Evening star., 1926-10-31
YOUR CHILD
In SCHOOL
By DR.. Frank ". Ballou,
of Schools. Washington
D. c.
No. 7-Education, an Economic Asset.
What is an education worth?

What is an education worth?
Attempts have been made to answer
this question mathematically, but so
many factors alter conditions and
cause wide variation in the results
which we term "educatiOn'' that
mathematical accuracy is impossible.
1t is unnecessary, however, to use
the yardsticli to prove that education
Is q distinct economic asset to every
individual.
Viewed from any standard an edu-
cation which fits Il boy or girl for
greater usefulness is among his or
| her most valuable possessions. In
deed, there is scarcely any tangible pos
session which can surpass it, y proper
evaluation of education may be made
by comparing those who have ade
Quate educational training with those
who are without it
1t is not the lack of any particular
body of information that CnuIaClerIZeS
the uneducated man or woman. knOWi-
edge alone is not a measure of one S
education. 1t is rather the faculty
to acquire new knowledge with rea-
sonable ease as we'll as the facility to
adapt ones self to new situations that
marks the truly trained man or
woman.
HIS uudpl'iDilllN ol Illiltl 10 Val llIS
circumstances, to new problems and
fresh perpleXities is the real test of
the trained intellect. 1t does not pre-
suppose having spent Il great length
of time in a university, for time spent
in q classroom, be it grade school,
high school or college, is only Il par
tial criterion of the extent of the
benefits which accrue therefrom.
1t is necessary only to look about
one to see that the important posts
| in business or government are held
by those who know how to perform
we'll the tasks imposed upon them.
But" some one may object, there
have been many great men who had
very little schooling whose achieve
ments have survived centuries--men
who were in Il sense almost entirely
untutOred."
That is the classic example cited
against the value of education. This
is a sneer at the necessity for spend
ing time on many things that cannot
be directly applied to a given task.
But such an objection readily may be
answered.
While history does record the lives
of persons who achieved unusual sue
cess on q very meager education, such
instances are the exception and cannot
vilual Lincoln, who gained his little
schooling while he lay prone before
the hearth of a poor log cabin, was
endowed with an extraordinary de-
| termination to learn, and his desire to
improve his mind was far stronger than
that of the average individual. Lack
ing such reSoluteneSs, the ordinary
man would fall far short of the degree
.. OF success achieved by this great fig
ure of history, who oVerCame appar
emily insurmountahle obstacles.
Many men in high positions in the
business world are lacking educat ton
ally and realize continuously the seri
Gus handicap which controls them
There are many things they would
ike to do but cannot; avenues for
.'urther advancement open, but they
cannot enter. They cannot avail
themselves of these opportunities be-
cause they are not qualified to do so.
Their social contacts as we'll as their
business relations are limited and
contracted by their inability to meet
others on their own ground. Who
would say that such individuals are
not suffering a very definite economic
loss?
Whether one views the value of edu-
cation from the economic or social or
| lNulN N4dti1i VI PolItiCdi poAilk VI SiC"' NC
will become convinced that, like all
other investments, the return is pro-
| p,rtionate to the investment.
To all parents l would say: Edu-
! cate YOUR children to the utmost of
| your means. 1t may mean privation,
! but the sacrifice ii entails Will be re-
| paid a thousandfold in the enlarged
| and more useful lives Of your children
| when they reach manhood and wom-
| anhood. No other investment pays
a more certain or a greater return OH
the money invested.