United Automobile Worker

CIO Endorses Candidates for School Board

Three CIO-endorsed candidates have filed for the February 21st primary for the Detroit Board of Education. Mrs. Jane Lovejoy, James Lincoln and Pat McNamara are backed by the Wayne County CIO Council, the UAW-CIO, the Detroit and Wayne County Federation of Labor, Americans for Democratic Action (ADA), and the Better Schools Association.

At the heart of the CIO platform on education is the goal of no more than 30 pupils to a class. To do this CIO emphasizes the need for increased buildings, more trained teachers and efficient use of school money. This necessitates an increased budget from local, state and federal funds. With smaller classes it will be possible not only to do an excellent job of teaching the three R's but many additional subjects as well, including good citizenship and community responsibility.

The three CIO-endorsed candidates, Mrs. Lovejoy, Jim Lincoln and Pat McNamara, also emphasize the need for community participation in the schools. They pledge to secure increased use of school facilities for community activities, full explanations to the public of the Board of Education's program and action, and a full hearing for every citizen delegation. In addition they promise a full accounting to taxpayers of where the money comes from and exactly where it is spent, with well announced public hearings before the budget is approved.

Additional points of the CIO platform include a school program that will meet the needs of the 42 per cent who leave school before graduation, adequate counselling of high school students and more classroom space per building dollar.