The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1921-06-15

many know how to use them. Voca-
tional counselors need to know these
things, they need to know things about
tri des and professions so they can
irform the children Of the land what
;aeY need tC know What they can eX-
pect-they need to know all about
vacations so these young people can
the more wisely choose their locations,
choose the lire OF tn. activities, as
early as possible and then begin train
ing for these lines. When you tell US,
or help US to find out what it takes
to make ad men and women, we will
.uIn out to you a finished, growing
efficient human machine. Part of the
blame for human inefficiency is due to
the efficiency experts who have per-
fected the steel and wood machines
that was the job Of the last ten de-
cades, the job of this decade and the
next 10 come is to perfect the human
machine. This is the century of human
efficiency above machine efficiency.
Some Startling Facts
That something is wrong with edu-
cation, no one in the world knows il
so well as we educators. We have the
facts, we know the situation-it is al
most horrifying. We know that teach.
ing is nothing without teachers and
poor with poor teachers, we know that
kids cannot teach school, but If all
the teachers of America were placed in
a single line, 3 feet to each teacher,
this line would extend 800 miles. Now
suppose the oldest teachers came first
on down to the end where the young
est were and we started at the young
end of the line, we would have to
travel one-fourth of the entire dis
tance before reaching q teacher who
had passed the age Of 81, all kids
Of all teachers, one-fourth are kids,
trying to teach kids-over 100000 kid
school teachers Being a former SOL
dler like to see people line up. Line
up my 700.uUo teachers again on the
basis Of educational equipment as
shown by the length Of time these
have gone to school. Begin the jour-
ney with me and we will have passed
up 100000 teachers before one reaches
the first individual who has any edu,
cation beyond the Sth grade or COM
mon school. 1t is weary march, but
come on, be q good sport and do not
die Of horror-pass up 150,00 before
we pass the first individual whose to-
tai education amounts to two years Of
high school. Pass up 100000 or four.
fifths of the entire group before We
reach one who has the Standard Of
preparation recognized in all civilized
countries as constituting the barest
minimum requirement for elementary
teaching-two years Of training above
the high school. Horrors-how you
howl, what incompetent training. But
wait. When you hire a man you ask
him how many years Of experience
he has had. You need experienced men
so do we in the educational world.
Line up my teachers by their years
of experience. We pass $50 900 before
we reach the first Individual who has
had more than two years, while we
would come to the middle of the line
before We came to the first one that
we could call an experienced teacher
one who had taught four years. One
half Of the children Of the nation are
being taught by teachers who have
not served sufficiently long to let the
discipline Of experience compensate in
any marked degree for the deficien.
cies in their initial training. Men, We
know the horror Of the situation and
am bringing 1t to your attention
because you are the men that should
know these facts. But you say II
costs lots of money to train teachers
and build colleges and normals. Edu-
cation does cost little. This stats
according to Bruce's 1920 chart pays
out 1853 a child year to educate
him Estate OF Georgia., Oklahoma
S42.46, and Montana, that leads the
union, s10340. What are these paltry
sums when we consider the value of
education as compared with other
things.
The Price Of Luxuries
According to the government report
for 1920 the people Of the U. S. paid
out for luxuries s22, zoe, 900 900, more
than times as much as they spent for
only two years before ana
six billion, or 30 per cent more than
we spent for education in all our his.
tory. Men, when America is willing
TO pay for luxuries they get il, and
when they are willing TO pay for edu-
cation they will get education. And you
business men expect US educators to