Evening star., 1955-11-29

Is the question which has been
debated in educational circles
since the dawn Of civilization.
What should our schools accom-
plish, what should they teach,
what Is their function?
am sure that many Of you
here saw Admiral Strauss very
thought-proyoking statement on
the crisis which confronts us to-
day in the training of scientists
and engineers. He pointed out
that we are even with the So
viets and possibly a little ahead
in the number Of trained scien-
lists and engineers we both have
today. But between 1850 and
1860, If the present rates OF
training continue. the Soviet
Union will train IL million new
scientists and engineers and we
shall train approximately 100000
in the United States.
Disturbing Situation
In analyzing the problem, he
made these disturbing state
ments:
Over so per cent Of our high
schools in the United States have
no courses in either chemistry
or physics today.
There are 250.O00 to 100000
students learning mathematics
from teachers not trained to
teach 1t.
In 1890, one out of five Of ouI
high school students took ply
sizes. Today, one out of %. One
half studied algebra, today one
fourth. The number Of those
studying chemistry has decreased
80 per cent In the same period
AS Admiral Rickover has pul
1t SO well. If the crisis in educa'
tion is not met we will be II
danger OF losing the cold war b.
default" From this analysis Il
: is apparent that our national Sc.
J curity has q tremendous stake
in our educational system.
!. But as we consider this serious
5 problem. we must not allow it'
importance to obscure the vita
necessity Of maintaining higf
standards in other fields as well
It is true that the training pro.
t Ivided in our schools viii deter
| mine whether we are able Il
3 maintain adequate military
g strength - whether we win b.
!. able to design and build the new
TYPES of weapons which vii
: prove decisive II war should CONS
) eIagain.
: Fundamentals In Schools
I But what young Americans
learn in our schools also de-
termineS:
; The quality Of the statesmen
whose function is to keep the
peace. the character Of our re-
Iligious and social leaders who
help to set the moral and spiri-
tual standards of the Nation. the
social consciousness Of the EN-.
pioyerS and labor leaders who
. are building the exciting new ca
'Ipitalism IN which all Americans
are becoming partners, and In
general the level OF intelligence
and social responsibility Of the
millions of Americans who mus
make the decisions at the polls
(which will determine the Nations
future.
Let us, therefore. never make
the mistake Of failing to place
proper emphasis on the human
| titles at q time when In order to
.iinsure our survival we must nec-
'essarily increase our emphasis
on the technical subjects.
/ know it Is not necessary for
me to remind the members Of
this conference that as we con-
'Isider the function Of education
1--we must always have before US
1.-THE most important principle OF
! 'Iall--education to be great. must
'lbe free.
/ This means studying and dis
cussing ideas we don't like as
well as those we do. In this con-
'Inection. It has been unfortunate
THAT ct o time when we prop
leriy are denying Communist
Party members the right TO teach
lin our schools. we have b tend
lency to 60 TO the extreme OF
denying to our students the OPP
portunity Of learning about COM
munism.
The distinction is a very simple