The Glasgow courier. [volume] (Glasgow, Mont.) 1913-current, 1920-11-26
HIGH TINE FOR
AN AWAKENING

Adding more force indeed to an edi-
formal which appeared in last issue
Of this paper, Professor H. B. Wilson
superintendent of the city schools OF
Berkeley, Calf, has laid bare the
exact existing conditions described by
The Courier. Addressing a session
meeting of the Montana State Teach,
ers Association, which convened II
Billings the early part of this week
Mr.. Wilson declared that the public
school system Of the country faced tht
greatest problems Of its history wit!
an absolutely broken down machinery
"There is stif a grave shortage
Of teachers" said Mr.. Wilson,
many schools throughout the
country are closed. But that is not
al. Those that are open are in
adequately or ineffectively served.
"OnIy a third Of the teachers at
work last year were high school
graduates. Last year there were
=. Geo in charge Of classes who
had themselves gone no higher
than the eighth grade.
More ,han $4,000 were teach
my only on permits, because they
could not pass examinations re-
quirnd for the issue Of certificates.
"Fhu5 there We're no less than
3.500,0G children being taught
last year by 10000 persons who
wore far below standard.
"Furthermore,' Mr.. Wilson CON
tIhued, lone quarter of our teach
erS today are under 2l-in other
words, the schools are being serv-
ed by legal infants, who are not
permitted to vote. but are charged
with the infinitely more respon-
s.hle task of teaching the children
of the nation.
There are two things we have
got to do" Mr.. Wilson declared.
we have got to pay mor salaries
to hold the good people we have
who are mature and have the re-
Quired training.
Second, we have got to increase
the number of teacher training in
situations, so that a greater num-
Der Of men and women may obtain
the training necessary to fit them
for their important task
sAIs "ilNpIl tiiSV htIluICu llldl
the schools could not properly
undertake the job Of Americana
ing Americans until they had been
thoroughly Americanized them
selves.
Too much emphasis cannot be place.
upon these facts. For years we hay,
been progressing in a spirit Of leth
argy until we are now, at d time which
calls FOR the very best and most fun
daIncntal education can render, W.
ird cur public school system Of tn.
entire nation il an almost hopclessll
~denlcr@hle conditions.
The task q Americanization is T.;
responsibility which lies largely u
the door OF the public schools Of tn.
land. 1t has been Il public service de
pl9rably neglected, not only in tn,
school bus in the home. The trenC
Of recent current events has demon
strated in 4 most marked manner the
fruits of negligence along this partic
ular line.
History viii show us that out o
every ten nations that have gone dowr
to destruction, one has suffered ruin 4.
the result of the aggreSSions of a pow
er from without. The other nine ha,
suffered collapse consequent to tn,
gnawing of a power from within. Ger
many would have torn this union asun
der from without but our boys made
this impossible. CredulouS unexperi
ence and ignorance constitute a force
far more deadly than one hundred EN-,
pires the magnitude of Germany. They
constitute the disease germ which car
n a measure of days wreck all tbs
accomplishment Of the four million
heroes of the late world war.
The neglected benightedness and
ready prejudice of the unlettered mass
continually invite exploitation. Edu.
cation such as can come from properly
conducted schools constitutes the only
remedy.
Now that the war has long since
ceased we find the nation seething in
Ignorance, mass es led by anarchists
and those others who would do the
nation malice. And, at the same time