Evening star., 1927-09-11
COUNTLESS OPPORTUNITIES
NOW AFFORDED IN CAPITAL
Washington, Educational Center of West
ern Hemisphere, Offers Wide Variety
to Seeker of Learning

/ notes an annual American education
week. bringing public attention to the
schools and their needs.
One of the outstanding activities OF
/ the Federal Bureau of Education is
| the promotion of home education. Dur
! ing the past few years it has enrolled
more than 10000 readers in its 80
/ home-reading courses, planned by eX-
perts. and granted certificates to those
| who completed the courses. These
reading courses involve general cul
! ture, parental education and citizen
! ship training. They are proving pop
! ular among young people as well as
adults
! Almost without exception. the vari-
! Gus departments and bureaus of the
/ Government are educational along
! specialized lines. The Interior Depart
! ment, which is essentially an engineer
| ing group, has been well called Fed
eral University of the People" because
many of its activities are devoted to
/ the discovery and dissemination of
| knowledge. It's curriculum covers
many fields of learning. Its faculty
| includes hundreds of scientists, pro-
| fessional men and technicianS, special
| lists in many branches of education.
! It's student body is the people of the
| United States.
| Has Various Schools.
It has schools of education in bot
any, engineering, geology, geography,
anthropology, zoology, psychiatry,
| chemistry and research. Propagation
/ of knowledge on these subjects by the
! various bureaus comprises their major
| duties in many instances.
Similarly, the Department of Com
merce educates the business men and
manufacturers in their special fields,
and the Department of Agriculture
educates the rural communities in
many ways, with the radio and NOV
ing pictures as very effective agencies.
The education. agencies of the Fed
eral Government and of private but
public spirited nature that are congre-
gated here are too numerous to be
| detailed. BY authority of Congress,
all Government collections, together
| with facilities for research and illus
| tratiCn, are made accessible to the
students in institutions of higher
! learning here.
The National Education Association
a voluntary organization of persons
actively engaged in educational work,
with more than 100000 active. mem
| bers, covering every type of educa
tional worker-classroom teachers,
dents and professors, research work
ers and superintendent of schools
which was organized nearly 70 years
ago, has it's headquarters at 1901 Six
teenth street, where it owns hand
some four-story brick building, pur-
chased in 1918. This association has
| developed in Washington an expert
| headquarters staff which regularly in
! cludes more than 100 persons, who are
constantly at the service of the teach
! ing profession.
Inspiring Annual Conventions.
The association holds annually two
inspiring conventions which stimulate
| thought on educational problems and
| bring together the chosen representa-
tives of the teachers of the Nation.
| The meeting of it's department of
school superintendents, held in this
city in February, 1926, was a splendid
gathering. All Washington hotels
were filled to capacity. Many notable
persons. including the President of
the United States, addressed the con-
Vention.
The association publishes a monthly
magazine, the Journal of the National
Education Association, which carries
to all members reports of its activi-
| ties, accounts of educational progress
| and material which every teacher
needs for professional growth. 1t also
publishes a Research Bulletin which
deals primarily with educational facts
and statistics, a bulletin for elemen-
tary school principals, and yearbooks
for the benefit of it's more important
! departments.
At the Washington convention in
1926 the superintendent of school dis
! nj
problems of the course of study in ele-
mentary schools which bore the sig
| nificant title The Nation at Work
on the Public School Curriculum. y
More than 300 school systems, Is State
departments of education and q edu
catiOnal institutions co-operated in
furnishing and preparing the material
for this year book. 1t told how the
different cities had gone about the
task Of revising their courses of study
Special emphasis was laid on the fact
that the public schools are for all OF
the children of all Of the people. II
pointed out that the modern public
school must reach it's children not
only those things which promote his
: individual wellbeing but also the great
truths which will make him a usefu
citizen of the Republic
, Department of Education.
Modern education has become very
: complex because modern life is making
many new demands on the schools
r To meet this situation the Nationa
g. Education Association has II depart
Y ments studying problems in their spe
cial fields and making valuable con
. trlbutiOns to educational advance. /
, has more than score of committee:
4 conducting important investigations.
q The association is sponsoring before
: Congress a bill providing for a de
partment Of education, with a secre
= tary in the Presidents cabinet, which
Q 1t is claimed will do for education
a what the Department of Agriculture
|. does for the farmer, the Department
; Of Labor for the workingman and tn
a Department Of Commerce for the busi
8 ness interests of the country.
n In cooperation with the American
l. Legion and other national organiza
@ tiOns, II annually promoted American
l. Education Week, focusing the after
& tion of millions Of citizens upon tn
|. basic needs of public education.
= The first plank in it's printed plat
p form urges competent, well traine
% teacher in hearty accord with Amer
IT can ideals in every public school pos
! ton in the United States.
If Program of Service.
le The last plank states that the NJ
le tional Education Association is con
. mltted TO a program Of service-vser'
~ ice to the teachers, service to the pr'
~ fession, service to the Nation. Its s,
~ preme purpose is the welfare Of tn
y childhood of America.
> If these high ends are attained, "
may feel confident that the next gel
Grafton will be well grounded in tt
., principles of good citizenship and us
. ful living.
% The mere mention Of the Feder
So Continued on Fourth Page)