The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1921-12-08

WASHINGTON, D. c., Dec. s.,
This week has been set aside by theI
President of the United States to inn
press upon the American people the
fact that education in this country is in
c most backward condition, and to in
terest citizens in community efforts
to improve it.
1t is easy to prove by statistics that
in this country an education is rela-
lively hard to get. PerEaps more i'm
rortant is The question Of what the
kind of education offered child IN
the United States is worth af'er he
gets it. That. however. Is a debatable
question. while the inadequaCy of our
school facilities is demOnstrable in a
way that no one can rofute.
The congressional committee which
recently made q study of education in
the United States decided that this
country ranks tenth among the nations
in the value of the education it offers
its citizens. The percentage Of its
citizens who never learn 70 write is
also much higher than in the principal
! European countries. Estimates of H.
literaCy are never very accurate but
the United States is generally credited
/ with about 10000 900 inhabitants over
! ten years of age who are illterate
Twenty eight per cent Of these Hit
I crates are native white citizens, 30
/ per cent are fOreigr-bOrn whites. and
/ 40 per cent. are COlored. while per
/ cent. are Orientals.
Germany England. France. Holland
and Switzerland all have smaller per
/ Centages of iiliterates than the United
! States-Or at least did have before
| the war. These countries all have
/ much less wealth than America. and
J We are prone to think of them as less
! advanced in democracy than we are
! Yet in education. which is the very
foundation of every democratic inst
tuition. thev al are ahead Of us.
iIIterate immigrants
/ In eastern and southern Europe the
/ percentages of illiterates in the pOpu-
! IatiOns Of various countries are much
higher, ranging from % per cent Ill
/ Austria TO 50 per cent il ROumania.
/ 1t is from these wholly uneducated
, classes. that the United States is now
| drawing most Of its immigrant p0pu-
lation.
The percentage of iIliteracy merely
! reflects the well known fact that there
are not enough schools in the United
States. In almost every large city
| the schools are reported Over-crOwded
every year. We hear Of double shifts
! and of enormous classes, which means
little or no individual attention for
each pupil In most of cur rural dis
tricts schools SUI: keep open only a
few months in the year. and many
country children can reach school only
by long hard walks.
Far more important is the question
Of what kind Of an education the child
gets when and if he succeeds IN get
ing to school The most striking fact
in this connection is that our schoo
teachers are among the rnuost poorly
paid Of all workers. Plumbers and
bricklayers are plutcrats in compari
son. Even in the great cities. teach
ers are only fairly we'll paid They
never earn as much as a bright man
or woman can make in business, MOI
as much as a gifted person can make
in journalism or the arts
When YOU come to the country dis
tTiCts and the small towns. schoo
teachers are paid barely Il living wage
Hence the education Of the great mass
Of American children is entrusted 70,
the most part to young girls who