American Teacher Democracy in Education; Education for Democracy ¢ - The Boss BSA The Worker Vor. V. No. 6. NEW YORK, JUNE, 1916 so Cents A YEAR . Harmon & , ~ { <2 oe Trust in me, for I am | Trust one another, for your leader and chief we are partners in service Then shall we have Harmony Work earnestly to promote our common aims selected by me | agreed upon together Then shall we have Harmony Do always and every- | Do always and every- where just as I com-| where the best we mand-—and do it know how—and do quickly it cheerfully Then shall we have Harmony Be patient and forbearing when things go wrong —for I am only human | —for we are only human Then shall we have Harmony Military Training for High School Boys Tom Browne Commercial High School, Brooklyn THE SLATER bill enacted by the last New York legislature, calls for three hours a week of military training, out- side of school hours, for boys from six- teen to eighteen years of age inclusive. This goes into effect September Ist, 1916. If this military training is to be of the type that has been followed in some schools up to the present time, namely, the manual of arms and close order drill, it will be a failure so far as training for real military efficiency is concerned. Last fall the Massachusetts legislature appointed a Commission to investigate thoroly the matter of military training for school boys. Besides civilians, three brigadier-generals of the Massachusetts National Guard sat on this Commission, and heartily concurred in the report, which came out December, 1915. I quote : The overwhelming weight of opinion from school teachers, military experts, officers of both the regular army and the militia, and the general public is against military drill in the sense of training with a musket, manual of arms, and close order formation. In a word, an imitation of the sort of train- ing which a young man receives at the ar- mory when he goes into the militia. It is generally agreed that the military drill which a boy receives in school is of little or no advantage to him from the point of view of practical soldiering. As far as available evidence goes drill in the schools has had no beneficial effect in promoting en- listments in the militia except in a few iso- lated localities. For various reasons it has seemed to create a dislike for soldiering. Military drill in the schools is objected to by many on the ground that boys of school age have not attained sufficient mental ma- turity to appreciate what war and fighting mean, and are unable to digest ideas which military drill presents to them in concrete form. It is worth nothing that military drill as such is given in the schools of no coun- tries of the world except Australia and Japan. The commission does not recommend military drill in the schools, but is opposed to it. Physical training which tends to make the boy strong, physically well set up, and men- tally alert is the proper preparation for the real intensive training necessary to make a soldier, as it is also the proper preparation for civil life. The overwhelming weight of public opinion favors the greater develop- ment of physical training in the schools and the standardization and inspection of such training by some central authority. The commission recommends the adoption of a systematic plan of physical training in the schools, and has drafted legislation provid- ing for that purpose. The commission also recommends the teaching of personal hy- giene, camp sanitation, and the truth about our military history in the schools. The commission also recommends the establish- ment of training camps for school boys dur- ing one month of the summers preceding or following their last year in the high or Latin schools. Attendance at such camps should be voluntary. The Slater bill makes attendance at summer military camps compulsory. This summer camp idea is excellent, but a still better idea, as far as the health and vigor of the boys are concerned, is an outdoor playground attached to every school—on the roof if there is no space about the building—and an hour every day of vigorous training. This training could be made to include movements and exercises of direct military application, such as jumping imaginary trenches or ditches, vaulting over barricades, wall scaling, running while carrying heavy loads, jumping from a height and land- ing on all fours without injury, crawling, rope climbing, hurdling obstacles while running at full speed, carrying compan- ions, etc.—all of value in peace as well 82 THE AMERICAN TEACHER 83 as war. Physical training teachers in the New York high schools are even now teaching such activities, altho without calling them military training, and with- out the military end in view, for they are all involved in the many activities of the gymnasium, athletic field, or playground. But two periods a week of forty-five minutes each is not sufficient. A period a day is necessary if we are going to bring our weaklings up to the standard necessary for civilian life, not to men- tion the high standard necessary for mili- tary life. It is possibly not a matter of com- mon knowledge that there is already in our high schools a certain amount of military drill. I speak of the military facings, flank and rear marching, column and counter marching, and squad forma- tions necessary to the handling of large groups of boys—sometimes as many as 350 in the gymnasium. As much accur- acy and finish is demanded of these boys, I venture to say, as is demanded of Na- tional Guard militiamen. What is at- tempted is done well. The boys get the same values out of this work as they would get out of a more comprehensive military drill, namely, the habit of im- mediate response to command and the ability to work in unison. This can be proven by a visit to any of our high school gymnasiums. The usual national guard armory drill is of so little value in the training of a soldier, that the Massachusetts Commis- sion on Military Education complains: There is nowhere behind the system (National Guard) any means of control which compels obedience. Instruc- tion rarely goes beyond a rudimentary state, and is generally superficial. Of those who do attend drills many become tired because no progress is made, and drop out. Privates learn little of military value, and serve mostly as pawns in the training of officers. The commission is clearly of the opinion that no existing system of training of any state militia, not even our own, is adequate to accomplish its real pur- pose. The periods of training, consisting of one week in the field in summer and evening drills throughout the winter at ar- mories, are not adapted to create an efficient fighting force. To-day the training of a soldier consists, not in close order drill, but in the actual work of a soldier which can be done only in the field. We con- sider as important the changing of the even- ing drills from two hours per week to monthly sessions of twenty-four hours and a longer period of intensive train- ing in the field for at least the first year after enlistment. Can we pretend to make any less a failure among school boys than the Na- tional Guard, with its complete equip- ment, has made in trying to develop sol- diers by armory drills out of mature recruits. Evidently, if the after-school military training of our high school boys is to be of any real value either to them or to the state, there must be a radical change from the armory drill method. There must be a rapid progression from a minimum of close order drill to extended order and general field work, and a great deal of the latter must be really physic- ally training. Major Tait McKenzie, who is in charge of the physical train- ing of the recruits in the English camps, writes that the largest part of the re- cruit’s time for the first six months is devoted to getting into physical condition, for the rigors of campaigning. Governor Whitman favors training on the line of the Boy Scouts. If we have the humanitarianism and idealism of this movement, and a maximum of physical training with a minimum of military drill it will be excellent. Education is growth and must pro- gressively realize present possibilities, and thus make individuals better fitted to cope with later requirements. Growing is not something which is completed in odd moments; it is a con- tinuous leading into the future—Joun Dewey, in Democracy and Education, The Moral Side of Military Training” Mrs. Amos PINCHOT INTELLIGENT people all over the world know that military training does not pro- duce real discipline at all. It may force boys or men into more or less rigid molds and compel obedience as long as the heavy hand of military authority rests upon them, but when this hand is lifted there is less of real discipline, less of intelligent self-restraint, than if mili- tary training had never been imposed at all. The only discipline that is worth anything is that which comes from inside aman. You cannot drill or goose-step a man into self-discipline. It is prover- bial that soldiers, the moment they are free from the restraint of their officers, are the most undisciplined and anti-social class in the world. Implicit obedience to authority not only fails to produce real discipline: it develops an unthinking and automatic condition of mind, where intelligent thought and self-government become ex- ceedingly difficult. Trained soldiers are not intelligent as a class—not steady. For this reason it is about twice as hard for a discharged regular soldier to get a job as it is for another man of the same grade in life who has not been in the army. Games, on the other hand, produce real discipline. They build in a boy’s char- acter the self-restraint, the obedience to necessary rules and laws that military discipline utterly fails to build. They make an esprit de corps founded upon the necessity of acting together for a common purpose that the dull, rigid grind of military discipine can never make. If you want a boy to become an effi- cient, quick thinking soldier later on, with plenty of initiative, do not dull and stultify his mind and body by stupid drill that is naturally repugnant to him, or by a reflex obedience to authority that *From address before Governor C. F. Whit- man of New York, in public hearing on the Slater bill,, 15 May, 1916. degrades his conscience as well as his mind. Give him the love of co-opera- tion, the self-restraint, the power of ac- curate use of his mind and body that is developed through gymnastics and sports, and you will have a nation of boys that can be made into magnificent soldiers in half the time that your mili- tary drilled boys can. * 7 + We are still more opposed to the com- pulsory camp provision of the Slater bill. We are opposed to it to such an extent that we are willing to say to you that this bill is as much an assault upon the in- tegrity of America’s homes as upon her democracy. Mr. Governor, you propose to take our sons at an impressionable age and put them into military camps, which will generally be situated in fair grounds adjacent to towns and cities, and there subject them to training by officers and enlisted men of the National Guard. No country in the world, not even those in the throes of war, has gone so far along the path of autocratic mili- tarism as this Legislature has gone in presenting you with these bills. A dis- tinguished Russian gentleman said to me last month about these bills: “The Rus- sian people would not tolerate them for a moment—this conscription of children.” Boys at 16 are proverbially subject to outside influences. Large military en- campments are well known as places where the influences are distinctly bad. They probably always will be until hu- man nature changes. Moreover, the amateur officers of the National Guard have over and over again proved, and, in our opinion, will unfortunately con- tinue to prove, their very lamentable un- fitness to have the care of boys and men. Health records alone of such encamp- ments furnish sufficient commentary. But aside from the obvious physical and moral dangers of putting young boys in military camps in fair grounds, under the charge of the militia, there 84 11. are grave psychological objections to this kind of training. The world recognizes today as never before the necessity of teaching ideals of peace and of building up the spirit of brotherhood. We should not teach our boys that differences should be settled by brute force, except as a last resort, when every other means of adjustment has failed. But the military ideal is necessarily one of trial by battle of the sacredness of aggressive strength. This is not an intelligent keynote to strike in the training of children; it is not a Christian note; it has nothing to do with the higher ideals of social service that are founded upon justice as against brute force, upon fraternity as against the power of an armed minority. A higher concept of patriotism is being recognized in the United States than that of staining our country’s flag with blood whenever we disagree with anybody. The symbolism of the flag itself means something more in- spiring than force. We should teach our young men, and women, too, that the real patriot is the man who strives most earnestly and effectively to bring to America conditions which fill the re- quirements of a great national ideal. We should teach them that there are other enemies to be fought than those beyond our border lines—the enemies here at home who are breaking down American- ism and patriotism by saddling unjust THE AMERICAN TEACHER 35 conditions of life—poverty, squalor and want—upon our people. We _ should teach them that the great problem of this country is to fight special privilege, pri- vate monopoly, the organized agencies that are shouting patriotism and at the same time monopolizing the natural re- sources, raising the cost of living, op- pressing labor and grinding down the poor. - * . And, finally, let me venture to remind you that in taking this step of imposing upon our children a militarism such as no country in the world has permitted to touch its youth we are not doing either a brave or a patriotic or an expedient thing. It is not brave, because it would be unthinkable to minds free from ex- citement and an unwarranted degree of apprehension. It is not patriotic, because it is diametrically opposed to American institutions and ideals, and it is, above all, not expedient, because if we are in danger of invasion, the way to meet that danger is not to train our children for battle. If there is an immediate responsi- bility upon our people to prepare for war, it is hard to sit by unshamed and watch the Legislature of this State de- liberately saddle this responsibility upon the immature backs of our children, who have no voice in accepting or rejecting such responsibility, and who are unfit to carry it. Right Preparedness CHARLOTTE PERKINS GILMAN Editor, The Forerunner A NATION, like a person, should be prepared wisely and properly for the natural vicissitudes and dangers of life; the individual to meet heat and cold, danger of fire and crime, evils of old age and illness; the nation to meet its natural vicissitudes and dangers, inter- nal perils of social dissension, treason, disease and crime; and external perils, chief of which is war. The question then arises; what is “wise and proper” preparedness for a nation, and especially for our nation. Fighting is done today as always, first with men, second with money, third with armament and munitions of war; fourth with specialized intelligence and training. As to men—we have plenty. As to money—we have plenty. As to armament and munitions—we 86 THE AMERICAN TEACHER can make them and make them quickly. As to specialized intelligence and train- ing—we have the intelligence in plenty, and it seems to show itself pretty promptly on occasion; also we have our special training at West Point and Annapolis, to say nothing of the National Guard, our organized militia. There seems to be some misunderstanding about this last. Our national law provides “that the militia shall consist of every able-bodied male citizen” and “every able-bodied male of foreign birth who has declared his intention to become a citizen, who is more than 18 and less than 45 years of age.” and “shall be divided into two classes—the organized militia to be known as the National Guard.” Some 132,000 of these; and “the remainder to be known as the reserve militia”; 20,- 500,000 of these. What additional pre- paredness does our country need? First: a sweeping and drastic clean- ing up of our present war department; the highest honesty, efficiency, economy ; and all open to the public knowledge. Second: such federal enforcement of sanitary living and physical training for all our citizens from childhood up to the limit of military age, at least, as shall make such citizens fit for military serv- ice, if necessary, and incidentally for so- cial service, which is always necessary. This should include girls and women. You cannot make superior sons out of inferior mothers. Third: a complete renovation of our military laws and customs. If the soldier is so important to us, let him be paid in proportion to his value, and treated as respectfully as we treat other citizens. Fourth: an industrial training for sol- diers and their use in time of peace for constructive work toward national im- provement—at good wages. The weakness of our army is due partly to dishonesty and bad manage- ment among those higher up, partly to the laborious idleness of its men in peace time, partly to its poor pay and partly to the antique idiocy of its despotic reg- ulations as to the “social standing” of soldiers and officers; the men being treated with harshness and ignominy, as if they were slaves. We need a military system that is co- operative, and democratic; with fair treatment and good wage. Then it will be strong enough. Field Work in Higher Education Tue Association of Urban Universi- ties has appointed a committee of nine prominent educators to study how far it is desirable to extend teaching by field practise. This is a sign of progress. The dry skeletons with which students have hitherto been obliged to be satis- fied in their study of the social sciences, are finally to be clothed with real flesh. Economics, Sociology and Government have in the past dwelt in imaginary realms of “perfectly free competition,” “Robinson Crusoes,” “equality before the law,” etc., having often little real asso- ciation with actual economic or political forces. The movement to extend the teaching of these sciences by field prac- tise is a tardy but wholly welcome step. Thru a thoro study of the work of offi- cial bureaus, social settlements, city de- partments and political parties, we may hope to turn out men and women ready for efficient service for the public good. It is a program of this sort that should be receiving the sympathy and support of those who are anxious to have our country prepared for efficient life. Instead the enthusiasm, the energy, the thought of the nation is running riot in the creation of a bogey with which to frighten the masses, to the end that a larger army and navy may be at the serv- ice of aggressive capitalism in its efforts to capture markets in South America and China. Raising a Billion and a Half for Education* WILLIAM ENGLISH WALLING Author of Progressivism and After, The Larger Aspects of Socialism, Etc. IF CLASSES were reduced to half their present size, if teachers were properly paid, and if other improvements were in- troduced that are advocated by every progressive educator, the common schools would require $1,500,000,000 instead of the $500,000,000 now being spent on them. The secondary schools would re- quire $400,000,000 instead of $70,000,- ooo. And acting in the same progres- sive spirit the nation might profitably increase its expenditures for higher edu- cation by $100,000,000. This would mean a total of about $2,- 000,000,000—by no means an exorbitant sum for a nation with an income of at least $30,000,000,000. If we can spend three billion dollars for tobacco and al- cohol, surely we can afford to spend two *From address before National Federation of Settlements, 21 May, 1916. billions for education. Even the petty luxuries of women, jewelry, candies and chewing gum absorb more than the pub- lic schools today. How could the billion and a half be raised? Let the states and the national government divide the burden between them. One state, Alabama, now devotes fifty-one percent of its taxes to educa- tion. If every state did the same, enough and much more would be produced. Or the states could raise their quota more easily by establishing a tax on the future rise in ground value, exempting homes and other small properties. As for the federal half, if we applied the income tax scale of Great Britain, even as it was before the war, that would bring us $300,000,000. The same rate of inheritance tax would yield $400,000,- 000 more. A Teachers’ District Council This seems to be a period of unusual activity on the part of teachers. They have now organized a district council in District 39, Brooklyn. Altho the initia- tive was taken by Dr. Oswald Schlockow, principal of P. S. 109, as chairman of the committee on school problems of the Brooklyn Teachers’ Association, it is proposed that this be a local movement from which the Brooklyn Teachers’ As- sociation is to withdraw as soon as the organization is effected. Should this ex- periment in District 39 prove successful, the attempt would then be made to form similar Councils in the other districts of the city. Dr. Schlockow is one of the few super- visory officials of the school system who are far-seeing enough to understand that much of the trouble with our present educational system is due to the lack of teacher co-operation in the administra- 87 tion of the schools. He sees that new life will be added by giving the teacher a greater sense of responsibility. The call for the organization meeting met with an enthusiastic response. Dr. Schlockow opened the meeting with an address on the need of such an organiza- tion and pointed out some putposes it might hope to achieve. Other speakers were Commissioner John Whalen, Mr. Lyman Beecher Stowe and President Willcox of the Board of Education. The move was heartily approved by Mr. Will- cox who expressed a desire for an effi- cient general teachers’ council which should be representative of all the teach- ers of the city. It was rather a significant fact that the teachers voted to admit into the or- ganization only class teachers, thereby excluding principals, assistants to prin- cipals, and superintendents. The Conquering of War THE WAR in Europe has made a bull of everyone who happens to own stocks or can gamble in stocks in copper, steel, or gasoline. Tin, also, has mounted per- ceptibly. But no war has ever unsettled the stability of tin and threatened to send it rushing skyward so strongly as has the Governor of the State of New York. By a few strokes of his willing pen, the Governor, in approving the military bills, has made tin soldiers of several millions of boys and men of his own state, and pointed the way for Governors and Leg- islatures of many other states to follow his stock-boosting example. What are the teachers of the State of New York and other states going to do about it? Certain it is that those teachers who are most concerned with the carrying out of the provisions of the Welsh and Slater bills which will affect the boys from the elementary grades to the high schools, are very generally against the policy of introducing the mechanics of military drill into the course of physical training. Naturally, the Governor and the State Legislature should not be _ blamed because they have not consulted the teachers and the experts in physical training before compelling the teachers to take up unwelcome tasks. The edu- cational authorities themselves seldom consult teachers, so why should the Gov- ernor and the gentlemen from the thir- teenth and the twenty-third districts take on so much trouble? Aside from the fact that the teachers of the State have not been consulted at any stage in the progress of the pre- paredness program, there exists the pro- fessional obligation upon them of stand- ing now as they have never had occasion to stand before in loco parentis. This is all the more necessary because many of the parents themselves have been caught up in the whirlwind of the universal shrieking for “arms and men.” Never before has there been so splendid an op- portunity for the teachers to stand for the conservation of child life and for its protection against the reachings of the molochs of battle. It has been said that teachers continue their operations in the eddies of life, and never in its vital stream. If that is true, let us be thankful for the figure of speech if it implies also that we may have some opportunity to observe the vital stream sweeping on and on to a possible beating against the rocks of des- olation. Let us not miss the significance of that desperate sweeping on, ungovern- able and unintelligent as water itself. Let us not fail to realize that the real, essential spirit of preparedness is as in- sane and unintelligent as war itself, since there is nothing to prepare against except nations that are wellnigh helpless in the throes of combat with one another. Let us not overlook the continual and in- creasing exhaustion of the world’s eca- nomic, institutional and eugenic re- sources thru war, and comprehend the fact that the social function of the school is to conserve all these resources. The present war may yet involve other nations that think themselves immune for the present; and there may be other wars. If there are, they can never be settled by copper, or steel, or trinitroto- luol, or even by tin soldiers of commer- cialized patriotism, because guns and explosives call for more guns and ex- plosives, and more desolation and death. The only war that can be won and stay won is the war between ideals. Let the teachers of the state and the nation make their preparedness for the blood- less battles of the future by the only course that can bring peace to the sons of men. Let the teachers get out cf the eddies of life and gird themselves for the battle between the idealism of destruc- tion and the idealism of human conserva- tion and human brotherhood. There is no other way. If you cannot get ten new sub- scribers—get nine. ~- mn & - & ee we he The American Cearher Democracy in Education ; Educati Published monthly, except July and August, by THE AMERICAN TEACHER COMPANY, INC., 70 Fifth Avenue, New York City ALEXANDER FICHANDLER CHARLOTTE E. LEE JAY D. LESTER Edited by HENRY R. LINVILLE Editor-in-Chief BENJAMIN C. GRUENBERG Managing Editor Julia H. Doyle Gabriel R. Mason Benjamin Glassberg J. Edward Mayman JEANETTE G. GLASSBERG Business Manager SAM SCHMALHAUSEN Circulation Manager At the time of expiration,-a bill will be found in the copy. Subscribers are requested to give prompt notice of changes in address. Remittances should be made in postal money- order, pees order, draft, stamps or check (New York exchange). SUBSCRIPTION PRICE, 50 CENTS FOR THE YEAR—FOREIGN, 60 CENTS. Entered as second-class matter, February 21, 1912, at the Post Office, at New York, N. Y., ander the Act of March 3, 1879. VOL. V. JUNE, 10916 This paper is striving to do its part in the creation of a real profession of teaching, the members of which shall be self-respecting and respected, thru stimulating clear thinking on the work and the social position of teachers, and thru intelligent criticism of systems of educational administration. No greater service than this could be rendered to the children of the state. TO INQUIRING FRIENDS WiTtH THE present number THE AMERICAN TEACHER begins in an official way to manifest a friendly relation to teachers’ unions that it has for some time demonstrated unofficially. In several numbers in the past the paper has pre- sented the reasons why teachers should feel themselves part of the great body 89 of working people. Unquestionably the success of the movement in New York City may be traced to the support given to the cause by this paper. Therefore, it is natural that the relation between the organized union and THE AMERICAN TEACHER should become closer than ever. The business arrangement by which the Teachers’ Union of the City of New York takes over four pages every month will make it possible for the members of the Union to know what is being done by the officers and the committees of the Union, and to receive other valuable ideas, free of charge. The payment for this is equivalent to the cost of the serv- ice, and will not increase the dues of the members in the Union. It is also understood tnat the pages striven to the Union are to be under the supervision of a committee apnointed by the Union, and that THE AMERICAN TEACHER is not restricted in its well known policy of freedom of opinion. However, no one will become a member of the editorial staff of the paper who is opposed to the idea of unionism. Subscribers who are also members of the Union and have paid for more than one year’s subscription will receive a refund for the extra year’s subscription. For an unexpired yearly subscription the paper will be sent to any friend of a Union member. It is earnestly hoped that subscribers who are “eternally opposed to the idea of teachers joining a union” will be pa- tient, and consider the “respectable” situ- ation created by the fact that the actors are planning the formation of a union to be affiliated with the American Federa- tion of Labor, and the Authors’ League of America is taking the initial steps in the same direction. Unionism is not a craze; it is a social and economic neces- sity. LABOR AND EDUCATION THAT ORGANIZED labor has in this country always stood with the leaders in promoting public education and in im- proving public education is sufficiently established historically.. It is only those go who are interested in misrepresenting the workers, or in deluding them, who per- sist in harping upon the conflicts between “labor and education.” One can readily understand the efforts of various editors and of employment agents specializing in the placing of teachers, to aggravate misunderstandings between teachers and other workers, to emphasize divergencies in outlook, to cultivate mutual distrust. But we cannot understand so readily why either teachers or other workers should / place their trust in lying editors or inter- Yested exploiters—except on the suppo- sition that we have so long relied upon our leaders that we have the habit. The fact remains, however, that teachers as a body have failed to go to the workers for information about the labor move- ment; and that the “laborers” have on the whole failed to come to the teachers for information about educational mat- ters. The former have depended upon the editors of respectable journais; the latter have depended upon politicians— inside and outside the labor movement. In the resolutions adopted by the Con- ference of Organized Labor on Industrial Education in New York City (See THE AMERICAN TEACHER, May, 1916, p. 80) there are many evidences that labor has gone its own way—and that the teachers have neglected their opportunities to de- velop harmonious co-operation with those concerned in the most important prob- lems of American life. The “demands” represent a mixture of sound sentiment, traditional misgivings and calculated mis- representation. Whoever it was that the writers of these resolutions relied upon for technical information lays himself open to the suspicion of “playing poli- tics.” The demands relating to standardiza- tion of service and payment represent the consistent policy of the labor unions, as do those relating to the extension of facilities for day and evening education to all who may desire to use them, the extension of the teaching of English to foreigners, the provision of play oppor- tunities and play supervision, the reduc- THE AMERICAN TEACHER tion in size of classes and the extension and improvement of kindergartens, Some of the demands are in line with current developments tending to increase the use of the school plant for summer instruction and for communal purposes ; but the section on recreation and com- munity centers is ambiguous and dog- matic. We only make ourselves ridicu- lous when we demand with the same vehemence the “immediate development of every recreation and community cen- ter to its fullest capacity,” and the “im- mediate payment to all teachers of their legal salaries according to their official rating and work.” The demand for the “immediate stop- ping of all attacks upon all branches of the teaching staff by city officials and Board of Education,” is obvicusly well meant ; but it is the sort of demand that loses force thru its very righteousness. Teachers themselves do not or should not wish to be immune from “attacks’”—in the sense of criticisms; if the attacks are unfair, let us fight them in the open, but it is not to the interest of the teachers or of other workers to silence “attacks” thru vociferous demands or a show of force. The demands relating to vocational education are merely reiterations of the city’s own unfulfilled promises; the oc- casion for these demands is a serious reflection upon the good faith or effi- ciency of the officials charged with the introduction of vocational education. The first demand—for new buildings without resort to “the deplorable expedi- ent of the double shift, commonly desig- nated as the duplicate school, or the double session—is a veiled thrust at the experiments with the Gary type of school organization, but not very well veiled. If we would candidly detach the prin- ciples of the “duplicate school” from the expedients known as “double session” or “double shift” we might discover that the most urgent needs of “labor” in the way of public education are more likely to be realized by this plan than by any other being extensively considered by educa- tors and administrators at the present : ; : : ; or BO O WD THE AMERICAN TEACHER gI Moreover, it looks very much like time. politics to identify the duplicate school with the question of adequate school ac- commodation. For this, however, the city officials are chiefly to blame, for in the two years of discussion they have insisted upon emphasizing the “economy” of the duplicate school, and upon ignor- ing the educational and social features. The demand for the “immedate elim- ination from the course of study of any activity which takes away from the es- sentials and fundamentals of education in the elementary schools,” is another jab in the dark. It implies that we all know what the “essentials and funda- mentals’ are, and that somebody or some agency is at work crowding them out. There is room here for a great deal of serious thought, unbiased investiga- tion—and misrepresentation. So the reference to the “monitor or assistant teacher evil,’ which directs attention to an incidental feature of the Gary plan— and of other plans—without adequately characterizing it, and without indicating the slightest conception either of its me- chanism or of its pedagogical purpose or effect. The bias against the Gary plan, which Mr. Samuel Gompers explicitly repudiated at the meeting, crops out in the demand for comprehensive experi- ments with—almost anything except the Gary plan. The political and personal element in the system of motives is revealed by the “immediate demand” for the removal of Dr. Abraham Flexner and Mr. Raymond Fosdick from the Board of Education, because these men are employed by the General Education Board, one of the Rockefeller foundations. Now it may well be that there is some sinister pur- pose behind the presence of these men on the Board of Education, but in the ab- sence of any incriminating evidence, we are obliged to assume that they are as whole-heartedly devoted to the interests of the public as are the union-labor mem- bers of the Board, or the professional men, or the Jews, or Catholics, or Metho- dists, or Republicans. Incidentally, it is interesting to notice that Dr. Flexner’s pamphlet on the “Modern School” (Gen- eral Education Board, Occasional Papers, No. 3) is about as radical a proposal for the reorganization of elementary educa- tion in the direction of democratic curri- culum as we have seen in recent years. No group in the community has the right to challenge the good faith of any other group ostensibly serving the public un- less the former is prepared to declare categorically in favor of the elimination of all those factors in our civilization that tend to perpetuate conflicting group in- terests; and this the labor unions have never done officially. In conclusion it may be well to bring to the attention of those interested in improving the condition of the working class, whether thru political or economic action, that there are half a million men and women in the country who have both a professional and an economic interest in the improvement of the schools. The welfare of all concerned is to be pro- moted only thru closer affiliation and co- operation of—all concerned. “Democracy IN EpucaTION: EDUCATION FoR Democracy.”—This motto, and the above ex- tracts, the first an editorial and the last two the front and back covers, give the flavor of the most stimulating magazine for thinking teachers published to-day. If we had com- pleted our national fedaration, we would want just that kind of a national organ. Mean- while we can do no better than send fifty cents to “The American Teacher,” 129 Lafay- ette street, New York City, and receive this high potential monthly for a year.—From the Bulleting of the Chicago Federation of Men Teachers, February, 1916. No given environment or training can be good for every individual, nor for the same individual at eevry stage of development. Every individual is unique, and if the best results are to be had must be supplied with omniscient intelligence. The impossibility of securing the absolutely best conditions of development need not prevent society from securing better conditions than those which now prevail.—Proressor Epwin G. ConkLIN, in Heredity and Environment in the Develop- ment of Man. What They Say AS SEEN BY A SCHOOL BOY Editors, THE AMERICAN TEACHER: Militarism threatens not only to clog the mighty wheel of Evolution but to set it ’going backward.’ Military training in the public schools, now made compulsory by Governor Whitman and the re-actionary legislature of New York State, assumes, from my point of view, one form, one meaning—that of a war- mad, suspicious people trying to throw the burden and responsibility of this nation’s fu- ture upon the backs of those who as yet are not fully equipped for the task—the coming generation. This fact becomes doubly alarming when we discover that not preparation for peace and world wide unity, but the repulsive business of preparation for war and inter-national discord, have been the given tasks. Upon my generation will fall the insidious burden of paying for the upkeep of great, destructive armies and extensive, useless navies. That is what military training in the schools means to me and the organization which I represent. It means that for ten years of my school life teachers and educators have lied to me; that for many years I have not been taught the true conception of American Democracy ; and that what faith I held in this great gov- ernment of ours has been destroyed, because I am now Told that the Prime Duty of my Life Is to Learn to Shoulder a Gun and Pre- pare for the Slaughter of my European or Asiatic Friends. I say my teachers lied because they never told me that schools were places of war train- ing. I say that I have been taught the mis- conception of American Democracy because it was never told to me that Democracy meant Militarism. And I have lost faith in this government because instead of imposing the duties of intelligent, peaceful citizenship upon me, it has imposed war burdens and military drill. If my Teachers neither Lied, nor Taught Me the Misconception of American Democracy, Something Is Wrong, which Means that We Are ‘Going Backward.’ Max E. Konecky, Jr. President, Inter-Scholastic Anti-Mili- tarist League, New York. 92 THE AMERICAN TEACHER Editor, THe AMERICAN TEACHER: Socializing and democratizing the recitation is the highest aim of the teacher. Miss Frank’s article on her Biology class innova- tion is indeed worthy of commendation. I find that King in his Education for Social Efficiency, pp. 245-251, describes a similar plan, conducted by Miss Lotta A. Clark, Charles- town, Mass. High School. For several years, her history students have carried on not only the review, but the advance lesson as well. I suggest that THE AMERICAN TEACHER con- duct a department devoted to modern methods, whose administrator shall scour all publica- tions and books. He shall quote from the more worthy. The others should be listed, so that we may have references for reading. I trust that some day we shall reach the level of the children. For method in method, Brooklyn. HERMAN P. LEVINE. Editors THe AMERICAN TEACHER: Enclosed is an order for One Dollar, to pay for two subscriptions to your paper. I think your publication points out clearly the functions of the educational forces in working toward a true democracy, and what the edu- cational body must do in order best to perform those functions. Marcaret Powe tt, Chairman Membership Committee, League of Teachers’ Associations, Chicago. To the Editors, THz AMERICAN TEACHER: America First—Good—In the Trenches— Scrumptious. I wish every family would read THE AMERICAN TEACHER. It sure is a backbone — Stiffener — The true American Teacher. Brooklyn, N. Y. Wm. H. MartuHews. It is just as much the duty of a teacher to read an educational journal as it is to prepare for an examination. The difference is that we are driven to the one, while the other only beckons tous—The Educational Ex change, December, 1915. ames y - © = Sa Se tf ee ee | aor & bone Official Section of the TEACHERS’ UNION OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK Published by the Union docu its Press Committee. A Keil, P S 70, Man A Lefkowitz, P S 147, Bk Jacob Lind, Morris High School Morton J Rosenthal, P S 20, Man James H Shipley, High School Commerce Jennie Wells, P S 84, Bk COMMUNICATIONS AND REPORTS intended for publication in this section must be submitted to the Press Committee by chairmen or mem- bers, and must fall under one of the classifi- cations mentioned below. EDITORIAL ANNOUNCEMENT THESE FOUR PAGES, the official section of the Teachers Union, are being pub- lished in fulfilment of the mandate of the members as expressed in the recent referendum, The Executive Committee at its meeting, May 19, designated this magazine as its official mouthpiece, and authorized the reservation of four pages for its exclusive use. Henceforth mem- bership in the Union will carry with it a subscription to its official organ. This will not entail any additional charge to the member, the cost of the subscription being borne by the union out of the annual dues. The Press Committee trusts this sec- tion will become attractive to the mem- bers. For them these four pages will function in various ways. 1. As a means of informing every member of the activities of the union and its committees. 2. As a means of presenting, even to the absentees, the important proceedings of each meeting. _ 3. Asa measure of economy in print- ing circulars and notices, where such matter may be carried in these columns. THE AMERICAN TEACHER 93 4. As an open forum for the members on questions of methods or management of the union, or even the discussion of the candidates for office. Here is a privilege of which every member should avail himself. Do not depend completely upon your officials and committees. Acquaint yourself with their doings. Register your approval or disapproval when needed, to the end that you may become a vigilant, helpful par- ticipant in the affairs of your organiza- tion. Special Notice Regular June meeting of the Union will fall on Friday, June 16. Reserve this date. Later announcements. A new election will be necessary to decide the successful candidate for Vice- President. Our constitution requires that, to be elected, a candidate must re- ceive at least a majority of all votes cast. Neither candidate received a ma- jority of all the 467 ballots. Therefore, the names of the two leaders are being herewith re-submitted for the vote of the membership. School representatives, please detach and send to office. THE TEACHERS’ UNION OF THE City or NEw YorkK SECOND FORMAL BALLOT FOR VICE-PRESIDENT | | Mary A Broucuton, P S 188B, Man.| | | FrepericK Z Lewis, Boys’ H § | ORGANIZATION NOTES THE NEWLY elected Executive Board of the Teachers’ Union held its first meeting at Washington Irving High School on Friday evening, May toth, with Dr. Henry R. Linville acting as chairman. 94 THE AMERICAN TEACHER A communication was read from Pres- ident Chas. B. Stillman of the American Federation of Teachers, conveying the information that the Teachers’ Union of the City of New York was to be granted a charter. It was decided that the Pension Com- mittee, in co-operation with the Legal Committee, investigate the charge that certain funds legally belonging to the present pension fund, have been diverted to other uses. The committee was authorized to hire competent counsel to make a finish fight on this issue, if the facts warrant it. Thus, the Teachers’ Union has placed itself once more on record as being the only organization that dares to tackle the biggest and most vital task of the hour. Fellow teachers, this means a large expenditure of money. Therefore, constitute yourself a member- ship committee and get members. We need them to reach the 2,000 mark. A report was made by the Teachers’ Interests Committee concerning the in- justice done a member of the Union. The discussion occupied considerable time. Finally the committee was en- larged and urged to meet with the proper officials of the Board of Edu- cation and to see that her grievance be equitably adjusted. The committee appointed to consider the advisability of admitting members of the Substitute Teachers’ Organization without the payment of an initiation fee, reported unfavorably because such an act favored one group as against another and was, therefore, undemocratic. The report was tabled and the meeting ad- journed to meet Friday evening, May 26. PLANS AND PROGRESS The Committee on Revision of the Constitution held a meeting at Union Headquarters on Tuesday, 23d of May, and will soon have certain changes and additions to submit to the Executive Committee. Any further suggestions may be sent to the committee in care of Teachers’ Union, 70 Fifth Ave. Jas. H. Shipley, H. S. Commerce, Chairman, Miss Mary T. Eaton, P. S. 11 Bklyn., Miss Clara Friedman, P. S. 55 Bklyn., Max Lipschitz, P. S. 165 Bklyn., C. W. Rozelle, P. S. 169 Man. AT A general meeting the Pension Committee was empowered to prepare a pension bill in the preparation of which it was to invite the co-operation of a representative from every school in the city. This bill, when completed, is to be submitted first to the approval of the entire teaching corps, then to the state legislature, as a substitute for the Lock- wood bill. VOTE ON OFFICIALS The referendum on the officers of the union which closed on Thursday May 25 gave the following results :— President—Henry R. Linville, Jamaica H. S., 457. Vice-President—Mary A. Broughton, P. S. 188B, Man., 162; Mary T. Eaton, P. S. 11, Bk., 76; Frederick Z. Lewis, Boys H. S., 169; Mrs. Anna R. Pette- bone, P. S. 120, Man., 58. Recording Secretary—Mary J. Grib- bin, P. S. 165, Bk., 142.; Cecilia R. Kaftal, P. S. 43, Bx., 36; Alexander Rosen, P. S. 27, Bx., 246. Corresponding Secretary — William I. Heller, P. S. 34, Man., 137; Jennie Schmalhausen, P. S. 4, Bx., 321. Treasurer—Gabriel R. Mason, DeW. C. H. S., 138; J. Edward Mayman, P. S. 64, Man., 328. ‘ Delegates at Large—Executive Board. (Nominated by Executive Board—Vote for Five)—Nathan Fogg, P. S. 169, Man., 325; A. Keil, P. S. 70, Man., 256; Mrs. Marion D. Kelley, P. S. 165, Bk., 329; Rose Lichterman, P. S. 47, Bx., 283 ; Sarah McDermott, P. S. 171, Man., 279; Jacob A. Rubel, P. S. 156B, Bk., 221; Philip L. Walrath, P. S. 72, Bk., 237; Mrs. Ida S. White, P. S. 87, Bk., 208. —_makh 2 at = nm Lon oO a een Bn ee ne THE AMERICAN TEACHER 95 These are the successful candidates: President H. R. Linville, Vice-President undetermined. Record. Ser. Alexander Rosen, Correspond. Sec. Jennie Schmal- hausen, Treasurer, J. Edward Mayman, Del. at large to Exec. Com., Nathaniel Fogg, Marion D. Kelley, Rose Lichter- man, Sara McDermott, Aaron Keil. Official Tellers A. LEFKOoWITz, J. LESTER. PROFESSIONS AND THE UNION THE History of Unionism shows one fact most conclusively and that is this— workers must unionize to obtain better working conditions and better wages or else be reduced, for all practical purposes, to serfdom. Is this true only of manual laborers ? Four score years ago the condition of the teachers of England was deplorable from the point of view of wages, tenure and working conditions. They were looked upon as life’s failures entitled to little or no respect. When these under- paid and browbeaten teachers complained to their superiors against their governors, they were told that they were at the mercy of their managers who could pay them what they liked, dismiss them when they pleased and work them as they saw fit. Meanwhile, the common laborer whom the teachers scorned as not belonging to a profession, had unionized, improved his working conditions and obtained better wages while the teacher looked upon unionization as unprofessional. But even “peg-o-dogs” have sense. In 1870 a few courageous teachers started a teach- ers’ union. It grew rapidly until today the National Union of Teachers of Eng- land embraces over 00,000 enthusiastic, self-respecting, intelligent and wide- awake teachers who are now looked upon as factors in the community. In fact they are so highly regarded that the London Teachers’ Association, a local of the N. U. T. is represented in the County Council and the School Board of London. In other words, the unionization of the teachers of England won for them decent working hours, good wages, decent working conditions, freed them from compulsory extraneous tasks, relieved them of petty tyranny and unjustifiable dismissal. In America the professions likewise considered it undignified to unionize. Among these were the artists, actors and musicians. As a result they were brow- beaten by managers and underpaid. Suddenly the idea dawned upon them. If Unions are good for others why not for us? The result was that the actors and the musicians unionized, thereby ob- taining good wages, good working con- ditions and the respect of the community. And last, but not least, the teachers of America are waking up. In Chicago, seventeen years ago, the teachers were at the mercy of a grasping and capitalist- ically controlled Board of Education. Altho hounded by the Board they union- ized and won the right to maintain their union. Since then, they have increased their salaries from $825 to $1500, placed their pension fund on a sound basis, and have taken an active part in the improve- ment of the condition of all workers. The despised teachers of 17 years ago have won the gratitude and respect of the people of Chicago. The fight of the Chicago Federation of Teachers produced wonderful results. The teachers of New York, Washington, Scranton, Butte, Oklahoma City, San Antonio and Missoula have unionized, as did the professors of the universities. In April occurred the most significant event in the educational world—the formation of a national Union of teachers called the American Federation of Teachers. Close upon this announcement came the information that even “literature was to be union made.” Thompson Buchanan, Chairman of the committee to consider the advisability of the Authors’ League affiliating with the American Federation of Labor, informed a New York [Vorld reporter that the committee favored affili- ating with the A. F. of L. At the last g6 THE AMERICAN TEACHER meeting held at the City Club in New York it was decided to submit the mat- ter to its 1300 members and the pro- posal will no doubt be carried. Teachers, this indicates the tendency of the times. You cannot stop this evo- lution. Why not accelerate it? Ask your teacher friends, not members of the Union, if they want better wages, better working conditions, more democratic school management and the respect of their superiors and fellowmen. If they do, have them join the Teachers’ Union. Don’t dilly-dally. Get new members. Don’t rest until every teacher has joined the Union, thereby signing the death warrant to the teachers’ slavery and to autocratic school administration. WILL YOU? The work of the larger body is ap- portioned among its committees. Mem- bership on these committees is open to all union members. You are urged to select some special detail and register with the corresponding committee. Thus each member’s special aptitude will be yielding maximum service to the organi- zation. And even if you can’t volunteer, you can at least help with your sugges- tions. Don’t hesitate to send them in to the various committees. They will be welcomed and duly considered. The Constitution Committee is even now revising the constitution. Sugges- tions are to be sent to James H. Shipley, High School of Commerce. Have you any news for the Press Committee? Address the committee in care of Teachers’ Union, 70 Fifth Ave. Are you of judicial temperament? Volunteer on our Teachers’ Interest Com- mittee. Are you in possession of a griev- ance? Connect with our committee to help you adjust it. Have you any “actuarily sound” pen- sion ideas? The Pension Committee will be grateful to you for them. Are you a speaker? We need you on our staff to help establish the union in other schools. Send your name to Henry R. Linville in care of office. We need you all, each in his special capacity. Bashfulness now will not be counted a virtue. Disuse is Misuse. “TEACHING IS A PROFESSION, NOT A TRADE” For generations public school teachers have salved their pride with this pitiful substitute for adequate remuneration and a position of influence in the community. They have refused to face the obvious fact that whereas doctors, lawyers, ar- chitects and other professional men can control their hours, the conditions under which they work and the amount of their fees, teachers, as individuals, have almost no control over these matters so vital to their welfare. The result is that thou- sands of teachers in all parts of this country are receiving smaller yearly wages than the lowest paid unskilled laborers. FEDERATION HEADQUARTERS THE HEADQUARTERS of the American Federation of Teachers for the week of July 3 to 8 will be in Room 116, Wal- dorf-Astoria Hotel, New York. Presi- dent Chas. B. Stillman and Vice-Presi- dent Mrs. Ida L. M. Fursman will be in New York that week. The headquarters will be the center of a vigorous campaign for the estab lishment of teachers’ unions all over the country. Every active member of the local union should volunteer to get into the work and aid in stirring up local and visiting teachers and enlisting their support to the union movement. Wherever the Federation can do s0, it will break across the accustomed trail of an N. E. A. convention with some red-hot, sizzling ideas. These will be set going thru meetings addressed by the livest persons obtainable. Join in making the first Conference of the A. F. of T. a success. If you will help, send your name to the Union office, Room 909, 70 Fifth Ave., New York. CS"