The evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1907-1908, 1907-12-26

achievements, President Eliot. OF Harvard,
was asked what had been his leading aim.
His reply was. To secure cooperation.
Man this also be said of the New Jersey
State Teachers Association a quarter Of a
century hence.
mo board of education has a legitimate
right to pay one cent of its school revenue.
either from State or local sources, without
considering the all-important problem of
educating every child of schoolable age,
and of educating it in such q way that
will enable It to become a self-supporting
and self-protecting member of the COM
munity In which 1t lives.
Scattered throughout the State and en-
rolled in our public schools are "A large
number of children not capable of receiving
the training due them. These children are
OF a sub-normal type and need special at
tention. They need instruction based upon
motor activities. and must be taught in
groups by themselves. In order that this
association might place itself ON record and
in some way bring prominently before the
public the Importance of properly caring
for the defective child, we have, through a
committee, gathered some valuabl infor-
nation which will be presented to the as
sociation during this meeting.
should recognize the economic AK
ION that h~oy-saving is less expensive to
the State than the erection and mainte-
nance of penal institutions to reform boys
who are. for the most part, past reform
Ing. While the school law OF this State
gives boards of education the power OF
establishing and maintaining parental
schools, we have no knowledge at the
present time Of the existence OF such
schools in this State. Are they needed or
not? Our State reform institutions are
overcrowded. and the most serious ques-
tion confronting any city system OF schools
is that of what to do with the truant and
incorrigible boy. The vast amount OF
money expended annually for the punish
ment of crime and the maintenance of
charitable institutions presses home to us
all the more strongly the important duty
of urging upon boards of education the
advlsability of establishing and maintain
be a community problem, yet in Its general
application to the interests of the State at
large 1t is vital and ~all-important and
needs for Its proper adjustment the COOP
erative influences of all weil-thinking men
and women.
when we consider the rapid growth of
our cities, and the fact that about one
third of our school population is being
educated in city schools. we are confronted
with the question of what in reality should
constitute the work best adapted for school
children brought up under city life en-
Vironment. Children brought up In a
modern city are deprived Of those oppor-
tunities for development which their par
ents most likely enjoyed under simpler
conditions.
1.-THE compulsory school law permits a
boy TO leave school at the age OF "a. Inc
factory laws allow him to enter the fac
tory employment at Is, and the varied in
dustrles at a later period. The apprentice
system Is no longer in vogue, and as a
result of It we must seek a remedy else
where. TIL schools are made for the
people, and why not seek II there?
while the state has heretofore been
liberal in its appropriations for manual
training. il will, however, be necessary IN
the future to make larger appropriations.
both State and local. in order that the
conditions arising from the present social
environment may be met and properly ad-
iusted. The State and the community
need Industrial schools.
THE establishing of such schools Is as
necessary and as important as the estap-
Ushment of our high schools. either classi-
cal or commercial. This State is making
large appropriations for the support anu
maintenance of its high school system. We
are justly proud of this. but, in order that
we may train for usefulness and effective
ness after school days are gone by, we
must work in unison for the establishment
of a more effective system of Industrial
education.
1--WE need schools in every community
where tho young of both sexes may learn
the practical things of life, where the ABB
stract theory which Is the basis Of every
thing shall have its demonstration In the
concrete object; schools where all shall
learn that a successful life should be
measured by its value TO the community,
and not by its heaped-up gold; schools
where the boy shall learn how to earn a
proper support for the home which by he
right Of nature Is his and where the girl
learn her responsibility as a co-partner of
that home; where patriotism shall be
taught, not in the empty form OF hurrah-
ing for the flag, but In being an honest,
s~elf-supporting member of the State, ready
to take a share in bearing the burdens of
the body polite and in doing everything
possible to make our nation loved, honored
and respected the world over.
IF the history of this association for
the past fifty-three years were written it
would form a most unique and interesting
narrative. From tho small beginnings,
with a few representative school men and
women at the helm. this association has
grown to its present membership. While
the membership for the past year was in
the minority, we trust that this years en-
rolment may represent a majority of the
State teachers. One generation is sowing;
another is reaping. In our work we are
p%rofiting by the failures of the past. and,
in order that our school system may be
benefited by the work of this association,
/ invite you to a careful and thoughtful
consideration of the topics presented to
you in the rogram arranged by your com
mittee.
Every effort has been made TO prepare
q program that would represent the lead
ing educational questions of the day. Let
us trust that the present meeting may
make its influence felt In every section of
this State, and that much good may be
accomplished by our meeting together In
this. the fifty-third annual meeting of the
New jersey State Tpnchars' Association -