Pueblo chieftain., 1921-12-08
BY Frederic ]. Haskin.


| Washington, Dec. 5.-This week has
been set aside by the President of the
4 United States to impress upon the
American people the fact that cduca-
tion in this country is in most back
ward condition, and to interest citl-
zens in community efforts to improve
it.
1t Is easy to prove by statistics that
in this country an education Is relative-
w hard to get. Perhaps more import
ant is the question of what the kind OF
education offered child in the
United States is worth after he gets it.
/ That, however, is n debatable question.
while the inadeauacy of our school
facilities is demonstrable in a way that
no one can refute.
The congressional committee which
the United States decided that this
country ranks tenth among the ma
tions in the value of the education 1T
offers its citizens. The percentage OF
it's citizens who never learn to write
is also much higher tnan in the prin-
cipal European countries. Estimates OF
iiliteracy are never very accurate, but
the United States is generally credited
with about 100000 Inhabitants over
10 years of age who are illiterate.
Twenty eight per cent of these Hitter
ates are native white citizens, 30 per
StIll dIe WhitSS' anu
per cent are colored, while per cent
ARE orientals.
Germany. England. France, Holland.
and Switzerland all have smaller per-
centagcs of iliterateA ,nan the United
States-or at least did have before the
war. These countries all have much less
wealth than America, and we are prone
to think of them as less advanced In
democracy than we arc. Yet In edu-
cation, which is the very foundation
of every democratic institution, they
all are ahead OF us.
ILLITERATp IMMIGRANTS
In eastern and southern Europe the
percentages of il1itcrates In tho popu-
lations of the various countrie arc
much higher, ranging from 23 per cent
in Austria to 50 per cent in. Roumanin
1t Is from these wholly uneducated
countries and from their most unedu-
Gated classes. that the United States il
now drawing most Of its immigrant
population.
Tho percentage of illiteracy merely
reflects the well known fact that there
are not enough schools in the United
States. In almost every large city the
schools arc reported over-crowded
every year. We hear of double shifts
and OF enormous classes. which means
little or no individue. attention for
each pupil. In most ~ our rural dis
tricts schools still keep open only
few months In the year. and many
country children can reach school only
by long hord walks.
Far more important is tho question of
what kind of. an education the child
gets when and if he succeeds in get
ting to school, Tho most striking fact
in this connection Is that our school
teachers are among tn. most poorly
paid of all workers. Plumbers and
bricklayers are plutocrats by compari-
son. Even in the great cities. teach
crs arc only fairly ~cil paid. They
never earn as much as bright man or
woman can make In business nor as
much as n gifted person van make In
or the arts.
When you come to the country dis
tricts and the small towns. school
teachers are paid barely a living wage.
Hence the education of the great mass
of American children Is entrusted for
the most part to young girls who want
a way of earning pm money Until a
husband can be found.
To realize the seriousness of the con-
dition of education IN America. you
must get an adequate conception of
what euucation might be. and of how