Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1917-12-11
LEARNING TO WORK. 1l-Uncle Endows Trade Schools
BY Frederic j. HaSkin.

ments and the people, as do so many federal boards
created by politicians with thoughtful eye on that
political Christmas tree the United States treasury
This board actually gets a little chunk of the
money which the people put up to spend on schools
for the people For every dollar it spends the state
has to put up another dollar These funds are to
be used in founding vocational classes in the pub
lie schools. The work in each state which takes
advantage of the arrangement (Which will be all
of them will be supervised by state board The
plans of this state board will have to be apprSyed
by the federal board in Washington, and the fed
eral board will also have number of ''regional"
inspectors who will keep watchful eye on the way
the state boards spend their money.
This. when you to think of it, is long
step toward making the federal government
sponsble for the education of the people Hereto
FORE it has aided colleges and schools by giving
them tracts of public land; but it has had no
Strings these gifts; the states have been at
liberty to use them as they saw ft-which
variously and not always TO the best advantage.
Now government is going to supervise the spend
ing of every nickle of these vocational education
funds; and this is welcome news to the common
American who has learned that government is
about the one force in the nation that he can
surely trust. Government may make mistakes but
it doesn't make profits.
The Washington board consists of the secreta-
ries of agriculture, commerce and labor and the
United States commissioner of education, and
three citizen members who supposed to rep
resent the commercial, agricultural and labor in
terests This board leaves the real work to q
staff of trained educators, of which Dr. Charles A
Prosser is the head.
The vocational classes which will be quickly
established under this law will teach all Of the
principal industries, not simply with view to
making a proficient machine out of a man, but
with a view to making him really understand his
business. This is made clear by the board in its
statement of policy. For example, in its machine
shop schools the board will not teach merely shop
work, although this will occupy several hours a
day 1t will also teach machine shop mathe-
matics drawing as related to machine shop trades,
science applied to the machine shop, and the hy-
gene of the trade. Surely this is the kind of edu-
cation that will put the young mechanic in the
way of becoming foreman engineer or owner, IL
he has it in him. And he is just as apt to have 1t
in him as are any of the boys that are annually ex-
posed to college education
Workmen have generally been suspicious OF
vocational education the ground that it was de-
signed simply to make them more proficient work
men without offering them the opportunities for
progress that go with trained and cultivated
term vocational education by this new government
hoard ought to reassure them on this point.
$1,000
The classes win be open to all persons over
fourteen wears of age, with upper limit. They
are design ed primarily for men and boys who
work EXCEPT for this minimum age limit, no
other absolute requirement for entrance to the
tn see that the pupils who take up the work are
able to benefit by it@ There will be periods OF pro-
national enrolment the boy VIII have to
make good at HIS studies or be dropped from his
class
'"The Vocational Education Act opens the door
NJ oDnortunity to the American workman, says
a member of the board And he seems to be right