Evening star., 1948-08-10
Education and Miss Bentley

Education and Miss Bentley
Leaving aside its spectacular dime-novel
aspects, the case of Miss Elizabeth T.
Bentley is at once interesting, significant
and more than a little disturbing as
symptom of some basic malaise in our
educational system.
For this woman, this self-confessed
Communist espionage agent, has been, by
her own admission, bad citizen OF the
United States despite having had an
above-average opportunity to be good
one She went through our public schools.
She was graduated from VaSsar College.
She received a masters degree from Co.
lumbia University. Why is it, then, that
she matured as she did? Why did she
fail as an American?
It would be both presumptuous and
answer to the question. Miss Bentley
probably is a complex individual whose
thinking and personality have been shaped
over the years by influences too numerous
and too varied to permit an easy or simple
explanation of her conduct as citizen.
Yet she herself has offered at least a
partial clue. Throughout the long period
of her education, she has testified, she
never at any time had lesson in Amer
ican history or civics. Not in the public
schools. Not at Vassar. Not at Columbia.
If this were typical only of Miss Bentley's
education, the fact could perhaps be dis
missed as extraordinary but not particu-
larly important. AS indicated in recent
survey by The Star however, the truth
seems to be that her experience in this
respect-her complete lack of training in
subjects vital to good citizenship been
shared, and is,still being shared by great
numbers of others. Thus, fewer than 20
per cent of our colleges have compulsory
courses in American history. Although
every State but Colorado requires that it
be taught in either elementary or high
school, the average pupil receives only two
years of it, largely in the lower grades
when the mind is too young to study it
seriously or absorb its meaning. And
civics-Which is supposed to instruct a
citizen not merely in his rights but in his
responsibilities as well-apparently fares
at least equally poorly. Indeed, here in
the District-and the same doubtless has
happened elsewhere-it has been dropped
altogether from four of our senior high
schools because of a lack of student in
terest in it.
Enlarging upon her own case with cour-
ageous frankness, Miss Bentley has OBJ
served that she has been only one among
many people who "have not the slightest
comprehension of what America really is,
nor what 1t means to live in a democratic
country" The United States harbors a
great number of such characters. Most
of them are loyal in the sense that they
would not do the things Miss Bentley has
done, but they have no true awareness of
what our way of life is or of how sharply
and how blessedly it differs from the
tyranny of the totalitarians. They are
weak citizens for that reason, free men
and free women too undiscerning to ap-
preciate the significance of their freedom
or to understand that their responsibilities
are at least as heavy as their rights and
that the liberty of this Nation will fall
apart if their woolly-minded and irrespon-
sible attitude ever becomes dominant.
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articulate, but if they can be summed up
at all, they must be summed up as half
educated theological illiterates and ignora-
muses. vulnerable to the winds of doctrine,
the gimme" philosophy and the blandish-
ments of men on horseback. 1t is too
much to say, of course, that if they had a
reasonable period of effective training
in American history, in civics, in the real
nature of totalitarianism, and perhaps
also in the kind of religion that the Su-
preme Court has ruled from our schools,
they would be far better citizens than
they are. Nevertheless, it seems fair
assumption that there would be some
Improvement in them.
Here is a problem deserving the full
attention of all the intelligent parents and
educators of America. Our school system
needs looking into. There is something
wrong with it. 1t is not likely to yield as
good product as it can if it lets young
girl study how to bake cake or paint pic
lures at the expense of no study at all in
civics or if it lets young boy ignore
history and concentrate on football and
botany. The repentant Miss Bentley has
been a moving and eloquent witness on
that score