The Saint Paul globe., 1902-03-30
PLANS OF The n. E. A.
FULLE 1900 TEACHERS WILL
ATTEND COMING CONVENTION
IN MINNEAPOLIS
LOCAL COMMITTEES AT WORK
Secretary Irwin Shepard VIII BE in
minneapolis Tomorrow With
Reports From Far
and Wide.

Secretary Irwin Shepard, of Winon. sec
retary, and, in fact, the general man
ager, director and ringmaster of the Ma
tlonal Educational association will meet
the local committees of the convention
committees in Minneapolis tomorrow to
discuss plans for the convention to be
held in Minneapolis in July. The entire
neld VIII be gone over, and the little odds
and ends of arrangements picked up.
Dr. Shepard will bring with him reports
received from every state in the Union
promising cordial and enthusiastic sup
port, and good attendance to cheer the
local committee and encourage them in
their strenuous labors of preparing to
entertain the 1900 visitors who will at
tend the convention. He will also hold
conference with the university regents
The reports received from teachers con-
tlnue to be of the encouraging kind Six
hundred Minneapolis teachers have al
ready promised their hearty support by a
regular attendance on the convention
Several hundred St Paul teachers have
done likewise, and from reports received
from various parts of the state it is esti-
mated that instead of the 900 Minnesota
teachers expected there will most likely
be an attendance of over 1900 Minnesota
teachers.
Wisconsin, Illinois, Kansas and Iowa
will furnish $500, SO the total of 1900 is
not thought to be at all too high.
Movement to Depose Clique.
Some time ago The Globe printed
an interview with a prominent Minnesota
educator to the effect that the Minneapo-
lis convention would be the proper place
to institute the long-predicted movement
for making the National association more
democratic in character, to do away with
the idea of centralized influence, and
making the association of a character to
appeal more directly and personally to
the individual teacher. That question is
being discussed more than ever, and there
seems to be no doubt that another effort
will be made to wrest the management of
the association from the grasp of the so
called exclusive clique which controls
1t. Whenever the association has come
West this effort has been made, and
whenever it seemed likely to succeed the
convention has been hustled back East
again. Now that it is in the West again,
and with a greater attendance promised
than ever, it is felt that it would be a
good time to overthrow the exclusive
clique and reform the national organi-
Zation- A well known educator said yes
terday: Whether or not there is basis
for it, it cannot be denied that the belief
is general that half dozen men run the
national association as they see fit, and
IHdC IH0 1HUlNluudl teachers 90 not take
| the interest in it which the Importance Of
| the work merits. 1t Is patent that the
| teachers in every state are far more in
! terested in, and display far more en-
| thusiasn over the meetings of the State
| Educational association, than they do
| over the meetings of the National associa-
| ton.
Payment of Dues Not Everything.
| Something should be done to make the
membership of the association consist of
something more than the mere payment
/ of a few dollars each year. The member
| ship should be a permanent and increasing
/ membership, held together by some sys-
| tematic purpose and common interest.
| The influence of the association would be
| doubled if this were done. If there was
| the same interest among teachers in the
| National Educational association as in
! the State association, it would be possi-
! BILE to get 5000 Minnesota teachers to the
| Minneapolis convention without any trou-
| BILE The membership of the association
/ could be easily pushed to $4,000, and, if
necessary, the association could be divid-
| ed into east and west divisions for con-
| Venience. 1t can never be as useful as
| it ought to be so long as the teachers of
| the country feel that they are on the out
| side of the organization. They must be
| on the inside. The National Education
association, of all institutions, ought to be
| the most democratic. Instead it is the
| most exclusive