BUILDING FOR SCHOOL AND COMMUNITY - Kennedy Bibliothek

47. However, the rural-to-urban trend has slowly reversed itself in the
last 10-20 years, as city people have moved to the suburbs and into smaller
towns and rural areas around our cities. Some of the most populated States
have actually experienced slight decreases in population in recent years,,
and States in the South and West are growing rapidly. The effect of these
population movements on the schools has been enormous.
48. The variety of services offered to youth and children by the schools
expanded as America's population grew during the 1950's. School buildings
were built to meet the requirements of this growing and moving population,
and schools became even more central to the communities as education was
seen as the way to better oneself and one's standard of living. With a
growing economy and the recognition of greater educational needs, money
became more available for the schools. Facilities, programs, and services
were expanded greatly.
4g# In the last few years, however, these trends have been dramatically
reversed, raising urgent questions about the future directions of school
programs. When the economy went into a recession, money for innovations
decreased as local tax bases remained the same or decreased. State and
Federal money for education, though greatly increased in the last twenty
years, has not been able to fully meet the increased demands.
50. At the same time, the population distribution by age has been changing
rapidly. The number of elementary school pupils has been declining since
fall 1967, and, although the number of secondary school pupils continued
to increase through fall 1975, the number of elementary and secondary
school pupils together has been declining since it peaked around 1970 and
1971. The decline in elementary school enrollments is expected to continue
through fall 1983, that of secondary school enrollments through fall 1986,
and that of elementary and secondary enrollments together through fall
1984. The result of declining enrollments and population shifts is a
growing number of empty classrooms across'the country.
51 . There are also increasing numbers of older citizens as the average
life span continues to increase. In 1970 there were 12.4 million adults
between 65 and 74 years of age and another 7.5 million over 75. With retirement
ages being slowly lowered, retirees often have 15 to 20 years in
which they can develop completely new life styles and new careers.
52.• As the world becomes more complex, needed job skills change and people
are confronted with more information about more topics every day.
American adults are expressing an increased need for vocational training and
continuing education. To insure quality education for their children,
parents are also expressing their view on a wide variety of controversial
educational issues and demanding a greater role in the schools of their
communities.
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