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This article examines the need for improving education in the U.S. A certain quiet may seem to have settled over the educational scene during the summer months. No spate of headlines or broadcasts, at least, has reflected any barrage of criticism. According to the journal "Southern School News" for August 1956 the continuation of school segregation was not, in Tennessee, an issue as prominent politically as first predicted. Meanwhile, in Texas continued school segregation was a dominant issue of primary elections, though the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held in the Mansfield school case that local opinion was not of itself a sufficient reason for denying African American children the right to enroll in an all-white school. Schools and school people have their character shaped, their values enhanced or thwarted, however, by the nature of local opinion, as has been made abundantly clear in Clinton and in Mansfield. The order of a federal judge to bring an end to segregation in the public schools of Charlottesville, Virginia, in the fall of 1956 was no more effective in getting immediate action than was the determination of the Catholic Bishop in New Orleans to end segregation in parochial schools at the same time.

The article presents information on helping parents understand what is now known about the teaching of reading, what advice to give them with respect to ways in which they may help their children in this critical area of learning with reference to certain books on the subject. The book "Why Johnny Can't Read," is read in relationship to other books that challenge its swashbuckling style. According to one survey, 86 per cent of the high schools in the United States use "free films" in the classroom as direct teaching aids or as general background information. Thomas E. Cooney in his article "Sometimes Good Things Are Free," reveals the plight of the mailman as he considers the problem of educators in dealing with the teaching aids private groups now supply the schools. Cooney calls attention to the standards suggested by the American Association of School Administrators in a pamphlet titled, "Choosing Free Materials. He believes the mailman may have to ring twice, or more, however. Educators maintain a healthy skepticism toward these offerings.

Discusses the policy adopted by professional educators. Independent mind of professional educator; Fact that there is no conspiracy either among educators or their critics; Suggestion that everybody should try to act in terms that are consistent with the objectivity which students should achieve.