The people's voice. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1939-1969, 1945-11-30

| suspect that the invitation ao
dressed to me by the Missoula Coun
ty Educational Council to give thi
talk may prove to have been some
what indiscreet
| feel strongly about Montana edu
cation, and especially about its handi
caps and its shortcomings; and wheI
given an opportunity to discuss freel,
something about which | feel strongly
| am apt to be immoderate. Nothing
/ in my own educational experience ha:
Iconvinced me that | should be hest
tant about speaking my mind" as {
citizen, wherever and whenever I ge
the chance And it is as a citizen
representing no institution or organi
cation, that I am speaking here to
night
You are entitled to know, of course
that my educational experience is not
extensive, either as student or-more
recently and only for a brief time
as a participant in an experimental
study program for adults in small
communities. | am not a learned pro
fessor | am not even a professor.
| am not an authority on education.
All | know about it I have obtained
through Independent reading or obser-
walton. A couple of years ago l came
on a university campus for the first
time, and also was given the oppor-
tunity to visit a number of other uni
versities and colleges My associa-
IN h inIl bor CIT
ulating and pleasant, and probably
there is no profession l respect more
than | do that of the teacher; yet
retaining the point of view of lay
man who is outside the institutional
structure of education-I think | may
part of that structure, what the pub
lie sees wrong with it. This applies,
believe, partly to the general theory
of education-what it's overall func-
| ton should be in Montana and the
United States; but it is equally peril
education it's adequacy or made
quacy, and what we can do about it.
The first is philosophy; the second is
politics. In our particular Montana
problem they are inextricably inter-
woven. Without sound philosophy
of broadened educational service
which will reach, somehow, every lit
tie Montana village, which will en-
rich the lives not only of the children
but also of their parents, the neces-
sary public support will not appear;
and without active public interest and
sound system will be impossible in
Montana.
l cannot emphasize too strongly that
education of the children is not
enough. In proof of this, | hope to
show you how some adults apparently
are willing to sacrifice the interests
of Montana children, including their
own, in the pursuit of greater personal
profit. And l hope to show how the
adult voter and taxpayer is deceived
by misleading or inadequate informa
tion-statistics which give only half
of the story, or propaganda based on
prejudice. This deception occurs be-
cause the average Montanan lacks
the continuous educational service he
should have to help him think effec
lively, communicate his thought, make
relevant judgments and discriminate
among values. He is not getting the
service from his unsupported insti- |
buttons which he should demand. |
When he does demand it, as l hope |
he will, and finds he can't get it be-
cause we can't afford it-then we will |
get to the bottom of what ails Mon
tana education politically.
We must recognize the fact that edu-
cation in Montana must have wider
public support than in most other
states or we will have no education.
Unlike more populous areas. we have
no private institutions-save
for a handful of church schools-to
help carry the load, and to help to
keep our youngsters in their home
state. We lack the many independent
or quasi-educational serv-
ices available to adults in other
states: night classes in private
schools, organized lecture series and
forums. We do not even have the
basic educational service of fully
and competitive press.
The problems which confront us
nationally in education, then are par
ticularly serious in Montana because
ours is a sparsely populated state
and educational service is. therefore
more expensive; because our sparse
population includes selfish and polit-
cally powerful minority which is in
different to extension of the educa-
.ional service or even actively hostile
% it; because we are peculiarly de-
pendent upon political support, and
because communication in this state
s difficult and is not free.
1t may seem presumptuous of me to
urn away, at this point, from the spe-
,ific Montana problem to the national
icene-to the debate over educational
policy which is now going on in the
newspapers, magazines, and many re- .
,ent books, and on campuses through
,ut the United States. This debate
a. few weeks ago, in pub
ication of the so-called Harvard re-
,ort, which in book form bears the
tile General Education in a Free
Society" But think our concern with
hese broader aspects of education,
With these philosophical aspects, is
Justified by their particular signifi-
ance to Montana, to which | have
1~oodx, cottonwood bona con con-