Billions for Johnny

While the kids are still out on summer vacation, class is very much in session for the industry that supplies equipment and materials for the nation's schools. This month elementary and secondary schools will take delivery of 47% of their new supplies for the fall term, from scratchless chalk to luminous flagpole paint. During the coming year, the nation's 31,000 public school districts--not counting colleges or private schools--are expected to spend a record $1.7 billion for school equipment and supplies.

Sharing this market are 2,000 U.S. school-supply firms. They include not only the oldtime school-supply special ists such as Rand McNally (maps) and Milton Bradley (art materials), but such prestigious newcomers as Thompson Ramo Wooldridge (language laboratories) and IBM (class scheduling). Their market is enormous: 41,500,000 elementary and secondary students, each of whom this year will need about $16 worth of pencils, papers, erasers and teaching materials.

Whittle-Proof Desks. Though the main reason for the industry's growth has been the population explosion, new approaches to education also have a lot to do with it. Today's students are taught by advanced methods, served by an array of sophisticated products. At Fontana, Calif., this fall, fifth and sixth graders will watch pretaped lessons on marine biology on closed-circuit classroom TV screens. Another new departure is a device that permits instant testing of student comprehension by having the students push response buttons after lectures.

Also growing in popularity are transistorized learning labs in which students plug in earphones and hear pre-programmed lessons. When it comes to the basics, the ballpoint pen has just about done away with the inkwell, desks and chairs are increasingly light, modern and movable--and made of plastic so tough that the kids can't whittle their initials into them.

The biggest of the nation's more than 40 school-furniture makers is American Seating, whose sales this year will reach $50 million. Like many of its competitors, the firm tries to pioneer new trends. American Seating maintains elaborate research facilities where desks are tested by being banged with weights, chairs tilted back endlessly on two legs (40,000 tilts exhaust the life span of the average school-desk chair). Its research star is "Squirming Irma," a manikin that swivel-hips for thousands of hours in its seat in imitation of a fidgeting teenager.

Into College. Since most school-equipment buying is done on a bid basis, the industry suffers from price cutting that sometimes clips quality as well. It is also becoming an overcrowded industry in a relatively inelastic market; for the next three years the annual primary and secondary school population increase will be only about 1.7%.

But college enrollment is expected to expand by nearly 8% this year alone. Furthermore, there is talk of year-round school and more interest in adult education--both of which would require additional equipment. The continuing demands of the space age are shifting emphasis even further to the upper levels, where the students need ever more sophisticated equipment as well as the basics--desk, chairs, supplies--that are the ABCs of the industry.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.