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mm hmm. How do you do for the next few minutes I would like to talk to you about television and in particular about a special kind of television service. There's little question that television is one of the most powerful media of communication ever devised by man.

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And as such, it has a proper role in education. Educational television must be looked upon as another means of transmitting knowledge. In this role it takes its place alongside the stone tablet, the printing press, textbooks, motion picture, film and radio as a tool for spreading knowledge

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and truth. One of the primary responsibilities of a democracy as we know it is to provide for the education of its people. At this time when our entire educational system is under scrutiny, any means that can be used to improve and strengthen that system should be

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employed. SaN Francisco is fortunate in having one of the outstanding educational television stations in the country Station Kqed on Channel nine, operated by the nonprofit Bay Area Educational Television Association has been honored and recognized with many awards for its pioneering and its leadership in the field

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of educational tv. Since 1954, when it first began operation, it has increased its service from six hours a week To its present schedule of 40 hours. It has steadily improved its service to the adult population of the Bay area and last fall expanded its service into

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an area that has been the goal of those visionary educators Who worked so diligently eight or 10 years ago to have the government set aside television channels for educational use. I am speaking of using television for transmission of formal educational programs prepared and presented by professional

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teachers into the classrooms. Come Currently, one third of San Francisco's 90,000 students receive some television instruction now. Under this plan provided by Kqed, other districts such as in the East Bay participate more fully. It takes money to provide such service. Kqed estimates that it costs $120,000

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a year. Part of that expense has been rated among the school district according to the size of their enrollment At $0.45 per student. The Ford Foundation has underwritten the project with a $25,000 grant to help get the service going, but that contribution was only for this

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one school year Kqed figured the $0.45 per student rate on the basis of having full participation from each school district. Yeah, but many districts like SAN Francisco have come in for only part of their enrollment, fortunately the Ford Foundation grant helped cover the breach. Now to

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offset the loss of the Ford Foundation grant next year and to continue its service Kqed will have to raise its fee by 15 cents per student. That means for example, San Francisco will have to pay nearly $20,000 instead of $13,000 they are now paying. Yes. Yeah,

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if more schools and more classrooms and more students use the service. The cost per unit would come down If for example all of San Francisco's 90,000 students were brought into the program along with thousands from other school districts. The pro rated fee might stay at $0.45

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cents or conceivably may even be reduced this year. KQED will lose money on this service With school fees only accounting for about $50,000. It is estimated that Kqed will stand to lose about $40,000 next year. It can't afford to do that. Remember, there will be no

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ford foundation grant next year. Mhm. The people of SAN Francisco should be very much concerned about the problem. They fought hard and diligently to make possible their educational television channel always with an eye on the important service to schools now that this service has been started,

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it must be either fully developed or it will die. That's the time to look into this situation. Is now several days ago, the SAN Francisco school board faced the problem but did not come to a conclusion. The superintendent of schools at that time recommended continuing next

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year at the same level of 1 3rd participation as they are doing this year. Other school districts have indicated a similar viewpoint. So unless the school authorities changed their minds, educational television for in school use will soon atrophy and disappear. It would be an abandonment of

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our obligation to our Children. If this greatest of all mass communication media fails because of our indifference to meet this tremendous potential as an educational tool. Mm hmm. We urge the school authorities to appraise seriously the implications and to reconsider their decisions with the support of

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the public. This is possible. Being concerned with its Children's education, we feel the public will make known its position to their school boards, television can and does inform and instruct as well as entertain where better to inform or rather to start informing and instructing then right

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in the classroom. Thank you very much. Right.