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About APS Links
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About APS – History of Akron Public Schools
1920-28
In the 1920s, Akron school officials developed better ways
to serve students:
- An Americanization program was designed to help the many
Akron students who were first-generation Americans. Special
Americanization classes were held afternoons in the rubber
companies and evenings in some of our schools. Visiting teachers
came to homes to teach English, shopping and home management to
foreign housewives.
- A "continuation school" began for working boys and girls who
were required by law to have at least four hours of schooling a
week. The slogan was "earn more and learn more"; students were
taught brick-laying, shorthand, forging, etc.
- The "platoon" system was expanded. In this approach, classes
were split into two. In the morning, half the students went to
English, history, etc., while the other half went to gym,
literature, etc. After lunch, the classes switched. In 1924, our
platoon schools attracted visitors from all over the country.
Our schools also tried to be responsive to the needs of the
business world. In 1920, businessmen complained to Superintendent Carroll Reed
(1920-25) about the way school mathematics was taught. Reed asked them for
suggestions; within months, Akron courses included lessons on check writing, tax
computation and borrowing.
Things were going well for Reed and the district until the Ku Klux
Klan wielded its influence on the Board of Education. In the 1920s, Akron had
become a stronghold in the north for the Klan; and many people in the government
were members. In January 1925, the Klan gained a majority of Board membership,
causing Reed to resign with three years left on his contract. The Klan majority
on the Board selected George McCord (1925-28) as superintendent, which caused
the three non-Klan Board members to resign. The Non Political League (NPL) was
formed to free the schools of Klan control; and, by 1927, the NPL had won the
three vacant Board posts. In 1928, the anti-Klan faction had a majority on the
Board and told McCord he wouldn't be rehired. In fact, McCord was never allowed
to hold any school position in the state of Ohio after he left Akron.
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Delinquents
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We read in the papers
We hear on the air
Of killings and stealing
And crime everywhere
We sigh and we say,
As we notice the trend
"This young generation"
Where will it end?
But can we be sure
That it's their fault alone?
That maybe most of it
Is really our own?
Too much money to spend
Too much idle time,
Too many movies
On passion and crime.
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Too many books
Not fit to be read
Too much evil
In what they hear said.
Too many children
Encouraged to roam
By too many parents
Who won't stay at home.
Kids don't make the movies,
They don't write the books
That paint the gay picture
Of gangsters and crooks.
They don't make the liquor,
They don't run the bars.
They don't make the laws.
They don't drive the cars.
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They don't make the drugs
That addle the brain.
It's all done by older folks
Greedy for gain.In so many cases,
It must be confessed
The label "delinquent"
Fits older folks best. |
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–
dated 1923 |
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