of the students.
And it is unfair to those teachers who have
the loyalty to stay in Kansas. There should be no penalty attached to loyalty and devotion.
IT WAS POINTED out that the editorial writer was misinformed when he said that responsible state leaders are not working to improve the situation. Reappraisal seems to show that the editorial did tend to over-generalize and ignore staunch efforts by state leaders.
But again we are left with the fact that Kansas is not a leader in teachers' salaries. It should be. No one doubts the importance of education. The question remains unanswered, we hope, if Kansas leaders are willing to pay the price of superior education.
Let us hope so.
THEY CANNOT BE expected to ignore basic obligations to their families just for the sake of remaining loyal to Kansas.
But in the meantime let us be thankful, no doubly thankful, for the teachers who remain loyal to Kansas in the face of more tempting salaries elsewhere.
The purpose of that editorial and this one too is to try to increase interest which will result in higher teacher salaries. If it is nothing but a plaintive cry in the night—chalk it up to the breaks of the game. No one expects editorials to become the law of the land. But we still can hope—for higher teacher salaries.
— Terry Murphy
"Ask The Un-American Activities Committee to Investigate What This Strange Flag Is Doing Down Here"
Urban Growth Brings Government Problems
Bv Jerry Musil
The rapid growth of urban centers in the United States is a well documented fact. Census figures reveal that approximately 57 per cent of the nation's population is concentrated in 174 metropolitan areas. The population in these districts has increased about 50 per cent more rapidly since 1900 than has the population of the nation as a whole.
Along with this phenomenal growth of urban areas has been the exodus of the more prosperous economic groups from the core city to the suburbs and their replacement with inhabitants who are less economically favored and who are unable to make their contribution to the support of the city.
THIS RAPID, ever-changing growth has brought new problems to cities and their governments. But the governments themselves are the biggest problem of all. This problem includes both the large number of governmental units and the outmoded local governmental structure.
The archaic and outmoded structure of local governments makes the problem two-pronged. If something goes wrong, the voter has no idea whom to blame. Ballots are too long to permit intelligent choices. Problem breeds problem, frustration spawns frustration.
The conflicts of authority,duplications, overlapping of activities and the jealousies and distrust make rational solution of problems highly unlikely. And integration of these functions is even more doubtful.
The Bureau of Census reported in 1957 that there were 15,658 units of local government in the 174 metropolitan areas, or about 90 units per area. The New York-Northeastern New Jersey area had 1,674 local units and the Chicago area had 954 units in 1957.
ONE EXPLANATION for this continuing situation of local government disintegration is the lack of metropolitan community consciousness and the prevalence of local government loyalties. Suspicion and distrust of the big city or county are characteristic of almost all metropolitan communities.
But the situation is not all black. Some communities have dealt effectively with the problem of too many governmental units and their outmoded structure by instituting one of several different plans of metronolitan government.
of the most effective extraterriorial powers has been extended powers of cities to control planning, zoning and subdivision outside the city limits.
Perhaps the easiest method to employ is to grant extraterritorial jurisdiction to the city, usually by an act of the state legislature. One
But the granting of extraterritorial powers is limited in its possibilities. These powers usually solve only attendant problems — zoning, water, health, sewage disposal — and not the major problem of too many governmental units.
ANOTHER PLAN is the inter-jurisdictional agreement which solves, or partially solves, specific functional problems of the area. These agreements take three main forms — contracts between a governmental unit with ample facilities and services and weaker units unable to supply these services; contracts between two or more units unable to finance the services individually; or an informal agreement, usually between police departments in exchanging services designed to capture criminals.
But disadvantages are inherent in this plan too. Again only specific problems are attacked, and no provision made for consolidating unneeded units of government. Also, the weakest and most inefficient local government can block needed service contracts for selfish reasons.
The third plan provides a solution when the local governmental units cannot agree upon a practicable arrangement. Then direct action by the state is possible. State action is easy to get, since state legislatures have broad powers over municipalities. The usual type of state action is centralizing highway control, welfare and educational functions, etc.
FEDERAL ACTION has one distinct advantage over state action. In metropolitan areas crossing state lines, more extensive consolidation through federal aid is possible. But many local government officials do not like state action, let alone interference by the federal government. They feel that those closer to the problem are in a better position to observe possible implications and devise proper solutions.
Another possibility is probably distasteful to many persons, but already has attained somewhat extensive use. Direct federal action—highway construction, urban renewal, flood control, civil defense and numerous others—already has become an established method of helping cities over financial humps.
About 70 per cent of all metropolitan areas are within the same county, and the fifth solution deals specifically with these areas. This
would mean the transferring of county governments in metropolitan areas into metropolitan units.
One of the biggest advantages of the urban city is that it corresponds to the metropolitan area. Also it offers a method for working out the most appropriate type of metropolitan consolidation. A further advantage is its simplicity. It does not call for the creation of another governmental unit as most plans do. If used properly, it may mean a decrease in the number of units in the area.
As in most man-made devices, it has its disadvantages. First, as the metropolitan area continues to expand, the county unit may become inadequate. Also, unless the county structure and personnel are improved, voters may be reluctant to approve consolidation of functions.
THE SIXTH PLAN calls for the establishment of metropolitan special districts. These districts assume responsibility for one particular function such as sewage disposal, flood control or park and recreation management. The best known special district is the New York Port Authority.
These districts can be created to meet specific needs of metropolitan area. Another advantage is its finances. Since many projects are self-liquidating, state constitution debt limits often do not apply. Also, each government unit retains its identity and virtually all of its original powers.
One disadvantage, however, is the tendency to create a new district for each new project, with the result of more government units to cloud the situation. The special district also causes delays and renders the development of a comprehensive scheme for more effective government most difficult.
The seventh plan for solving metropolitan problems is annexation, the most common method used. Annexation is accomplished by special legislation, general legislation applied to each of several classes of cities and legislation providing for annexation after a favorable vote of the inhabitants of both the present city and the proposed annexed area.
ANNEXATION HAS the advantage of simplicity if broadly applied. There is just one government to deal with all problems. Also, the complete integration of the area should reduce costs of providing facilities and rendering services that previously were either nonexistent or expensive.
One disadvantage to annexation is that it has failed to provide a
permanent solution to the problem. Also, annexation is not an adequate solution when the metropolitan area crosses state lines. The last disadvantage is that voters oppose the loss of identity of the community in which they live.
City-county consolidation has some merit for metropolitan areas that coincide with the boundaries of a single county. The main advantage of this plan is the simplification of governmental organization in the new county. There is but one set of officials instead of two or more, with the resulting reduction of governmental costs, more comprehensive and effective planning and more adequate and better-administered services.
But again, disadvantages arise. The plan is usually not comprehensive enough. It meets with the question of increased costs to residents of some areas. Also, some persons say that merging better-governed suburban units with the larger city means poorer services for the suburbs.
THE OPPOSITE of consolidation is city-county separation. In this plan, the metropolitan area is detached from the county and becomes a separate unit. When correctly applied, certain duplication is eliminated, but the plan has much less to recommend it than other plans mentioned.
Probably the most serious disadvantage is the condition in which the remaining part of the county is left. With mostly rural and small towns as a tax base, county residents experience a big drop in the level of services.
The last plan closely resembles the national-state system of federalism outlined in the Constitution. The central governing body would have the powers set forth in the charter and the local governments within the area would retain all the powers they were accustomed to exercise except those shifted to the central government.
Although no U.S. metropolitan area has put this plan into effect, the New York borough plan often has been cited as a close approximation. One disadvantage of this plan is that it does not incorporate the fast-growing suburban areas. But this plan does offer considerable advantages to U.S. metropolitan areas.
The metropolitan areas must begin to solve their problems before they become completely engulfed in inefficiency and decreased revenue. The cities must find additional sources of revenue to replace that loss when the upper classes move to the suburbs.
And one of the metropolitan plans, or a combination of them, offers the best opportunity to many areas to pull themselves out of the doldrums.
Daily Transan
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