Arkansas State press. [volume] (Little Rock, Ark.) 1941-1959, 1944-06-16

"GI bill Of rights" - which includes
the billion dollar program" for
education for returning veterans.
Educational Demands
The bill will pass congress and
will be signed. The soldier. far
more vocal than he has ever been
before. and representing the great
est group Of voters with a single
ness OF purpose on the subject of
"Gl rights" that congress has ever
faced, Is going to get what he wants.
And the demand for greater edu-
cational opportunities will not be
limited 10 the veteran.
Careful estimates indicate that,
to carry out the postwar education
program for veterans. non-veterans
and their children. the present per-
sonnet will have to be increased so
per cent. This, Of course, includes
besides teachers, administrators, H.
brarians, clerks. nurses, ianitors
and bus drivers, nearly a million
and half persons. These figures
give you an indication of the num-
Der OF persons who will be drawn
into the profession and its allied ac-
tivities If the plans so through.
The second reason why we can
expect stimulation in the whole
field Of education is because there
is very strong feeling that the OPP
portunities for learning must be.
greatly broadened. As a result Of
the social changes preceding and,
during the war. the strong voice Of
the common man has been raised,
demanding that cultural as well as
economic benefits be more widely
distributed. TIE thoughtful educa-
tors realize that wider background
OF knowledge must be furnished to
everyone, that technical and profess
sional courses must be grounded on
a frmer base of general knowledge.
Already there Is feeling Of re-
action against the emphasis which
the war has placed on purely mate
rial subjects. on purely techni-
cal or scientific education. This
Is bound to call for a greater share
Of what might be called spiritual
culture. And at the other end Of the
spectrum. also a demand for train
ing In health and physical develop
ment.
Educators themselves have their
troubles from within as we'll as from
without. OF late, there has been
pressure by certain groups, like the
National Association of Manufac-
turers, anxious to see that nothing
is taught that might endanger what
they define as the free enterprise"
system, although not all business
men agree on what free enterprise
Is or that they like it too free.
There have also been many con-
flicts within and among institutions
Of higher learning, like the one in
my own alma mater. the University
of Chicago, where President
Hutchins and his followers want TO
get back to first principles" with
an emphasis on the philosophers;
and others lean toward a more utili-
tartan training. The so-called lex
perimentaI'' colleges like Antioch,
stressiug individual development
and social responsibility, do not
agree with Hutchins nor even
among themselves But it would
seem that the trend of the times
agrees with the recent edict of we'll
known educator who said that con-
Germ with the development Of the
individual and concern with society
must be the twin goals Of education.
In any case, it is clear that never
before in our history have the
school teacher and the professor
been offered such a challenge.
Never before has the proverb
which says wisdom is the principle
thing, therefore, get wisdom" been
more widely needed; never has the
rest Of the abjuration Of King Solo
mon been more important: land
with all thy getting. get UNDER
standing"