The Elk Mountain pilot., 1920-03-18
BRINGING THE MOUNTAIN II
MOHAMMED

Normal School Bulletin.
The day of temporization as it af-
fects teacher-training schools is past.
In the light of such knowledge as has
perience, no body Of lawmakers ma
tional or local will ever again display
the spirit of ignorance or false econ
omy that has so often characterized
the public attitude toward all schools
and all things professionally educa-
tional. This change has been brought
about without challenging the rights
Of other professions or questioning
their Importance. It is simply the
new conscience that has arisen with
respect to those agencies that alone
function Systematically and effectively
in eliminating the danger that is al
ways imminent where dense ignor-
ance, misinformation, or half-truths
abound.
1t is perhaps of little significance
that the nation sent nearly two-hun-
dred thousand young men, deeply
lutte illiteracy. to Europe to face the
almost unavoidable chance Of ex-
tinction. It is Of greater significance
that approximately twenty-million Of
virtually illiterate men and women
remained at home to increase tho haz-
ard Of the more difficult task of re-
construction. by falling easy prey to
Red principles and un-American
propaganda.
Not until the world had been set
aflame did our part Of it realize that
even the most rudimentary learning.
Of the ''little red schoolhouse on the
hill" had, by the most generous esti-
mate. been reaching only three
fourths of the people, and in reality
much less than that.
Just as this unexpected and incred-
ible information reached the nation,
the fact Of the teacher shortage be-
gan to impress itself upon those who
still had hopes for the educational
welfare Of the country and the main
tenance Of democracy. And leaders
everywhere began for the first time
to realize that 1t had been q mistake
to minimize the Importance Of teach
ing, to talk Of 1t as only . girls job.
to pay for It at only cRild's wage,
to put It on tl,e basis Of amateur and
unskilled labor, to train for 1t IN less
than half the time required for law
or medicine, to question tho advisa-
bility Of giving teachers standard
length courses. or Of granting de-
grees for the work done. Indeed
the status Of teaching was In = bad
way on that memorable day, moro or
less Indefinitely defined. when tho ma
tion woke to the discovery that the
people were unschooled and that
many of the amateur "saviors OF the
nation" had quit THAR posts for the
purpose Of securing mora loaves and
fishes.
As q matter Of fact, every teacherse
school felt the challenge Of the hour;
and in spite Of cramped quarters. In
adequate funds, slandered reputa-
tion. and the ill-concealed contempt
Of other institutions, these same
teachers schools began to make a
dash for freedom and recognition.
Realizing that tho ideals Of . nation
determine its present and future, its
domestic happiness and its interna-
tional decency, teachers themselves
\ who caught the vision felt strangely
unaslnmed. Those who had been
training teachers in meekness Of spin
1t and with many apologies, ceased to
apologize and began to demand with
deep concern that the public be in
duced and permitted to save itself
by making universal education pos
sible.
The Gunnison Normal School has
tried to fall in line. It has taken
ing with the spirit Of the times and
direct challenge to the daring and
the loyalty of the faculty and alumni
of the school.
It has arranged for consistent,
walk standard four-year
year course. This change has been
effected not without expense, Some
important teaching departments have
been added, new teachers employed,
and new equipment secured. Sala-
ries have had to to be increased to
meet the slump in the purchasing
power of a dollar. The budget for
operating expenses has proved to be
inadequate, with each dollar forth
only fifty cents. In fact, the school
is hard-pressed to meet all the de-
l. IL L.