The Winslow mail., 1925-04-03


chief of the governments air serv-
Ice.
them are not yet q years of age?
So. Three hundred fifty thousand
of them have taught less than five
years, and that most of the coun-
try teachers change schools every
year?
IS. That of the 100000 teachers,
$4,000 of them have had training
less than two years beyond the
high school? Thirty thousand
teachers this year were pupils in
the seventh and eighth grade work
in the common schools last year?
"Twenty-seven millions of dol
lars was spent last year for the
training of teachers; $6000000G
was spent for chewing gum; $780,
100000 for cigars, $800,000,000 for
cigarets, and $500,000,00 for tobacco
and snuff; 100000 for cigars,
cigarets and snuff l am engaged
in no crusade whatever, but some
one who had nothing whatever to
do figured it out in this way: If
smoker would smoke two cigars in
stead of three, or two cigarets in
stead of three, and if every chewer
would take two chews instead of
three, and the chewers of gum
would chew two sticks instead of
three, the salaries of all teachers
in the United States could be in
creased 121 per cent. The secretary
| of the interior and the commits
sioner of education state that we
spent $300,000,000 last year for face
powder and cosmetics. We are
spending in this country every year
$4,000, 100000 for luXuries, most of
which we could do without and
only $2,500,000,000 for education.
=
cit is interesting to note that our
dealing with children in the school
has paralleled the states dealing
with her criminals. At first it was
an eye for an eye governmental
doctrine of retribution. Then the
nation discovered the using of pun
ishment to some purpose. From
retribution We went to repression.
We tried to deter others from COM
hitting offenses by making an
example of the criminal. We used
to stand the child in the corner or
in other ways make him cOnspicu
Gus as an example to prevent other
children from doing the same thing.
After this we had to make the
punishment fit the crime The
child was kept after school or CIV
en- tasks and was Inundated. Then
finally we came to the idea Of ref
ormation. But to reform criminals
three things are necessary: First,
the criminal must be given educa-
tional work; second, he must learn
some useful occupation; third, he
must be given probationary OPP
portunity to make good.
But the word for today is pre-
vention. We must find the causes
and remove them. We must pre-
vent child labor, establish recrea-
ton centers, and have compulsory
physical education and health work,
reduce work hours, etc. In the
public school, reorganization of
the course of study is a preventive,
but the greatest preventive is a
competent teacher in every school
room in the nation. AS above, the
| United States has entirely too small
a percentage of well-trained, COM
petent teachers. A large part of
the money spent for Injuries could
well be spent for paying good
teachers good salaries.
There are in this country at the
present time 1881 ,905 confessed il
literates with no schooling what
ever. There are 3,0S4,733 native
born illiterates. There are 1,242,-
572 native white illiterates. In the
World war there were 1,340,6 25
men, little more than one in every
five, rejected in the draft as physi-
cally unfit for military. service
There are 1,437,789 children be-
tween the ages of Z and 10 not at
tending any kind of educational in
stitution. There is an economic
loss each year of $S25,0OO,000 due
to illiteracy. There is an annual
economic loss of $4,000, 045, 900 from
J preventable diseases and death.
| Health, as rule, is a purchase
able commodity, and the price is
education
There must be equalization of
educational opportunity. This will
be made possible by increasing the
size of units from which school
money is derived-that is, the COM
plete acceptance of the principle
that every dollar of wealth, no mat
ter where it exists. should bear it's
share of the burden of educating
the nations children, no matter
where they live.
THE educational opportunity of
a child is determined bye the tax
able wealth of the school district
in which that child lives. Children
in some sections have first-rate
| schools, those in others have poor
schools, and some have schools
that are very bad. The wealth of
| the nation is more than adequate
| for a good educational opportunity