The 1958 Regular Session of the General Assembly of Virginia created the Commission on Public Education and, by Senate Joint Resolution No. 14, directed it "to make a thorough study and report upon the public school system of Virginia ... " The Commission made a report to the 1960 General Assembly, including a number of recommendations both to the Legislature and to the public school authorities. It was not able to complete its study in the time allocated, and therefore recommended to the General Assembly that the study be continued. Pursuant to this recommendation, the General Assembly adopted House Joint Resolution No. 58, 1960.

The following were reappointed as members of the Commission: By the President of the Senate: George S. Aldhizer, II, of Broadway, and William B. Spong, Jr., of Portsmouth. By the Speaker of the House of Delegates: D. French Slaughter, Jr., of Culpeper; and by the Governor: Honorable Jerry G. Bray, Jr., Judge of the Corporation Court of the City of South Norfolk; James W. Fletcher, Attorney at Law, Sperryville; Thomas L. Lanier, Treasurer, Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, Newport News; William S. Mundy, Jr., member, Lynchburg City School Board and Attorney at Law, Lynchburg; Harold W. Ramsey, Superintendent of Schools, Franklin County, Rocky Mount; and Mrs. Bess Willis Shrader, Chairman, Amherst County School Board, Amherst. In addition, the Speaker of the House of Delegates appointed the following members of the House to the Commission: Thomas R. Glass of Lynchburg and W. Roy Smith of Petersburg.

The Governor again designated William B. Spong, Jr., as Chairman of the Commission.

Mr. Slaughter was again elected Vice-Chairman of the Commission. John B. Boatwright, Jr., was named Secretary and the following acted, from time to time, as Recording Secretaries: F. W. Harkrader, Jr., W. S. Kincheloe, Jr., and G. M. Lapsley.

The untimely death of Mr. Mundy on April 19, 1961, deprived the Commission of the wise counsel of an able and interested member. The Commission desires to record its sincere regret at his death and its indebtedness to him for the valuable assistance which he had theretofore rendered.

At its organization meeting the Commission conferred with Davis Y. Paschall, then Superintendent of Public Instruction, as to the implementation of its previous recommendations. Dr. C. Jackson Salisbury, of the University or Virginia, was again retained by the Commission to head its professional staff.

During the course of the study Dr. Salisbury was assisted by: Dr. J. Alex Rorer, Professor of Educational Supervision; Mr. Lawrence T. Ludwig, Director of Physical Education; Dr. Richard L. Beard, Associate Professor of Education; Dr. Emery P. Bliesmer, Director, McGuffey Reading Clinic; Mr. Raymond C. Heidloff, Associate Professor of Physical Education; Dr. John F. Leahy, Assistant Professor of Education; Dr. Charles Norford, Director of Audio-Visual Instruction; Dr. Stanley S. Stahl, Associate Professor of Elementary Education; Dr. Frank W. Banghart, Director, Division of Educational Research; Dr. James H. Bash, Associate Director, Division of Teacher Placement and Field Services; Dr. James D. Beaber, Coordinator of Special Education; Mr. James E. Colbert and Mr. Stewart Christiano, research associates; and lVf r. Robert Maidment, graduate student, all of the University of Virginia; and Dr. James Fox, Head, Department of Health and Physical Education of Lynchburg College.

An agenda for study was agreed upon which established as a priority of subjects for consideration those matters suggested for inquiry for the Commission at the conclusion of its first report.

The members of the Commission met a minimum of once a month from the time the Commission was reorganized. No compensation or per diem was paid the membership and there has been expended on the study during the biennium $17,500.00 out of the funds appropriated to the Commission by the 1960 General Assembly.

Early in its deliberations the Commission resumed its study of teacher training and in this connection obtained the views on the training of elementary school teachers from Dr. Beulah Benton Tatum of Goucher College, Baltimore and the following representatives of the teacher training institutions in Virginia: Admiral A. D. Chandler, Chancellor, The Colleges of William and Mary in Virginia; Dr. Davis Y. Paschall, President of the College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, and Dr. H. K. Holland, Head of the Department of Education of that institution; Dr. Ralph W. Cherry, Dean of the School of Education of the University of Virginia; Dr. A. T. Harris, Director, School of Education, Virginia State College; Dr. Francis G. Lankford, Jr., President, Longwood College; Dr. Charles K. Martin, Jr., President, Radford College; and Dr. G. Tyler Miller, President, and Dr. C. G. Caldwell and Dr. R. G. Poindexter of the faculty of Madison College.

Desiring to learn at first hand the opinions of Virginians about their schools, the Commission held a series of public hearings in the month of November, 1960. These were held in a city in each congressional district in the State-Harrisonburg, Alexandria, Fredericksburg, Abingdon, Roanoke, Danville, Petersburg, Richmond, Newport News and Norfolk. These hearings were well attended. Much of the planning for the hearings was done through the Virginia State Chamber of Commerce, and the local chambers of each of the cities in which the Commission sat aided with arrangements. In addition, the Commission solicited and received many written expressions of opinion from classroom teachers. The assistance of those who communicated their views is gratefully acknowledged.