New Britain herald., 1919-03-25
1ONAL BILLS [1ECT OF ATTACK
Hazen Feels That PrOpa- aDda Has Been Unfair
s(Sp ecial to The Herald.D

ENhopStio'l CO l IlG iiSA1ih''
 IVY. Hazen, chairman of the state
 a61ittee on education, has sent out
 nvitation for the public to assist
 6ettering the educational system in
 State. Tn this letter he states
 some violent propaganda, has
 n sent out to discredit the educa-
 aAl committee and he wants all in
 Aated in fairness to attend the hear
 son April 1. His open letter fol-
 Mef HI HeTeWith are submitted three bills 56f the educational committee pro- $3SE to present to the general assem- They are the result of conscien- 8bus and painstaking effort to meet S4g Situation more or less familiar to a sIArge' proportion of the people of this sAtate. The bills speak for themselves lThes.s are intended:
 lst. To create a board of education that shall represent the people of thts state, and function solely in the inter- astsof education.
 2d. To provide a greater measure of state aid to our rural districts and shelp to equalize the financial burdens in special cases where injustice is now done.
 "5d. To increase local responsibil ity on the part of town school com mittees.
 Tt is the duty of every citizen and especially every parent to study these bills and to know the conditions which prompted the committee in presenting them.
 Events of the past few years have indclibly stamped upon the minds of our people two words and their meaning-"propaga and 'camou- hage. During the last two or three weeks there has been in many of the newspapers of the state a persistent effort to throw about the educational committee of the general assembly an atmosphere of suspicion, This is cam oufiage' pure and simple. and propaganda intended to mislead the people.
 Some powerful influences are in spring attacks on the educational committee. This is evident from the violence, unfairness and widespread character of the attacks, together with the obvious fact on the face of the bills that they are intended to ad- vance public education and can inn pose no possible disadvantage upon any parties who honestly and solely seek the good of our schools.
 There is not one single point of similarity between these bills and the Morrison bill. The Morrison bill cen tralzed control in the hands of a commissioner. The first of the com mittee's bills puts this control square lx up to the board of education itself and suggests a way whereby the pea pie in each county can be sure of be- j
 "The Morrison bill proposed to put all the financial burden upon the state The committees second bill simply increases state aid in accord ance with the same plan that is now in force. plus the addition of discro- tionarv power to the board that it may give special relief in case of nec- essity, subject to the approval of the board of control and a certifcation from the tax commissioner showing that a town so aided has done it's part.
 'The Morrison bill would reduce To- cal responsibility, while the commit tees third bill directly increases the power and responsibility of local school boards in small towns.
 ''In fact, all three proposed bills are intended to stimulate local inter est and general participation Tn the improvement of schools.
 "A serious situation is facing the country schools, and unless action is taken now many sections will suffer. and next fall some schools will prob ably find themselves without teachers of any kind.
 ."The public hearing on these bills will be held Tuesday. April 1, at , D. n1, in the hall of the house at the state capitol. It is important that citizens with an earnest interest in our public schools be present and express them selves.
 "FDWARD ". HAZEN Chairman Educational Committee"