merican a: 


Democracy in Education; Education for Democracy 





OF BICIAL ORGAN, THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACH 








7 Von. VI. No. 6 NEW YORK, JUNE, 1917 One Doziar A YEAR 


—— 
—— 



































NOMEN fear thought as they fear noth- 
wee) ing else on earth—more than ruin, 
Zen more even than death. Thought 


is subversive and revolutionary, destruct- 
ive and terrible; thought. is merciless to 
privilege, established institutions, and 
comfortable habits; thought is anarchic 
and lawless, indifferent to authority, care- 
less of the well-tried wisdom of the ages. 
Thought looks into the pit of hell and is 
not afraid. It sees man, a feeble speck, 
surrounded by unfathomable depths of 
silence; yet it bears itself proudly, as 
unmoved as if it were lord of the uni- 
verse. Thought is great and swift and 
free, the light of the world, and the chief 
glory of man. 











Bertrand Russell 


eS ao 

















WHEN the hospitals of a town are 
suspected of inefficiency the advice of 
expert physicians is sought. When the 
legal machinery is in need of renovation 
the prominent lawyers are called in. 
When transportation facilities are inade- 
quate the advice of the engineer is solic- 
ited. But when the educational system is 
maladjusted (and no one denies that it 
is), the advice and experience of the 
teachers, the ones who know, is not only 
not sought, but is in most cases actually 
suppressed. Hence the omniscent butch- 
er, baker, and candle-stick maker, 
prompted as he readily admits by a spirit 
of social obligation, is “compelled to vol- 
unteer” his humble services. Hence, too, 
his sweeping and amateurish report. 

The public prints have recently given 
prominent notice to a preliminary report 
of the Committee on Commercial Edu- 
cation of the New York Chamber of 

. Commerce. 

The committee set out to investigate 
commercial education. Very soon it dis- 
covered that in order to understand this 
comparatively narrow field and its limi- 
tations it had to study the much broader 
field of general elementary education. It 
is because of this that the report is large- 
ly a condemnation of the elementary 
schools and their teachers, rather than 
an investigation of commercial educa- 
tion. As a result of “numerous confer- 
ences with teachers, principals, superin- 
tendents, and members of the Board, as 
well as with outside organizations of citi- 
zens and visits to the schools,” the com- 
mittee discovered the following startling 
conditions : 

1 The mass of graduates do not have a 
working knowledge of the subjects taught 
and have lost or never acquired those traits 
of personal habit and character that are es- 
sential to all business, and without which edu- 
cation must fail. 


2 The teachers seem to deserve the “grave 
charge of incompetency, inefficiency, and in- 
difference to the individual welfare of pupils.” 


3 The number of forty-six Board Mem- 


BUSINESS AND EDUCATION 


J. Epwarp MayMAN 





bers is “unwieldy for effective work .. . 
and can only at best accomplish a small result 
at enormous outlay of time and labor.” 

These are the main charges against the 
system. The causes that are largely re- 
sponsible for this deplorable state of af- 
fairs are, in the opinion of the committee: 

1 Overcrowding of the curriculum, and 
wholesale promotion from grade to grade re- 
gardless of proven merit. 

2 “The power of removal (of teachers), 
which is essential to all efficient management, 
is absolutely nil.” 

3 The Board Member who is appointed by 
the mayor “must be truly altruistic and high- 
minded if, resisting the temptations of politi- 
cal influence, he avoids also, in the face of 
enormous difficulties, the easy and well-trod- 
den path of personal irresponsibility for errors 
and mistakes.” 

Now that we have the evils and their 
causes clearly pointed out to us, the nat- 
ural question is, “What is the remedy?” 
The committee has no hesitation in pre- 
senting the following: 

1 “The Gary system is a marked improve- 
ment on the old-fashioned methods of teach- 
ing. 

; Remove or modify those sections of the 
law which protect the teacher in her tenure 
of office. 

3 Reduce the number of board members 
from forty-six to seven, and have them ap- 
pointed by the mayor. 

No sane teacher will flatly deny the 
charges that are so clearly made, grave 
tho they be. But as to the causes and 
remedies that are proposed, there is am- 
ple reason for emphatic disagreement. 
In justice to the committee it must be 
said that they recognize the fact that the 
teachers are “the victims of a system 
which is discouraging and enervating to 
the best and strongest of them.” 

To the charge that the school does not 
prepare its graduates for the business 
world we plead guilty. And we should 
be ready and willing to take our share of 
opprobrium, if we admitted that it is our 
purpose to prepare our boys and girls for 
the business office. But we make no 
such admission. The present course of 
study, bad tho it be, does not provide for 
such narrow education. On the con- 


82 



















































THE AMERICAN TEACHER 


trary, by identifying a rich racial inher- 
itance with the growing child we are at- 
tempting to give him a rich and varied 
background which is supposed to aid him 
later in the choice of some specialty that 
fits his peculiar aptitudes. In other 
words, the elementary school as it is at 
present constituted does not attempt to 
turn out specialists for business, com- 
merce, industry, science, or anything in 
particular. It is satisfied to leave spe- 
cialized training to the specialized school. 
But the business man does not seem to 
realize this. It may be true that we 
ought to prepare the youngsters for busi- 
ness. But the fact is that we consciously 
do not. The business man, in accepting 
a young elementary school graduate, 
should feel that he is dealing with raw 
material, so far as his business is con- 
cerned ; and that he is in fact taking the 
place of the vocational school so far as 
that particular boy or girl is concerned. 
The employer has no right to expect 
twenty or twenty-five dollar specialized 
service and ability for a six or seven 
dollar wage. 

A further question that arises in this 
connection is the doubtful ability of the 
business man to pass upon the product 
of the elementary school. Isn’t it a fact 
that he actually tests for what the boy 
does not know rather than for what he 
is supposed to know? We may admit 
that the course of study is antiquated. 
But so long as it is the life line of the 
school the teacher dare not neglect it. 
And no one has a moral right to hold her 
responsible for what she is not supposed 
to teach. 

It might be urged that the teachers 
themselves be allowed to take a hand in 
the framing of the curriculum. Some of 
us are already discerning a quickened 
conscience and a renascent professional 
spirit which is seeking to assert itself in 
behalf of a modern school curriculum. 
Those who have the interests of wpe | 
at heart will put no obstacles in the pat 
of progress. 

If we were to consult the business man 
we might come to some agreement as to 


83 


subject matter to be taught. But what 
particular stratum in the business world 
shall be our ideal in the inculcation of 
“personal habit and character that are 
essential to all business?” The business 
men have not as yet disclosed to each 
other their standards of “truthfulness, ac- 
curacy, thoroness, etc.” How then can 
they expect the unsuspecting teacher to 
do what they can’t do? What business 
man will have the temerity to demand the 
teaching of his brand of truthfulness or 
accuracy or thoroness? 

The business man, if given a free hand 
in the revision of the curriculum, would 
remove unceremoniously the so-called 
fads and frills. There are in our midst 
some drill masters who long to go back 
to the three R’s. But the modern pro- 
gressive teacher, responsive to the de- 
mands of a modern and complex society, 
will insist upon these very fads and frills 
and seek to broaden their influence. But 
the ready retort is that the curriculum is 
already overcrowded. That is true. The 
remedy then is not the wholesale deletion 
of subjects, but a careful elision of parts 
that are antiquated and useless. Work 
of that nature requires an expertness 
that is rare and not easily discovered. A 
source of ability that has not yet been 
tapped is among the teachers themselves. 

Another reason for poor work, accord- 
ing to the report of the committee, is 
forced promotions due to overcrowding. 
It ill becomes the business man to make 
this complaint. Is it not he who protests 
against many of the improvements in the 
educational scheme on account of alleged 
exhorbitant costs? Business, on the one 
hand, and landlordism on the other, are 
largely responsible for the parsimony that 
the Board of Estimate has practised in 
recent years. The teachers demanded 
and are still demanding better educational 
facilities. They have not forgotten the 
cry “A seat for every child.” But busi- 
ness is not interested in such trifles. Its 
interest is aroused only when it comes to 
a question of dollars. 

t is not surprising, therefore, to find 
the Board of Estimate, the fiscal agent of 





THE AMERICAN TEACHER 


business, swallowing the much advertised 
“Gary” scheme in toto, because its spon- 
sors made out a specious case of econ- 
omy. It is interesting to note that econ- 
omy is no longer the watchword of the 
Garyites. Instead of that we hear much 
of an enriched curriculum. 

So far as the sane and conscientious 
teacher is concerned, the Gary plan rep- 
resents an experiment in education sim- 
ilar to other experiments which he wel- 
comes in the hope that some improvement 
may follow. He likes to view the proce- 
dure in a scientific spirit. He does not 
like to prejudge one way or the other. 
He is perfectly willing and anxious to 
give the Gary idea, or any other idea, a 
square chance to prove its worth. And 
when its worth is scientifically proven, 
and not before, he is ready to make the 
best use of it. 

The Gary scheme which the Chamber 
of Commerce Committee hastens to in- 
dorse aroused tremendous opposition not 
so much because of its intrinsic worth or 
lack of it, as because of the autocratic 
methods that were used, and are still 
being used, in forcing it upon the people. 
Need we express surprise at the quiet 
rebellion of the teachers and the public 
at large? Admitting, as we do, that 
there are many commendable features in 
the scheme, what reaction may be expect- 
ed from an overburdened teaching body 
when the wholesale promulgation of the 
scheme means increased hours of labor 
without a corresponding increase in pay, 
and a sudden disorganization of profes- 
sional habits? The expected did happen 
and is happening right along. The net 
result is that no one, including the orig- 
inal promoters, is satisfied. On the other 
hand, if tact and common consideration 
for professional standards had tempered 
the ardor of the prime movers, we would 
now witness the harmonious development 
of the most gigantic experiment in edu- 
cation that the world has ever seen. As 
matters stand now, the pro and anti- 
Garyites are at each other’s throats; and 
in the meantime the children suffer from 
an incongruous combination of educa- 


tional practices against which our friends, 
the business men, will soon protest in 
much louder voice than they use now. 

Inasmuch as the Wirt idea is still a 
lamentably disorganized experiment, and 
inasmuch as there is no proof of the su- 
periority of the Gary plan, is it not fair 
to ask why the committee gives it its un- 
qualified indorsement? The committee 
itself mentions Dr. Flexner’s pamphlet 
on The Modern School. This reminds 
one of the “sinister influences behind the 
Gary scheme” that one hears so much 
about. But let us not be so uncharitable 
as to establish the connecting links that 
are suggested by Gary, Indiana, Judge 
Gary, Steel Trust, Flexner, Rockefeller, 
General Education Board. 

In the opinion of the Committee of 
the Chamber of Commerce the law pro- 
tecting the teacher in her tenure of office 
is a great obstacle to efficiency. That 
there are inefficient teachers in spite of 
severe tests and sifting processes we will 
readily admit. But we deny absolutely 
that this inefficiency is due to the protec- 
tion of tenure of office laws. The experi- 
ence of the entire world for more than a 
generation is behind these laws and sim- 
ilar laws dealing with the civil service. 
Surely, no one will be foolish enough to 
argue for a spoils system in education. 

Presumably the committee is very 
anxious to rid the system of the ineff- 
cients. The teachers who respect their 
profession are also anxious to reduce in- 
efficiency. But their method is different. 
They cannot indorse the cruel, inhuman, 
and foolish principle of “hiring and 
firing” that the committee recommends 
We quote: 

> reports from the teaching staf 
. . . Show that conditions are pretty well 
known and understood. Thruout the school 
system there is a small but courageous 
body of individuals, which is laboring strenv- 
ously to better conditions under existing law. 

The committee fails, however, to poit 
out who that “courageous body” is; nor 
does it indicate its method of strenuous 
labor. Those who are sufficiently inter 
ested can, without much trouble, easily 
discover an ever-growing number of 





Sonat am at oe 


oe -— ~ we & OCD ms eo 


THE AMERICAN TEACHER 


teachers who, inspired with the idealism 
of their profession, are strenuously 
working to improve conditions. Instead 
of abolishing tenure of office laws, they 
want to abolish silly ratings and stupid 
supervision which tend to sap the life and 
vigor of the teachers and to reduce teach- 
ing to a craft. These teachers know, be 
it understood, that inefficiency exists, and 
that it is not at all limited to the teacher 
in the class room. The methods for im- 
provement which they propose are not 
novel by any means. They justly set up 
the claim that teaching is a profession 
very much like any other recognized pro- 
fession such as law or medicine. And as 
members of a profession they claim the 
same rights and privileges that members 
in other professions enjoy. No one knows 
the merits or shortcomings of the lawyer 
or physician better than the members of 
his own profession, and should he be 
guilty of misconduct no one metes out 
swifter punishment than the Medical or 
Bar Associations. These associations 
know full well that only by holding their 
members strictly accountable for their 


conduct can they maintain the dignity of 


their respective professions. The same 
is true of teachers, or rather would be 
true, if they were given the opportunity 
to live their professional lives in their 
own way. In order to maintain the dig- 
nity and honor of their profession it 
would devolve upon them to work with 
might and main for efficiency, and ruth- 
lessly to annihilate everything that makes 
for inefficiency. 

In the first place the high minded 
teacher demands that the preparation for 
teaching shall be longer and much more 
thoro than it now is. Thus there would 
be better teaching material to begin with. 
Secondly, he demands the professional 
right to judge, and be judged by, his 
peers. This implies a responsible power 
and a democratic control which would not 
only purge the system of inefficients and 
inefficiency, but would also build up a 
strong professional spirit which could not 
tolerate low standards. In short, the 
teachers ask to be treated as responsible 


85 


men and women. Such treatment throws 
the burden of an efficiently conducted 
school system squarely upon them, and 
avoids the constant shifting of responsi- 
bility of which the committee complains. 
That they will prove equal to the task 
can be demonstrated only after they are 
given an honest chance. 

The committee would bring the educa- 
tional millenium about by reducing the 
present Board of Education of forty-six 
members to seven. These seven are still 
to be the political appointees of the mayor 
and they are to serve without pay. It 
may be admitted that it is much easier to 
hand pick seven than to control forty-six 
members. But if the committee’s chief 
concern in matters educational is fighting 
for efficiency, we fail to see how such 
board will be of material help. If the 
22,000 teachers and the public at large 
were to make any recommendation here, 
it would be something like this: a, a small 
board; b, a paid board; c, an elective 
board ; d, a board upon which the teach- 
ing body is represented. Everybody ad- 
mits that the present board is unwieldy, 
and that a smaller board would be more 
businesslike in its dealings. By provid- 
ing a salary for the board members, the 
public will procure ability that might 
otherwise be shut out. Service will then 
be rendered as a matter of duty rather 
than as a matter of charity. To insure 
responsiveness to the body politic the 
board should be elected at large and be 
subject to recall. A representative of 
the teachers on the board will not only 
enhance the dignity of the teaching pro- 
fession but will also bring to the board 
councils the invaluable experience and 
professional opinion of 22,000 trained 
men and women. Well might we profit 
by the example of England and Switzer- 
land. In England teachers are not only 
represented on administrative boards, 
but also in political bodies. In Switzer- 
land the teachers even elect their princi- 
pal for a definite term. 

As was stated at the outset the report 
of the Chamber of Commerce contains 
several charges which right minded 





THE AMERICAN TEACHER 


teachers will not deny. But the spirit of 
it is such that one cannot escape the con- 
viction that these charges are made not 
so much out of an intense desire to im- 
prove the educational system as out of a 
misguided attempt to impose certain the- 
ories and practices which would work 


untold harm. The teacher who is imbued 
with the spirit of social service does not 
claim perfection. He welcomes criti- 
cism. But he must make sure that the 
criticism is honest and unselfish, and that 
it is prompted by unquestionable motives. 


THE TEACHERS’ UNION: PAST AND FUTURE 


A. LEFKOwITz 
De Witt Clinton High School, New York 


In March, 1916, a few forward look- 
ing teachers organized The Teachers 
Union of the City of New York. Pos- 
sibly they themselves did not fully real- 
ize that this step would tend to transport 
them from the narrow confines of the 
classroom to the world of humanity by 
bringing them into close relation with 
the agencies engaged in the political, so- 
cial, and economic betterment of man- 
kind. But they did definitely realize that 
their professional and legal interests 
could be protected and that their effi- 
ciency could be improved by altering 
the conditions under which their work 
is done. 

/There are those who are primarily in- 
terested in the formulation of ideals of 
social movements as such. But the prac- 
tical minds of the average teachers are 
impatient for facts. They ask, “What 
has your organization done?” It is to 
the latter group that this article is ad- 
dressed. 

Stimulated by its affiliation with the 
labor unions, the Teachers Union has 
assisted in the defeat of bills before the 
New York State Legislature which would 
have nullified the laws protecting the 
labor of adults, and would have made it 
possible for children to be taken from 
the schools and put to work in factories. 
Thru its true conception of patriotism 
the Union assisted in giving a backset to 
the interests that are wont to capitalize 
their patriotism during the time of war. 
The Union further assisted labor to de- 
feat a bill that would have made legal 
the employment of women 12 to 14 hours 
a day. At all times the Union thru its 


delegates to the Central Federated Union 
of New York has kept its finger on the 
pulse of labor and the problems con- 
fronting labor. 

Along with the Union’s success in as- 
sisting the labor movement to obtain its 
rights, the newer work of improving the 
working conditions of teachers has been 
started. A campaign to abolish the sys- 
tem of rating teachers is under way. A 
bill to eliminate the provision of “supe- 
rior merit,” applying to high school 
teachers, from the educational section of 
the charter of the City of New York, was 
introduced in the Legislature by another 
organization, but brought to final pass- 
age by the Union. This bill would have 
abolished a vicious system of trying to 
improve the teaching by fining the teach- 
ers thru withholding advances in salary. 
The Mayor by his veto finally defeated 
the bill. 

The Union promulgated a body of 
sound pension principles which it later 
embodied in a bill in co-operation with 
the Pension Committee of Brooklyn. The 
pension bill that was finally passed was 
not the bill thus framed, but the leaders 
in the pension fight for the Union were 
able to force the adoption of certain pro- 
visions which brought about the adoption 
of a better pension system than could 
otherwise have been obtained. The 
Union proposes to inaugurate a campaign 
to amend the bill to make it acceptable 
to the majority of the poorer paid teach- 
ers in the service against whom the law 
discriminates. 

The Teachers Union has agreed to the 
principle of dismissing incompetent 





THE AMERICAN TEACHER 


teachers, but it has insisted upon the 
right of teachers to participate in deter- 
mining what constitutes incompetence. 
In the final judgment of a teacher’s in- 
competence the Union demands a public 
trial as against the method of star-cham- 
ber proceedings. 

The Union has defended several teach- 
ers thru its legal staff against oppression 
and inhuman supervision. It has brought 
charges against a principal for abusing 
her powers, and has been instrumental in 
placing abused teachers in schools where 
they are treated with courtesy and re- 
spect. Thru its able lawyer, Mr. John 
E. O’Brien, whose services are free to 
the members of the Union, the Union is 
preparing to question by legal procedure 
certain policies of the Department of 
Education which are regarded as detri- 
mental to the welfare of the teachers and 
to the progress of the schools. 

The Union has aided the Chicago 
teachers in their splendid fight for the 
right to organize. It stands ready to 
support any other body of teachers that 
is struggling for its professional rights. 
In the struggle of any individual teacher 
against unfavorable conditions and 
against invasions of professional privi- 
lege the Union card bids fair soon to be 
a “don’t-worry” insurance worth having. 

A long struggle is being made against 
the imminence of an increase to a 210- 
day year, and against the lengthening of 
the school day. This activity of the 
Union is in line with its purpose of im- 
proving the conditions under which 
teaching is done. 

The Union has inaugurated a fight to 
counteract the declining purchasing 
power of the dollar. Incidental to this 
fight the Union has shown that prices 
began to rise in the year 1900, and not, 
as many believe, with the outbreak of 
the European War. Teachers with sta- 
tionary salaries have suffered more than 
have most other salaried workers. The 
Union has shown that by practising econ- 
omy in expenditures and by preventing 
criminal waste the municipal govern- 
ment could save enough to restore the 


87 


full purchasing power of the teacher’s 
salary, without adding anything to the 
annual budget of the city. The Union 
has submitted an able brief on the salary 
question to the Board of Education, and 
has demanded that that body take posi- 
tive and immediate action to relieve 
the growing pressure on the diminishing 
financial resources of the teaching staff. 
The struggle for economic justice will be 
continued as long as necessary. 

As a special aspect of its efficiency 
campaign the Union has emphasized and 
contended for the substitution of democ- 
racy for autocracy in the schools. The 
teachers are expected to instill demo- 
cratic ideals into the pupils and to train 
them for citizenship in a democracy. 
And yet, while voting for the highest 
office in the gift of the people, the teach- 
ers are mere cogs in the educational ma- 
chine with no voice in school administra- 
tion. How can teachers teach democ- 
racy when they are not permitted to live 
it? The Union practises its democratic 
creed by managing its business and de- 
manding a part in the business of the 
system thru the principles of initiative, 
referendum and recall. It has condemned 
the action of the Board of Education 
when it interfered with the right of free- 
dom of speech and action on the part of 
teachers. It has also urged upon the 
Mayor and the presidents of the boroughs 
the inauguration of a policy of appoint- 
ing teachers in the service to member- 
ship in the Board of Education and upon 
the local school boards. The Union has 
urged repeatedly the election of the mem- 
bers of the Board of Education by the 
voters, as against their appointment by 
the Mayor. The Union further has in- 
sisted continuously upon the organiza- 
tion of councils of teachers in the several 
schools. It has urged the continuous re- 
vision of the course of study, so that the 
subject matter as well as the methods of 
presenting facts and principles may fit 
the needs of the children of 1917 instead 
of those of 1719. As an incidental result 
of this fight the teachers were permitted 


(Continued on page 92) 





i A tn tin 


THRU THE FLUOROSCOPE 


Experienced supervisors have fre- 
quently observed that the first reaction 
of a teacher to adverse criticism is one 
of resentment. The wise person is one 
who has learned to ask “What is there 
in this criticism that corresponds to a 
real defect in my work or character?” 
It is true that the critic is quite as un- 
likely to be unbiased and objective as is 
the person criticized; but however un- 
just the critic may be, it is fair to assume 
that there is something corresponding to 
his observations. 

The Fluoroscope cannot be held re- 
sponsible for what the observer thinks 
he sees, nor for the inferences drawn 
from the observations. The wise ones 
among us will be concerned to inquire 
just what the conditions are that can 
bring about in the observer the sensa- 
tions and impressions recorded in the 
following laboratory memorandum. 

VI 


IF you met the gentleman face to face 


you would adjudge him eminently fit to 


be the State’s electrocutioner. He looks 
like a dignified pugilist. The unspeakable 
smirk that disfigures his face is half- 
obscured by a thick umgrabeous mous- 
tache. Cruel, unsmiling eyes like agates 
rolling are set malignantly in that big, 
hard, round head. He looks formidable. 
To the children (including 175 teachers) 
he is, alas, too formidable. A stern, un- 
sweet face, bedecking a powerful, un- 
swerving head, in turn hinged on to a 
tight, little prussianized body, confronts 
six thousand innocent human beings day 
in and day out. And there’s no relief 
in sight! America has at least one coun- 
terfeit presentment of Herr Von Luden- 
dorf! 

We, the incorrigibly credulous, have 
been half-persuaded into believing that 
Personality is the precious quintessence 
of educational efficiency. Teachers are 
yearly,—in truth, daily——rated and be- 
rated on personality. Lectures without 
number have been blown (on state occa- 


sions) into the brains of teachers, lec- 
tures raining down precepts on the value 
of personality. If personality means 
anything vital, it means the fine talent, 
ceaselessly evolving, for creating in the 
hearts and minds of surrounding person- 
alities an intensified desire to express to 
the fullest whatever compelling inspira- 
tions lie latent in their souls. A teacher’s 
personality may be humanly gauged by 
the depth and the power of vivid self- 
expression created in the pupils under 
his sincerely affectionate guidance. A 
principal’s personality may be measured 
by his ability to tap and wisely to exploit 
the funds of vital energy, intellectual and 
spiritual, often copiously welling up in 
the minds of teachers and students. A 
principal whose very presence is repres- 
sive and nihilatory, conducive to nothing 
more creative than sullen silence, suspi- 
cion and cold detachment, is not fit to 
continue in his high office. Fit or unfit, 
this species of assassin (who murders 
our most generous impulses) is not 
checked in his meanly uneventful career. 
The triumphing brute reigns wunper- 
turbed. 

How long would a teacher,—the ordi- 
nary, uninfluential sort,—be permitted by 
official superiors to survive so drastic a 
criticism as the following: 

(a) He barks viciously at the pupils 
and, in his meaner moods, at the teachers. 

(b) He has an uncontrollably brutish 
temper. 

(c) He arouses suspicion and discon- 
tent among 98 per cent. of the teachers. 

(d) The conferences he conducts are 
an unmitigated bore; that is, a series of 
deadly monologues. 

(e) He lacks personality; he is neither 
courteous nor humane nor inspiring nor 
likeable nor meaningful. 

(f) He is hopeless and utterly useless 
as an Educational Expert. His influence 
on teaching, on technic, or on the philos- 

(Continued on page 93) 


88 





Toe 


American Teacher 


Democracy in Education: Education for Democracy 
Published monthly, except July and August, by 











HENRY R. LINVILLE 
Editor-in-Chief 


BENJAMIN C. GRUENBERG 


Managing Editor 
Sam Schmalhausen 


J. EDWARD MAYMAN 
Business Manager 





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VOL. VI No. 6 


Officers of the American Federation of 
Teachers 


JUNE, 1917 








(Affiliated with American Federation of Labor) 

Cuas B Sruzman, President 

1620 Lake Ave., Wilmette, IIl. 
Ina L M Foursman, Vice-President 

4465 N. Kildare Ave., Chicago. 
Many F Dwyrsr, Rec. Secretary 

2817 Cambridge Ave., Chicago 
Marcaret Snopcrass, Corr. Sec. 

1061 Dakin St., Chicago 
F G Srecers, Financial Sec. 

1618 Lake Ave., Wilmette, Il. 
Jamzs A Meapeg, Treasurer 

2628 Sayre Ave., Chicago 
Mazcaret A Hazy, Nat'l Organizer 

1331 Unity Building, Chicago 
Trustees 


George J Jones 
Nora M O”’ 
Prendergast 


Henry R. Linville 
Anita Bailey 








THE BATTLE FOR BETTER TEACHING 

Tue “Superior Merit” provision of 
the educational section of the Charter of 
the City of New York has been referred 
to before in these columns. On May 21 
a bill to abolish the provision having 
passed the Legislature of the State of 
New York came up for a hearing before 
the Mayor. Arguments for the bill were 
presented by Associate City Superintend- 
ent Tildsley, Principal Wolfson of the 
High School of Commerce, and by the 
representatives of several teachers’ or- 
ganizations. Arguments against the bill 
were prepared by the Board of Exam- 
iners under whose direction the superior 
merit provision has been carried out for 
the past five years. Mr. William G. 
Willcox, President of the Board of Edu- 
cation, and Mr. John Martin, member of 
the Board, spoke in opposition to the bill. 
The Mayor later disapproved the bill, and 
thus closed the first skirmish for the de- 
struction of an artificial system of rating 
teachers. 


(There have been many hearings before 
the Mayor in which members of the 
Board of Education appeared on one 
side and teachers appeared on the other, 
but never before in the memory of those 
present who discussed the situation have 
members of the supervising staff ap- 
peared in opposition to representatives 
of the Board of Education. This fact in 
itself made the hearing a memorable oc- 
casion. And it was more memorable 
because of the fact that the issue as rec- 
ognized by both sides was purely a pro- 
fessional one of improving the quality 
of the teaching. The only doubt was as 
to the proper method of attaining the 
desired end. 


Superintendents, high school princi- 
pals, and teachers know that a rating 
system based on the principle of subject- 
ing a considerable number of high school 
teachers to artificial standards and fining 
those who do not measure up to these 
standards has been a flat failure. The 
withholding of money guaranteed ac- 
cording to a fixed salary schedule is not 
likely to serve well as a means of stimu- 
lating professional endeavor, or of lead- 


89 








go 


ing to confidence in the fair-mindedness 
of those who by little less than a “fluke” 
of legislation have the power to deter- 
mine superior merit. 

Not only has the method of the Board 
of Examiners been characterized by a 
poor understanding of professional psy- 
chology ; it has even been doomed to fail- 
ure from the beginning because of the 
fact that this board was without the offi- 
cial power to control the judgment or 
the standards set up by the superintend- 
ents, or the principals, or the teachers. 
All they could do was to punish and thus 
square accounts. Being out of touch 
also with the teachers in their work, the 
Board of Examiners has had no experi- 
ence out of which they might have de- 
veloped their own standards. 

Without question we must have better 
teaching, but there must be no one stand- 
ing by to punish if things do not go ac- 
cording to mechanical methods of proce- 
dure. Cooperation is the lodestone that 
must draw the supervising staff and the 
teachers together. We are confident that 
President Willcox himself favors ex- 
periments along this line. 


THE PLAY’S THE THING 


For several years the editorial staff of 
THE AMERICAN TEACHER has had in 
mind the presentation of a satire in the 
form of a play, or even of a comic opera, 
for the purpose of giving publicity to the 
foibles of the “largest educational sys- 


tem in the world.” The long cherished 
idea is now about to take shape and sub- 
stance. 

In order that all our readers who are 
acquainted with the necessary facts may 
participate on the usual democratic basis 
in this hilarious assault on the strong- 
hold of autocracy, we desire now to invite 
all who are interested to send in prefer- 
ably signed stories that portray truth- 
fully as well as humorously character- 
istic situations and events. There is need 
also for suggestions regarding characters 
to be typified, scenes to be planned, and 


THE AMERICAN TEACHER 


phases of the educational system to be 
satirized. 

The talent for the playwright’s task 
has already been conscripted, and the 
actors themselves are waiting anxiously 
and enthusiastically for their lines. But 
we must have a wealth of material for 
the hands of the playwrights. Here is 
where everyone interested will have a 
chance to come in and to help the good 
work along. 

Send material to the Editors of THe 
AMERICAN TEACHER, 70 Fifth Ave., 
New York. The plan is to prepare the 
play in the coming summer, and to pre- 
sent it if possible in celebration of the 
second anniversary of the organization 
of Teachers Union, in March, 1918. 


POSTPONING PURCHASES UNTIL AFTER 
THE WAR 

A SCIENTIFIC EQUIPMENT COMPANY in 
this country has recently sent to its cus- 
tomers a circular, the purpose of which 
is to induce them to “buy now.” The 
reasoning is unusual for a business firm 
in that the important statements read 
like those of dignified and scholarly 
economists. Possibly one was subsidized 
for the occasion. The circular reads in 
part, 

“There can be no economy in delaying 
the erection of school buildings or the pur- 
chase of necessary equipment until ‘after 
the war.’ . Prices in general, espe- 
cially of manufactures, will continue to ad- 
vance, rather than to recede. The reasons 
are obvious. Labor is the main cost in 
practically all manufactured products; it is 
almost the entire cost of distribution. War 
destroys labor and the results of labor; it 
enhances the cost of labor. War increases 
taxation, ultimately paid by labor, and for 
this reason also advances the cost of labor. 
These conditions do not disappear with the 
cessation of war; destruction has to be 
made good and interrupted development 
caught up. 

“It is futile to say that the destruction of 
American labor may be a small percentage 
of our total labor. The destruction in 
Europe of man and material has affected, 
and will affect us. In this age of specialized 
construction and world wide distribution 
the cost of labor and material moves as 4 
whole, not by countries nor by continents.” 





THE AMERICAN TEACHER 91 


A SYMPOSIUM ON THE AMERICAN 
TEACHER 


A RECENT CONFERENCE was held in 
New York to consider the situation in 
which THE AMERICAN TEACHER finds it- 
self after nearly six years of fighting 
for the improvement of educational con- 
ditions. Like all other periodicals that 
take up causes and fight for them, the 
paper has always been obliged to fight of 
its own existence also. 

Incidental to the financial question of 
whether the paper will be able further 
to pay its way as it prints, a proposition 
was presented at the conference that 
THE AMERICAN TEACHER change its 
name, enlarge the paper, and modify its 
policy and emphasis, and be made “an 
educational journal preaching a vivid 
social philosophy in tune with the crea- 
tive aspirations of modernity.” The 
suggested change would if adopted 
transform a professional magazine, en- 
deavoring to improve the conditions 


under which teaching is done and trying 


to elevate the standing and the influence 
of teachers into a periodical that would 
occupy the field with such periodicals as 
The Survey, The New Republic, and 
The Public. 

After considerable discussion the pre- 
ponderating judgment appeared to be 
that the paper should be enlarged for the 
purpose of more adequately presenting 
the point of view that has made the 
paper unique in the field of education. 
Considerable criticism of the paper de- 
veloped at the conference. In order that 
whatever criticism may exist in the 
minds of our readers may find the op- 
portunity for expression, a Symposium 
on The American Teacher is hereby an- 
nounced for the September number. 
Everyone who feels that some kind of 
an organ should be encouraged to work 
out the professional and social destiny 
of teachers is urged to write us within 
five hundred words his otherwise free 
and unrestricted judgment of THE 
AMERICAN TEACHER, after re-reading 


his file and knowing what the paper has 
done. 

All this is assuming that there will be 
a September number. Many at the con- 
ference referred to made substantial 
promises to assist in the financial sup- 
port of the paper. It is hoped that still 
others will be persuaded to help. But 
we want helpful letters unaccompanied 
with cash also. Write while the spirit 
moves you. It may be too late if you let 
thoughts of vacation intervene. Address 
Editors, THE AMERICAN TEACHER, 70 
Fifth Avenue, New York. 


THE CHICAGO TEACHERS’ FEDERATION 
WITHDRAWS 

IN OBEDIENCE to the implied mandate 
of the Supreme Court of Illinois, the 
Chicago Teachers’ Federation has sev- 
ered its connection with all organiza- 
tions affiliated with labor. This act is 
of great significance to teachers as well 
as to the members of the trade unions. 

Nearly fifteen years ago, John Fitz- 
patrick, President of the Chicago Fed- 
eration of Labor, wrote his famous letter 
to the Chicago Teachers’ Federation in- 
viting that organization to become affili- 
ated with labor. On May 20, 1917, un- 
der authority he writes advising the 
withdrawal of all labor affiliations. Both 
letters are able documents, and with 
Fitzpatrick’s Report should be obtained 
from the Chicago Federation of Labor 
and read by all undismayed lovers of 
human liberty. 

As the May 2oth letter states, “final 
responsibility must rest on the people, 
not on the teachers, to determine 
whether public employees may exercise 
the fundamental rights of freedom of 
association and freedom of assemblage 
under threat of dismissal from the pub- 
lic service.” In order to test the reac- 
tion of the people on this issue, House 
Bill 940, the Anti Discrimination Bill, 
forbidding public officials from discrim- 
inating against public employees because 
of their affiliation with labor unions is 
now before the Illinois Legislature. 













































INITIATIVE AMONG TEACHERS 
Wr1amM WIENER, 
Principal Central Commercial and Manual 
Training High School, Newark. 

I wAvE always made it my policy to show 
that I believe my teachers to be duly qualified 
and well-worthy of confidence as to their re- 
spective abilities and preparation. This has 
psychologically resulted in a happy atmos- 
phere and a further desire on the part of the 
teachers to better school conditions at all 
points. 

I encourage my teachers to be independent 
of traditional methods and plans of teaching, 
and in place of them to invent and apply more 
efficient methods of accomplishing the ideals 
of the course of study, as well as to be con- 
stantly mindful of school experiences which 
might suggest modifications of present in- 
efficient methods. 

I wish the pupils to be considered not as 
mere material which is to be exposed to set 
courses of study, but as human beings of 
varying abilities and capacities. 

I depend upon the personal and direct ex- 
perience gained by each teacher in his special 
subject to guide him humanely and sanely in 
his work. 

I encourage independent thought and free- 
dom in the exploitation of the courses of 
study. 

I am constantly on the firing line with my 
teachers, helping, encouraging, and urging 
them to work for the general welfare. 

This represents my creed and policy. 


TEACHERS’ UNION, PAST AND FUTURE 
(Continued from page 87) 


in the Fall term of 1917 to elect a pension 
committee of 150 for the purpose of 
framing a pension law. Teachers coun- 
cils are being formed here and there, 
where interest among the teachers has 
developed, and the opposition of prin- 
cipals has not been manifested. 

As a recent indication of official good 
will President Willcox of the Board of 
Education said to the president of the 
Teachers Union and to the writer that 





THE AMERICAN TEACHER 








he believed a system of co-operation be- 
tween the Board of Superintendents, the 
principal of the several schools, and com- 
mittees of teachers could work out on 
practical lines the problem of improving 
the teaching. This is democracy of the 
kind the Union wants. Thus, the battle 
for professional rights is far from being 
hopeless. Victory will crown our efforts 
if the teachers will come to the support 
of the Union in such numbers as will 
give conviction of the importance of our 
demands. 

The Union proposes under any circum- 
stances to continue its fight for the pro- 
tection of teachers against injustice of 
all kinds, to fight for the elimination of 
the rating system, to fight for sound and 
just pension principles, for scientific sal- 
ary adjustment, for the democratization 
of schools, for the reform of the psycho- 
physical examination of children, for a 
scientific evaluation of the Gary and 
other special administrative experiments, 
for a modern course of study, for mak- 
ing the Board of Superintendents a body 
of specialists, for a small, paid and elec- 
tive Board of Education, and for the 
general and fundamental improvement 
of the schools and their government. 

The members of the Union, united in 
their opposition to attempts to curtail 
the intellectual freedom of the teachers, 
are fighting for the maintenance of the 
ideals of democracy, for the principles 
which our glorious flag symbolizes. 
They, as other teachers of the embryonic 
citizens, realize that they must continue 
their struggle if democracy is to triumph 
and autocracy to perish. You teachers, 
in a sense, are the last line of trenches 
between fighting democracy and fortified 
autocracy. Whether you realize it or 
not, on you the fate of the worker and 
the nation depends. Great is your re- 
sponsibility, and glorious the burden you 
are called upon to shoulder. Do you feel 
yourself ready for the battle as the cham- 
pion of humanity and democracy? [If so, 
join us and help us to win a glorious 
victory. 


















THRU THE FLUOROSCOPE 
(Continued from page 88) 

ophy of education, is exactly equal to 
zero. 

(g) A referendum vote of all the 
teachers would be overwhelmingly 
against his continuance in office. 

(h) He is narrow-minded, vindictive, 
selfish, autocratic. 

Will someone equipped with a mor- 
dant sense of irony kindly explain why a 
vicious official occupying superior status 
(under our New York school regime) 
cannot be ousted from his privileged po- 
sition? Who commits the greater mis- 
chief : the insignificant subordinate, liable 
to quick transfer and expulsion or the 
too powerful chief, liable to no disciplin- 
ary restraint? In all likelihood there 
isn’t a single member of the clique of 
superintendents or of the Board of Edu- 
cation with sufficient moral courage to 
recommend the dismissal of an inhuman 
(and, therefore, incompetent) high 
school principal. It requires a vigorous 
social morality, a genuine affection for 
the larger human welfare to bestir one- 
self in behalf of a radical revision of the 
educational status quo. Superintendents 
are profoundly moved by one passion: 
the instinct of privileged self-preserva- 
tion. 

Against the Triumphant Brute I bring 
these more specific charges : 

One: In the midst of an assembly of 
2,500 students he will not scruple to hu- 
miliate the first offender (in the presence 
of his fellows) whose crime against civ- 
ilization consists in the act of chewing 
gum! Every principal is possessed of a 
few pet idiocies all his very own. 

Two: One of his malicious pastimes 
is to “catch” boys whose recitation is not 
as formally accurate as it might be. The 
Brute never enters a classroom but to 
mar and minimize and misinterpret. He 
is a born killjoy. 

_Three: He is sponsor for a system of 
discipline which thrives by the employ 
of a mean, degrading and wholly demor- 


THE AMERICAN TEACHER 









93 








alizing procedure well known as. “the 
Third Degree.” Justice is the last thing 
aimed at. Vindictiveness is the life blood 
of the process. The morale of the school 
is inevitably lowered to the “spy level.” 
Thomas Mott Osborne would condemn 
the system as inhuman and (as compared 
with the ethics of supervision at Sing 
Sing) woefully out of date. 

Four: He has been dictatorial and un- 
just to many teachers (the cases are too 
detailed for fragmentary treatment here. 
They speak powerfully against the prin- 
cipal of the high school in question). 

Five: He has made it increasingly dif- 
ficult to discuss vital subjects at the con- 
ferences and assemblies. Outside of his 
own self-aggrandizement, he has no ap- 
pealing interest. Freedom of thought 
and frankness of speech are alien to his 
bulldogmatic, medizvalist creed. He is 
a living nightmare, an ever walking 
ghost, a sinister influence. He radiates, 
not good, but evil. 

Six: He hasn’t known how to enlist 
the friendship of the teaching body. A 
marvelous force for good is thus shame- 
fully wasted. 

Seven: Education in the new sense in 
which John Dewey employs the concept 
can never flourish under his domination ; 
he lacks inspiration and contemptuously 
spurns the new education. He is an in- 
tellectual standpatter, tho not too intel- 
lectual. 


The unhappiest reflection of all is this: 
The reasons which to us are all-sufficient 
for the damnation of The Triumphing 
Brute are startling evidences of worth in 
the eyes of Messieurs les Bureaucrates 
who rule our purposeless educational sys- 
tem. Narrow-souled (high school) 
principals are retained in office because 
they represent the survival of ideals no 
longer tenable in our evolving social de- 
mocracy. They will be chased out of 
office when the teachers as a moral collec- 
tivity succeed in obtaining a powerful 
voice in the selection of official “supe- 
riors.” We have the numbers. We have 
the power and the vision and the means- 





















































94 


to-realization. Why do we dilly-dally? 
Why do we futilely complain? Why do 
we surrender our self-pride? Why are 
we acquiescent? Why do we not build 
the dream of Democracy-in-Education? 
Come, let us take ourselves and our aspi- 
rations more seriously! 
(Signed) An OBsERVER. 


ANNUAL ELECTION OF TEACHERS’ 
UNION, NEW YORK 


By virtue of a change in the Constitution 
of the Teachers’ Union of the City of New 
York candidates for the offices were nomi- 
nated at a Convention of the school represen- 
tatives held in April. The nominations up to 
the limit of five for each office were then sub- 
mitted to the members on a printed ballot. 
The ballots were returned to the office of the 


Union early in May, and the votes were 
counted by the official teller, Miss Clara 


Friedman, P. S. 55, Brooklyn. 

The officers chosen for the coming year are: 
President, Henry R. Linville, Jamaica High 
School ; Vice-Presidents—for Manhattan, Mrs. 
Johanna M. Lindlof, P. S. 183;—for Bronx, 
Max Schonberg, Evander Childs High School ; 
—for Brooklyn, Jacob A. Rubel, P. S. 156;— 
for Queens, Nathan Abraham, Bryant High 
School; Recording Secretary, Mary T. Eaton, 
P. S. 11, Brooklyn; Secretary-Treasurer, J. 
Edward Mayman, P. S. 64, Manhattan. 


PLATFORM OF THE AMERICAN FEDER- 
ATION OF TEACHERS ADOPTED AT 
THE FIRST ANNUAL CONVEN- 
TION, CHICAGO, DEC. 29 
AND 30, 1916. 


1 The American Federation of 


Teachers favors a small, elective, 
Board of Education, subject to recall, 
the members of which shall be paid. 

2 At least one member of the Board 
of Education should be a teacher. 

3 We urge the enactment of laws 
securing to teachers and supervisory 
officers tenure of position during ef- 
ficiency. 


THE AMERICAN TEACHER 


4 We protest against present sys- 
tems of rating the efficiency of teach- 
ers, as based on personal caprice, bias, or 
prejudice. We favor an objective system 
of rating, based on scientific standards, 
to be applied during the teacher’s pro- 
bationary period. After the permanent 
appointment of a teacher, rating should 
be discontinued, but provision should 
be made for the discharge of inefficient 
teachers upon preferred charges and 
in accordance with civil service prin- 
ciples. 

5 We condemn the appointment and 
promotion of teachers and other school 
officers thru political or personal influ- 
ence, and insist on efficiency as the 
sole basis of promotion. 

6 We favor the rating of supervisory 
officers by teachers in accordance with 
the standards by which teachers them- 
selves are rated. 

7 We demand the legal establish- 
ment of self-governing school and dis- 
trict councils of teachers for the pur- 
pose of utilizing the experience and in- 
itiative of the teaching body in the 
conduct of the schools, the recommen- 
dations of such councils to be made a 
matter of official public record. 

8 We believe in the necessity for 
higher standards of admission to the 
teaching profession and favor a mini- 
mum requirement of four years’ train- 
ing after graduation from high school 
or its equivalent, such training to in- 
clude professional study. 

9 The increasingly high cost of liv- 
ing makes a commensurate increase in 
teachers’ salaries a social necessity. 

10 We urge provision for adequate 
pensions for teachers. 

1r We recommend the establish- 
ment of a legal sabbatical year for 
teachers in the belief that the physical 
and professional fgejuvenation which 
would result therefrom would amply 
compensate the school system for the 
expenditure involved. 

12 We favor the extension of the 
practise of some cities in exchanging 





THE AMERICAN TEACHER 95 


teachers for the sake of mutual im- 
provement of the teachers and of the 
school systems they represent. 

13 We endorse all honest efforts of 
experimental pedagogy in seeking to 
establish a scientific basis for educa- 
tion. 

14 We recommend the policy of re- 
leasing teachers without loss of pay to 
engage in educational research, the re- 
sults to accrue to the public. 

15 We approve of applying scien- 
tific measurements in education, pro- 
vided that such measurements be not 
confined solely to results but take into 
consideration methods of obtaining re- 
sults, conditions surrounding the ap- 
plication of tests, and the nature and 
environment of the child material un- 
der observation. 

16 We recommend the extension 
of the free text-book system to those 
states in which it has not been adopted. 

17. We protest against the over- 
crowded conditions almost universal in 
the public schools of the country, as 
making effective teaching impossible, 
and demand a decrease in the size of 
classes and in the number of children 
assigned to each teacher. 

18 We regard with satisfaction the 
increasing care for subnormal children 
but we urge the need of greater atten- 
tion to supernormal children than is 
now being given them. 

19 We seek the abolition of the sys- 
tem by which the promotion of pupils 
from grade to grade is based on writ- 
ten examinations only. 

20 We urge increased public facili- 
ties for recreation and physical educa- 
tion of children. 

21 We favor the widest possible 
use of the school plant for social, civic, 
and educational purposes. 

22 We endorse the extension of vo- 
cational, prevocational, and industrial 
training as an integral part of the pres- 
ent educational system. 


23 We wish to encourage all move- 
ments having for their object the mod- 
ernization of the school curriculum to 
bring it into harmony with social and 
economic progress. 

24 We register our opposition to 
state or national laws for compulsory 
military training. 

25 We favor the creation of a na- 
tional Department of Education, co- 
ordinate with the other departments 
of the Federal Government and the ap- 
pointment, as the head of this depart- 
ment, of a Secretary of Education, who 
should be a member of the cabinet of 
the President of the United States. 

26 We demand nation-wide, adult 
suffrage as a fundamental principle of 
democracy. 

27 We endorse the principles of the 
Initiative, Referendum, and the Recall 
in the conduct of political and educa- 
tional affairs. 





POETRY, ART and JOY 
COURAGE, VISION and 
STRENCTH 


SLATE 


A Macazine For TEACHERS WHO ARE 
NOT DEAD, AND FOR THEIR FRIEWDS 


Published by 
JESS PERLMAN 
AT 
4 Cuaries STREET 
New Yorx Crry 


15c. Tue Cory $1.20 Tue Year 




















A Preamble to 
Progress 


(For Teachers) 


In a simple environment, the wicked man is he who thinks. 
In a complex environment, the wicked man is he who does not think. 


The teacher does not seem to sense poignantly the pathos of his 
predicament. 


To rule in a complex milieu and to champion pinched ideals suited to 
a simple milieu is the very miscarriage of reason itself. 


Our preliminary labor is to know comprehensively the vast chaotic 


age in which we live. 


Instead of repeating the ancient blunder of provincialism which at- 
tempted to ignore the world at large in order to conserve its 
local precarious habitat, we must be on our guard against 


nativism. 


Today it is true beyond cavil that he who would serve man must 
know mankind; that he who would cherish the state must cherish 
the world. Paine was our prophet. He foresaw what we ap- 
prehend, but gropingly in our day. The World is our country. 


Are teachers conscious of the marvelous changes that are re-creating 
the world all about them? 





>