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. . . predentin^ DELDS JOHNS Swina nominee ior
by MORI GREINER
CcTN an alphabetical age," says Delos
X Johns, '1 intend making the letters E.S.C. as familiar to the public as the name of any government bureau."
October is slated to be a month of intense activity for the E.S.C, and if for no reason than that the cryptic designation fits so neatly into a head' line, around Kansas City the odds on Mr. Johns making good his boast are currently quoted at seven to five.
Johns is an affable, energetic man nearing 50. A smooth but pointed speaker, he is much in the headlines himself, and so is the organi2;ation behind the letters, the Emergency School Committee.
The Committee was formed in Mayor Kemp's office last spring during a meeting of parties interested in the Kansas City public schools: labor unions, voters leagues, educational and civic groups, the Chamber of Commerce. It resulted from a resolution introduced by Mr. Johns.
At the moment, the school situation was critical. Under the antiquated Missouri School Tax Law of 1931, the Kansas City Board of Education was attempting to meet inflation-era costs with a depression-era income. It was going to fall, a hasty reckoning showed, about two million dollars short for the 1948-49 term. An attempt had been made to finance a
MAN OF THE MONTH
four-year school program by authorizing a property levy increase of eight and a half mills above the constitutional ten-mill limit.
Hotly contested by real estate interests, which took the position that state legislation should be amended to provide other sources of revenue, and only lukewarmly supported by the public, the levy proposal was annihilated at the polls.
The public's negative reaction stemmed from lack of confidence in the incumbent school board, rather than any shortage of civic pride. The board was split by disunity, and so racked with petty bickering as to be almost ineffectual.
Delos Johns suggested that while a short-term compromise levy was being worked out for the voters' approval — something that would insure normal operation of the schools for at least a year — a committee begin an investigation of possible revenue sources which might be recommended to the state legislature. So the E.S.C. was born.
Two weeks later, a one-year, sevenmill levy was submitted to the people and voted down.
Obviously, some immediate remedy was indicated. But more than that, the basic situation was in need of thorough examination and overhaul.