Conant Says Schools Will Need $8 Billion Within Next 10 Years

American schools will need approximately $8 billion in federal or state aid during the next ten years, James B. Conant '14, President Emeritus of Harvard University, said last night on the television program Youth Wants to Know.

Conant admitted that the use of government funds might permit considerable "federal influence" in secondary education, but maintained that the present school situation ought to be improved. He cited the NDEA disclaimer affidavit as an example of this influence, repeating the generally-held objections to the restrictions on students' beliefs in the article.

He pointed out that any communists desiring NDEA funds would probably disregard the oath and that for this reason it was virtually worthless. Asked if he favored Harvard's rejection of the program, he answered that he would have followed President Pusey's actions exactly.

According to Conant, a strong Department of Education in Washington would be the best defense against further instances of "federal influence."

During the half-hour show, he answered questions fired by a dozen students on subjects ranging from the NDEA to Russian education. He also touched upon the need for small classrooms and diversified curriculums in American schools, emphasizing the importance of the community in a school's "character."

Comparison between Soviet and U.S. schools is impossible, Conant said, since one can only contrast their relative usefulnesses to the two countries. The success of each can be measured only in the degree to which it produces adherents of communism or democracy.

Conant's usual answer to questions solely on the American system was that it was "hard to generalize." He was emphatic, however, on the disadvantages of a suggestion by Admiral Hyman G. Rickover that the United States instigate highly-selective, European-style schools, to which only the brightest students would be admitted. Admitting that some of these schools already in existence are very successful, he nevertheless felt that it would be cheaper to repair our current system than to set up a new one.