The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-03-21
Frederic Hashin's Letter
Organized Parents

o ~T1s aor .ne broad interests d \.
or state. This means nror
Americanixation, better ny
Iresn air schools, home and 49,,
gardens, child hygiene, or vhssss
else the special need of thu ~
munity may be.
Thus. in Washington st,,. .
attention Of the Parent-Ts..s
associations has been centa,sS 800
1000 and dress reform for scA.s,
children. An exhibit was hsss ol
which good and bad meals for ~
dren Of different ages were ., ..,'
ically displayed and reason. e, .;sl
Why certain foods were to h. e ~
oemned or approved. A clothe. ~. -
hibit showed contrasts Of h.',a
and good taste, as the unohstrn.,sul
serge dress followed peorss.,
shirt waists and satin pumps '
In Texas the Parent Teachsr =.
sociations engaged in a proiec, = =
p.v,,ue scnooi teachers with com,
Portable living quarters Ass
suit one town has built a hon.
costing $4,000 for its school ,sss ss
ers. Another Texas town has i,a
en- a farm for its teachers NJ.
school principal manages Tie MAJ =.
and 1T is said to be a succ. ssf,I
venture.
TO Give Mother Legal Stain
The Texas legislature is now eo,.
sidering a bill to put the Parent.
Teacher associations under sts,.
direction and make them a part n,
the state educational system. Tn.
bill is being energetically pushad
and is said to stand a good chaucs
OF approval. The enactment Womb
mean an official status In Texas ior
the associations, and it would al.o
probably mean financial backing
At present. the associations raiss
their funds chiefly BY musicale,
bazars, fetes and plays.
In Texas and several other stats.
legislative councils of the Parent.
Teacher association have recently
been established. These council.
work for the passage Of state meas
ures. such as teachers nay IN.
creases. shorter hours and beta,
working conditions for child labor
In factories. minimum wage bills.
or mothers pension provision
With mothers and teachers stand.
ing offcially back Of a welfars
measure, the state legislator can.
not fall back on the old excuse thu,
he doesn't believe that the people
want it. This feeling Of doubt On
the part Of legislators has blocked
many a humanitarian measure IN
the past. But now mothers and
teachers have begun to use some
Of the methods Of business men IN
dealing with the lawmakers to
make perfectly clear what they
want and how they feel about It
The force OF the opinions Of tho
mothers and teachers can be rough
ly estimated from their strong Or
ganization and their numbers.
There were 1000 branches Of the
Parent Teacher association with
225, 900 members last year. and II is
reported that the membership has
been practically doubled this year
Thirty-four states are thoroughly
organized with state officers and
10 states are partly organized. The
others have local associations, but
cannot create a state organization
until they have 20 associations with
500 members, and not all the asso.
Citations in one town.
This is a welfare organization
that is growing rapidly and spread
ing to other countries. Canada ha,
a similar chain of association
home and school clubs they cal
them. And the national headquar
tiers Of the Parent-Teacher associa
lions here gets letters from all owe
the world asking for information
about the system, as this countr,
has worked out the organization
more completely than any Other
The wife Of the president OF Mex
leo wrote recently to know how
link between home and school coul
be established in Mexico. and In tn
last few months similar request
have come from Japan, India an
Porto Rico.