ple di- the ing th- APRIL, 1929 PACIFIC COAST NUMBER = VOE- Xill—No. 8 Democracy in Education Education for Democracy . Th 3 Teacher 1b- on- |American THE ORGAN OF THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS ell- ind $a the ica. red ind ns. can 530 LE. and up- hat be nds ver; rals ent. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma ! | f a 5 “SERVICE, , HONESTY, AND, TRUTH | LIBERTY-OF. THOUGHT AND, SPEECH - = Bailey | -—— _— DEMOCRACY: IN-EDUCATION-E DUCATION-IN-DEMOCRACY Office of Publication Editorial Leader Building cee 99 506 South Wabash Ave. Single Copy 25c—Yearly Subscription $2.00 i, VISIT SOVIET RUSSIA! Sk See “the new civilization and its amazing educational experiments. Special tours to teachers and instructors, accompanied by ex- pert directors and cultured and interesting companions. Comfortable accommodations. Stopover privileges $375 » Every Tourist CovERED BY LIABILITY Free Russian visas. throughout Europe. COMPLETE TOUR AND REUTRN INSURANCE WITHOUT CHARGE AMERICAN-RUSSIAN TRAVEL AGENCY, INc. (Succeeding American European Travel Bureau) ALBERT F. COYLE, President PEE ES SS PSS SSS SSS SS SESS Sie tie dlp die itp oie ale tlie se che dle ie dlp tle si cl chp de dio ie of ah oh 100 Fifth Ave., N. Y. C. Chelsea 4477-5124 eee nar age What Seattle has been doing -.._.______-_------~----~- 1 W. B. Satterthwaite Democracy in the California State Department of Education—a Debate _____--------------- 2 R. W. Everett and E. J. Dupuy The San Francisco Federation of Teachers _____--~-~ 4 Paul J. Mobr a td eles 6 TOY WRU ie 6 oe etnies 9 Selma M. Borchardt A Tew: Tale of ieee Ago —.....>-2-~+-+..-+-~-2 11 Margaret Moore The Moral Education Bill ~._.___-__.-_._-_---_--___ 12 Daryl Belat ~ Seattle As Viewed Abroad ____.__-__-__--_-________- 14 Should Intellectual Workers Be Unionized? _________ 15 Michael B. Scheler Ten Years in Sacramento ~~... ~~ ..........- 17 Abby Ruth Tracy A New Curriculum for Sacramento _______________- 18 Sara Canterbury Ashby ES SLES SAEED LAIR ERTL 20 Etta C. Deffler NS GREENE TC EE an eeOas 9S OR et I Oe 24 Paris Peace Pact Oratorical Contest_______.________- 28 DO YOU BELIEVE THAT YOU ARE ENTITLED TO 1. A voice and a vote in the management of your school; 2. Independence of thot, freedom of expres- sion and exercise of initiative; 3. Working conditions that are sanitary, cheerful and inspiring; 4. A promotion in rank based on merit only; 5. A salary commensurate with the dignity and importance of your office? IF SO JOIN THE HOST OF READERS OF The American Teacher Published by teachers for principle; not for projit THE AMERICAN TEACHER is the only teachers’ magazine whose sole excuse for existence is the desire to improve the work- ing conditions of the teachers, and to raise teaching to the dignity of a profession. SUBSCRIPTION PRICE TWO DOLLARS FOR ONE YEAR Send In Your Subscription Today THE AMERICAN TEACHER 506 South Wabash Ave., :: :: Chicago, Ill. ON TO EUROPE This Summer—(Our 18th Year of Travel Service) ESCORTED TOURS Toar Ne. 1-37- Daw... 2 ee $345.00 ‘Tour Ne; -:2—-$2 Devs 515.00 Tout Me. 3-38 Ben. ee 495.00 Tour No. 4—66 Days _...___-_---___-------- 635.00 Tour No. 5—66 Days ________--___---------- 630.00 Tour No. 6—60 Days ______________-------- 620.00 ‘Foer Ne. 7-32. Bate 515.00 Two Tours To SpAIN—Two Pircrimace Tours These rates provide excellent Tourist Third Steamship accommodations, good hotels, complete sight-seeing— Leisurely Traveling—Service guaranteed. Departures every week beginning June Ist. ALSO—Four Class “A” Tours, featuring BEST HOTELS —BEST PROGRAMS—BEST. SERVICE—Send for complete folders. BEALE TOURS, INc. 112 W. Adams St., Chicago z Telephones—Randolph 1770-2399 Enter Accer . Volu Th city « rives cal 2 for 7 TEAC the p A ress, 1 progr: next ready, the bi; tegic | school Goi tempt with. |; them | men ai Educat Ano tion w: such a: ganda general Still legislat and to The selfish At any Without by man and mo able to the sch. eral thir the city 8tounds. of Seatt John The American Teacher Entered as second class matter Oct. 1, 1927, at the post office at Oklahoma City, Okla., under the Act of March 38, 1879 Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in Sec. 1103, Act of Feb. 28, 1925, authorized Nov. 3, 1926 Volume XIII., No. 8 APRIL, 1929 Two Dollars a Year What Seattle Has Been Doing Three days before our city election a telegram ar- rives asking the Seattle Lo- cal 200, to give a survey for THE AMERICAN TEACHER of activities for the past year. A review of our prog- ress, it may or may not be progress as one shall see next Tuesday, should be ready, but we are and have been up to our necks in the big campaign. There has never been a more stra- tegic time for the Seattle teachers in the history of school affairs. But more of this later. Going back to last fall several things were at- tempted; one was to make all the contacts possible with liberal, fair-minded, influential citizens and let them know the state of affairs, and find among them men and women to run for office on the Board of Education. Another was to get some medium of communica- tion with citizens and inform them in school affairs, such as excessive interest paid on bonds, power propa- ganda in the school and treatment of education in general. : Still another was to line up all candidates for the legislature as to their stand on a proposed.tenure law, and to work for the passage of such a bill. The first contact with liberal civic-minded, un- selfish men and women has been rather successful. At any rate this campaign could not be going on without them. There has been a keen interest shown by many such citizens who have given of both time and money. With the help of such people we were able to get three outstanding candidates to run in the school board campaign. Judge Griffiths, a lib- eral thinker, a man of high standing and influence ia the city, a man with a life-long interest in play- gfounds, a man who would well represent the people of Seattle, has consented to run. John B. Shorrett, who had a very close fight last Florence C. Hanson, Chicago, Illinois. 506 South Wabash Ave., People of Seattle elected John B. Shorrett, last year’s candidate, and Austin E. Griffiths, a fine, upstanding progressive, to school board. Only one board member of three was re-elected. W. B. SATTERTHWAITE. Seattle, Wash., year, losing by some 1500 votes, but~ getting more than any board member in the past, was induced to try again. Mr. Shorrett is an attorney, well known for his interest in schools and the children of the city. If elected he will be the only member with chil- dren in school—a strange state of affairs, but true. We might add here that many things have happened since Mr. Shorrett ran last spring: among them our yellow dog contracts, and the framing and dismissal of one of our former active Union members. Mrs. Hattie Mae Patterson, a woman very much interested in educational work, an influential club woman, president of the Seattle League of Women Voters, and a former teacher, was finally convinced that the city needed a woman on the board. None of. these candidates represents a class or any particular group of citizens, while all three of the present incumbents represent one class—Capital. It might be well to explain right here that it is due to the death of Mr. Shorrock, last November, that it is possible to elect three new members, a ma- jority, on our board of education. Mr. Schmitz, a wealthy banker, was appointed by the present board to fill the vacancy until the coming election. With the coming elections in mind, we attempted to arouse interest in a weekly labor paper. This was almost accomplished but was, unfortunately for us, postponed to a date that would not help our situa- tion. Finally, with the help of other progressives, interested in the truth about city and state issues, a weekly magazine, The Washington Forum, came into existence. Through this paper we have been able to inform at least part of the public, and through a city wide distribution a few days before election will be able to reach them all. However, our daily press has kept most silent LLL AL LLL EL LOLOL A OY etn li tical, digs ete ne bt, Nant tt lige - a - _ - — el ee ne ee ee cs a en met ee ee ee 2 THE AMERICAN TEACHER about candidates. The present members who are up for re-election have splendid publicity men and get their names and pictures before the public for flag contests, oratorical programs, Boy Scout affairs, in fact, anything will do. They are circularizing the city with a four-page pamphlet that certainly bears no marks of dignity or fairness. In this they attack the salary question, and the selfish group who are trying to get control. It is hardly necessary to say that they did not mention bonds issued in 1920 and 1921 at 6% for a period of 40 years with no privi- lege of redemption; nor did they mention the power propaganda circulated throughout the high schools. Money is being spent freely by the opposition. A statement sent to all members of the Associated In- dustries sends up a cry “to save our schools from the radicals.” By the way the message includes many quotations taken from THE AMERICAN TEACHER to show just how radical we are. Rumors of threats are abroad that if the present board is re-elected, any teacher taking part in the campaign will be fired. If this means any teacher who takes part in spirit, the board will have a com- plete new corps. If they mean an active part in the campaign, the teachers can hardly be connected as most of the work has been done by citizens not in the teaching profession. This, then is the situation up to date, and what the future has for us will be wired, we hope, in time for this issue of THE AMERICAN TEACHER. The third, lining up of all candidates for the leg- islature was accomplished. Then we began work oa the tenure bill. The Washington Educational Asso- ciation though they should have been most inter- ested in tenure, have not only failed to work for such a law, but have opposed the bill. The tenure bill is still in the committee of the Senate. When teachers of this state wake up to the fact, and they. are awakening, that the W. E. A. and its board of directors do not represent the class room teachers, then and not till then, can we expect the people of this state to give us what we need and should have. W. B. SaATTERTHWAITE. Democracy In the California State Department of Education A DEBATE Article I—R. W. Everett Article II—E. J. Dupuy DEMOCRACY IN THE STATE OFFICE Article I—R. W. Everett, No. 31 The election last November marks another step in the attempt of California to work out the problem of the proper balancing of efficiency and local control as a means of obtaining democracy in education. The question has divided the voters, teachers, and even the Federation members. This particular scheme has been turned down, but the problem still remains. As similar problems have arisen in several states, the California case may be of more than passing interest. The constitution of 1849 established a state super- intendent of the public schools. That was about all. During the 60’s John Swett, one of the few educa- tors in our early history, established the imprint of his personality on the office. Little else of importance occurred for thirty years and more. The salary was constitutionally fixed at $5,000, an ex-officio state board was created and the state high school systems were all established by 1893. These events and the growth of the state rapidly increased the importance of the office. In the early years of the century the office was made non-partisan for the commendable purpose of taking it out of politics, but it also took away the possibility of the candidates being chosen because of their ability by a small group of people. The incumbents were invariably county-superintend- ents who stepped up from three thousand dollar posi- tions to a five thousand one. The real problem of the position did not arise un- til some fifteen years ago when a constitutional amendment was passed doing away with the old ex- officio board and a new one, to be appointed by the governor, was created. Shortly after, the local ap- pointed boards, which had controlled each of the seven state normal schools, were abolished and the regulation was bestowed on the state superintend- ent and the Board of Education. The step was taken by the Legislature and was entirely unsolicited by the superintendent. The scene was thus laid for the next act—a break between the board and its superintendent. The board is appointed by the governor for a term of four yeat the superintendent is elected at the same time as the THE AMERICAN TEACHER 3 governor for aterm of four years and is ex-officio executive secretary of the board. The superintendent appoints the presidents of the normals, now changed to four-year teachers’ colleges, and the board con- firms the appointments. The board and the superin- tendent jointly choose the state text books, estab- lish the course of study and lay down the rules of certification. In 1922 a governor was elected who seemed to be- lieve that he had a mandate from the people to re- verse the policy and thwart the plans of the re-elected superintendent. Within two years he had control of the board and they proceeded to carry out his will. As an example the board for over a year refused to ratify the presidents nominated by the superintend- ent to two of the state teachers’ colleges, and these schools went without presidents as the superintend- ent refused to truckle to the hostile board. This act was merely a sample of the deadlock. The teachers of the state almost unanimously supported the super- intendent, i. e., gave him their moral support. An attempt was made in the Legislature in 1925 to cure the evil by taking all these recent powers from the superintendent and giving them to a new officer, the director of education, appointed by the Board of Education and paid by the Legislature. As the friends of the governor worked for the bill the friends of the superintendent worked against it, and killed it. Unfortunately the personal element en- tered into the struggle too directly. Superintendent Will C. Wood was one of the few educational lead- ers that the voters of the state had chosen in seventy years. The teachers could not see him voted out of of- fice by a group which was attacking him in the name of economy. Even Dean Cubberly, the champion of the idea of appointment, rallied to his support. The next election brought in a governor, thor- oughly in sympathy with the superintendent and the educational forces of the state. But at the same time the people of the state voted down an amendment to taise the superintendent’s salary from $5000 to $8000. All the cities and some of the villages of the state Pay their appointed superintendents more than $5000. As a result we have some able education lead- ers. In fact California has been somewhat of a mecca for eastern and middle western educators coming to accept city superintendencies at from $6000 to $10,- 000 salaries. But the people had spoken, and $5000 was the limit for the mam whom the people “had chosen, and who was administrative head of seven state teachers’ colleges. Every one of these college heads received more than his “boss.” Knowing that he was worth far more than the state would pay, Mr. Wood became state superintendent of banks at twice his former salary. The recent incumbent, William J. Cooper, there- upon gave up a $9000 city position to accept appoint- ment to his late position in order to put over the idea of an appointive head who may be paid a satis- factory salary by legislative enactment. The board, a lay body, was to be appointed by the governor for a term of ten years and to consist of ten members. It was so arranged that no governor, after the first one, ‘could control the board during his first term, but would, immediately upon re-election. This measure the people voted down by a large vote. The State Federation of Labor flatly refused to support the measure, and showed strong hostility to the idea when it was presented. The problem now appears, what next! The Cali- fornia State Teachers Association has decided to maintain the status quo for the present, and hope for the best. Most of them believe that the present sys- tem can not succeed but they are convinced that the voters of California do not see these difficulties. The American voter has proved himself quite success- ful in choosing his chief executives, but neither we nor any other peeople have shown much success in picking out trained specialists to administer technical departments. Is popular choice of this officer a neces- sity to maintain democracy in education? If such is the case, what will happen to efficiency in education? Does any one believe for a moment that the ordinary voter can make a wise choice more than once in five times, when asked to choose between a trained educa- tor and a clever salesnian? The members of the Federation in California who favored the recently defeated amendment justified their position on the ground that technically trained leadership in education we must have. They believed that the evils of bureaucracy could be avoided by the strength of the organized school teachers of the state together with the legislative assistance of organized labor. The State Department of Education has always found the forces of labor in the Legislature of this state its firm ally in carrying out its reform policies. To be sure the Federation of Teachers. suffered a severe reverse some years ago in Pennsylvania from an appointed superintendent, but his actions so mate- _ rially shortened his official life there that no other educational administrator is likely to make such an 4 THE AMERICAN TEACHER error. We feel that as between us and those who op- posed us on this question we loved democracy not less but efficiency more. DEMOCRACY IN THE CALIFORNIA STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Article II—E. J. Dupuy, No. 61 California decided by over 100,000 majority to re- ject the proposed constitutional amendment creating a State Board of Education of ten members, each to serve ten years, appointed by the governor and sub- ject to the approval of a two-thirds vote of the sen- ate. This body of directors was to be given the power to appoint a director of education, provided the Leg- islature so prescribed, and then the constitutional of- fice of state superintendent of public instruction would remain vacant until such time as the Legisla- ture would decide to abolish the directorship. In this case the governor would have to appoint a superin- tendent for an unexpired term to fill a constitutional office which has been made vacant at the pleasure of the Legislature and it would revert to the double- headed plan which now exists, and which is not satis- factory. This new plan was to take the schools out of politics. It did not suit the public. The measure was hotly contested. The incumbent, Superintendent W. J. Cooper, with the co-operation of the governor, caused the legislative action to be taken paving the way for an initiative on this con- stitutional amendment. In the controversy the point was brought out that superintendents, principals and teachers were deeply divided. The opposition to the measure led by a county superintendent, W. H. Han- lon, of Contra -Costa County, finally stirred up the depths, and school trustees of the rural districts, par- ents and others joined in, finally sweeping through the organized defenses, even in larger cities. To exonerate Mr. Cooper from any possible con- demnation, it does appear that his advisers were not in harmony with the general public, and urged him to support a plan which would have created a centralized self-perpetuating group dominating the entire state educational system. The ten-year board of education would have regulated the fifty-seven counties of the state, and the country unit having been worked in would have developed a closely woven network with no hope for anyone breaking through a minutely supervised school administration not allowing any outlet for safety. While we are at present trying to awaken the in- terest of parents and adults in educational matters, and while the tendency is to bring into play the ele- ments of co-operation which have been lying dor- mant, this centralization would have created a huge school machine and instead of bringing forth leaders, would have snuffed out all independent thinkers, and would ‘have given the political manipulators what they were seeking. Labor at its annual state meeting went against the support of this amendment in spite of political ma- neuvering from the state administration. The San Francisco Labor Council and the State Building Trades Council appealed to labor throughout the state to defeat the measure, and labor did not fail. At the present time administrative officials at Sac- ramento are overlooking the fact that the people as a mass have at times some common sense—to divorce the public from school surveillance is to kill the goose that lays the golden egg. Several remedies for the situation are available, for example an elected board and an appointed superin- tendent would meet the popular demand. A shorter term would be more acceptable. The question, how- ever, is in abeyance for the present, as Mr. Cooper has left for Washington, D. C., for his new position as U. S. commissioner of education, replacing J. J. Tigert. We are glad to see a Californian there, and we appreciate the compliment to our state superintend- ent. The present system needs revamping, but out western spirit, true to “democracy in education,’ will not allow any machine control. The San Francisco Federation of Teachers No. 61 In the month of April, 1929, the San Francisco Federation of Teachers will celebrate its tenth anni- versary. This first decade of its history is replete with trials and tribulations as well as successes. An unfriendly board of education tried by resolu- tion to abolish the organization in the first year of its existence, and the politically minded superintendent of schools, who because of kindred affiliations should have been friendly, opposed the union for personal reasons. This board has been superseded by one of wiser judgment, and the office of superintendent is now filled by a man trained and experienced in school administration. The Federation took an active paft in initiating and in carrying to a successful conclusion the the the sup sup tion city wer the ; rem tech U rienc have conv city are h take the c sional portu By terial] lation the le; burde: ure bj No. 6. In « membe and th board « sent th the bu; had cor request fact th consery Our of educ the boa 80 Over amount SUCCess | BRewthte the movement which resulted in the reorganization of the department. By means of a charter amendment, the manner of selecting a board of education and superintendent of schools was changed. The office of superintendent was formerly filled by popular elec- tion and candidates were restricted to residents of the city. No educational or professional qualifications were imposed. Now the board of education appoints the superintendent. The residence restriction has been removed, and the appointee must have “expert or technical training.” Under the leadership of our educated and expe- rienced superintendent, the San Francisco schools have made noteworthy progress. In state and national conventions of educators, the representatives of our city no longer meet with scorn. On the contrary they are honored and respected. The members of No. 61 take pride in having had a part in bringing about the changes which have encouraged a more profes- sional spirit among teachers and created broader op- portunities for pupils. By the help of organized labor, we have aided ma- terially in securing not only local but also state legis- lation favorable to teachers. The tenure bills before the legislature have had our active support, and the burden of enforcement has been borne in large meas- ure by the State Federation of Teachers, of which No, 61 is a vital part. In our salary campaign of four years age, the members of the Federation took an active interest, and they occupied the most prominent positions, The board of education gave the teachers a chance to pre- sent their case prior to the budget estimates. When the budget was published it appeared that the board had concluded to ask for only one-half of the amount requested by the teachers for increase despite the fact that the teachers felt that they had been very conservative in their requests. Our joint committee waged a vigorous campaign of education of the public, which in its reaction on the board of supervisors, the tax levying body, was 8% overwhelming that the latter board doubled the amount asked for by the board of education. The success of this campaign must be attributed to the ‘nergy and fearlessness of the leaders. Four of the eight points outlined in our program of action for the year 1926-7, have become realities, and the same applies to our program for the yeat 1927-8. ‘The points achieved are: (1) revision of the course of study, (2) a professional library for teachers, (3) a tenure law, (4) revision of the local THE AMERICAN TEACHER 5 retirement regulations. The points not fully accom- plished are: (1) sabbatical leave, (2) equal pay for equal experience, training, and certification, (3) a co-operative bulletin, (4) an administrative building for the department of education. From the point of view of economy and efficiency it would be highly desirable to have all of the executive branches of the department, many of which are now placed in widely scattered abandoned school buildings, housed in one centrally located building. Financial independence of the board of education, readjustment and upward revision of salaries, surveys of state and city. pension systems with a view to im- provements, were subjects on our program for 1927-8. These have either been accomplished or are in a fair way to be realized. The consolidated salary committee is making splen- did progress and deserves the enthusiastic support of every teacher. This scientific investigation of the salary situation in San Francisco promises to be the most thorough and comprehensive study that has ever been undertaken. The result will be published in book form and copies will be available by the time this writing is in print. Many of the facts presented are such as will apply to any city in the United States, and the method of presenting the case will appeal to any group interested in the salary problem. The mem- bers of 61 are among active workers of this group. All teacher organizations should be on the alert regarding our state retirement system. The commis- sion appointed to make a survey of the system and suggest changes in the law will probably recommend a new plan. Such plan will have to be approved by the Legislature, or by a vote of the people. In either case the Federation can be counted on to use its in- fluence in favor of a retirement system that will be just and fair to the teachers of the state. It might appear to some of our readers that the basis for the Federation’s activity is self-interest. This is not true. The education of the child is the ideal which we aim to keep in view at all times. Since the teacher is the most potent factor in the process of education, the most effective way of improving that education is to improve the teachers. The Federation has always taken a fearless stand in favor of progressive measures and against those manifesting reactionary tendencies. Supported by ~a large group of respected citizens, we expect to carry forward our banner of progress and secure better and better conditions for the teaching profession. Paut J. Monr, President. 6 ; THE AMERICAN TEACHER The American Teacher Democracy in Education Education for Democracy Published Monthly, except July and August Official Organ THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS Office of Publication, Leader Building, Oklahoma City, Okla. Editorial Office: $06 South Wabash Ave., Chicago, Illinois FrorENcE Curtis Hanson, Secretary-Treasurer and Editor 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, express order, draft, stamps or check. SUBSCRIPTION PRICE, TWO DOLLARS FOR THE YEAR FOREIGN $2.20—SINGLE COPIES, 25c Advertising Rates Made Known on Application EXECUTVE COUNCIL 3 President Mary C, Barker, Atlanta No. 89; 685 Myrtle Street; N. E., Atlanta, Georgia. Legislative Representative and Vice- President SetmMa M. BorcHarpt, Washington No. 8; 1741 -Park Road, N. W., Washington, D. C. Vice-Presidents Lucie W. ALLEN, Chicago Women No. 3; -1803 Livingston Avenue, Evanston, Illinois. R. W. Everett, Sacramento No. 31; 2740 Portola Sacramento, California. Amy A. Fox, Minneapolis No. 59; 3300 Stevens Ave., Minne- apolis, Minnesota. ABRAHAM LEeFrxowiTz, New York No. 5; 10414 27th Avenue, East Elmhurst, Corona, New York, N. Y. A. J. Must, Brookwood No. 189; Brookwood, Katonah, N. Y. FioreNce Roop, St. Paul No. 28; 328 Cedar Street, St. Paul, Minnesota. W. B. Sarrertuwarre, Local No. 200; 1837 12th Ave., West Seattle, Washington. W. J. Scorr, Atlanta No. 89; 212 Kings Highway, Decatur, Georgia. F. G. Srecxer, Chicago No. 2; 1618 Lake Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois. Cartes B. StmimMan, Chicago No. 2; 827 Ridge Avenue, Evanston, Illinois. Western Organizer E, E. ScHWARTZTRAUBER, Portland No. 111; Box 68, Portland, Oregon. Secretary-Treasurer FLORENCE Curtis Hanson, Chicago Women No. 3; 506 South Wabash Ave., Chicago, Illinois—Telephone Harrison 2950. AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS ORGANIZED Aprit 15, 1916 Affiliated With the American Federation of Labor. Way, R.>-F, D. ', THE PACIFIC COAST NUMBER This number of THE AMERICAN TEACHER is is- sued as the Pacific Coast Number. The following locals participated in its publication: Sacramento 31, ‘Sacramento 44, San Francisco 61, Portland 111, and Seattle 200. IT PAYS TO ORGANIZE Teachers no less than other workers desire a better life. Teachers who have studied the history of social development should realize even more than other workers that organization is the way to a better life. They should be the easiest group to organize for thicy have the lesson of the bitter experience of oppression which they share with other workers and as students they should have learned the benefits of organization. The study of social and labor development reveals the striking contrast between wage scales and work- ing conditions of those who are organized and those who are not. We invite authoritative contradiction of the statement that every salary increase and im- provement in teaching conditions is due either di- rectly or indirectly to the work of the teachers’ unions. No other organization of teachers has done so much not only for the material gain of teachers but also for the advancement of liberal education as the teachers’ unions. They protect assuredly the in- terests of the individual teacher but they primarily and fundamentally stand as the protectors of the ideals of education. The responsibility for social and educational improvements rests with them. Labor through organization has raised itself from practical serfdom to a condition in which it begins to participate democratically in the organized pro- duction of the world. The teachers through organi- zation can raise themselves from practical serfdom to a condition in which they will participate demo- cratically in the solution of educational problems and - social questions. - é There is no substitute for the labor union. What the workers, again including the teachers, do for themselves is much more significant than what is done for them. No welfare scheme imposed from without can do for them what they can do for them- selves. It is puerile to cavil at and hold aloof from the labor movement because of its faults. Whatever it may deserve in the way of criticism can be remedied by its own membership. The interests of the work- ers can best be protected by their own union. Theodore Roosevelt’s trenchant words should be repeated again and again: “If I were a factory em- ploye, a workingman on the railroads, OR A WAGE EARNER OF ANY SORT, I would undoubtedly join the union of my trade. If I disapproved of its policy, I would join in order to fight that policy; if the union leaders were dishonest, I would join in order to put them out. I BELIEVE IN THE an. a. | Parti for s busin. “M self = g would Few ( burde: Worke ins the r it lied rk- UNION, and I believe that all men who are bene- fited by the union are morally bound to help to the , extent of their power in the common interest ad- vanced by the union.” The trade union. movement stands between in- dustrial oppression and the workers. It stands for progress to a higher standard of living. It is the means whereby a better life for the workers and all mankind can be secured. If you see the faults, the mistakes, the shortcom- ings, the failures in judgment and leadership of the labor movement, take Roosevelt’s advice. Get in and make things right. Organization is the only way. And it pays. WITHOUT UNIONS, DEMOCRACY UNTHINKABLE The workers including the teachers not only have the right to organize but it is right that they should organize. Walter Lippman, editor of The New York World, splendidly puts the case for justice and de- mocracy. “The fact is that nothing is so stubbornly resisted as the attempt to organize into effective trade unions. Yet it is labor organized that alone can stand between America and a permanent, servile class. Unless labor is powerful enough to be respected, it is doomed to a degrading servitude. Without unions no such power is possible. Without unions industrial democracy is unthinkable. Without democracy in industry—that is where it counts the most—there is no such thing as democracy in America. “For only through the union can the wage-earner Participate in the control of industry, and only through the union can he obtain the discipline needed for self-government. ‘Those who fight unions may think they are fighting its obvious errors, but what they are really against is just this democracy upon business, “Men are fighting for the beginning of industrial self-government. If the world were wise that fight would be made easier for them. But it is not wise. Few of us care for ten minutes in a month about these beginnings or what they promise. And so the burden falls entirely upon the workers who are direct- ly concerned. They have got to win civilization, they have got to take up the task of fastening a Worker's control upon business.” I am never quite so proud as when some one ad- dresses me as “teacher.”—Elbert Hubbard. ~_s re THE AMERICAN TEACHER DOUBLE THE MEMBERSHIP DURING 19239. The slogan, “Double the Membership,” adopted by the A. F. of L. convention at New Orleans may well have been intended for the American Federa- tion of Teachers. It is a goal which everyone in the organization should endeavor to achieve. Every member of the Teachers Union should take this advice to heart and adopt this standard. Let each "one sign a pledge with himself, that there shall be another member in his union as his double. There are two ways to double a membership; each member can bring in a new member or each local can secure a new local in its vicinity. There is no rule against doing both. Some of our locals cannot follow the first method for where they are 90%, 97%, 99%, and 100% organized, there is no field in which to work. - But there is the neighboring community waiting for the message to be brought them by a committee of your local. The A. F. of T. has made a good start. In the past year, Local 2, the Chicago Federation of Men Teachers, has increased its membership 60%; Local 183, Fulton County Teachers Association, has_in- creased its membership 130% and now has 98% of the teachers in the county; Local 52, Memphis Teachers Association, has an 800% increase. These are illustrations, not by any means sole instances, Other similar examples could be given. Is your Local on the list? Do you believe in your organization? Do you know that by building your union you are making it a greater power for good? Do you owe this ef- fort as an act of gratitude for what the organization has done for you? Shall we let George do it, or shall we do it? CATCH PHRASES LULL PUBLIC; POVERTY STILL IS SOCIAL EVIL Old age, poverty and unemployment menace this country, said Dr. John A. Lapp, professor of sociol- ogy, Marquette University and member of the American Federation of Teachers, Local 79, in an address to a group of advertising men in Omaha, Neb. The speaker is former president of the Na- tional Council of Social Work. Poverty is not abolished and there is no present indication that it will be, said Dr. Lapp. The very cause of poverty—lack of means of livelihood—is increasing. Old age is a greater menace than ever. The speaker expressed disapproval of President pa eermrTrem ney PO .:A OT IT)D Oo See ~ o-2ae Se er a wi rn drier = ai RED ee ee ar iy Daag Fi ig tsp 8 Coolidge’s economy program and criticized Henry Ford’s statement that there is a job for every man in this country. Dr. Lapp submitted the same cold analysis to va- rious catch phrases and fallacies that pass as social facts. He attacked the claim that poverty is decreasing, that cities have “crime waves,” that most criminals come from the ranks of foreign-born persons and children of foreign-born persons, and that taxes can be lowered without slashing expenditures for service and improvements that the public demand. Dr. Lapp declared that statistics are a sort of ho- cus-pocus and are not reliable. “Crime waves,” he asserted, “are imaginative creations of a certain type of newspapers. Statistics show that the greater percentage of United States criminals are not foreign born or the children of foreign-born parents.” The speaker predicted that taxes will continue to go up and that some day statistics will regain the confidence the public reposed in them. TEACHERS’ PENSION URGED BY WILL HAYS Cleveland.—‘Neither community self-respect accompany inability to pay the butcher, the grocer and the landlord,” said Will H. Hays, moving picture supervisor and former postmaster general, at a conference of school superintendents here. ; “The world has abandoned forever the fallacy that any virtue, any stimulus to performance, any useful quality whatsoever, derives from a condition of -want,” said Hays. “I do not care who has made such claims; they are outworn fallacies, concocted as a sop to the spineless. respect nor “I submit that to place before our young people the pitiful examples of teachers who have come to the evening of life with no provision for decent com- fort, no just and reasonable assurance of continuity of livelihood during that period when success in oth- er callings brings independence as well as honor, is to fend away from the teaching profession the quality and ability of personnel which our teachers and our children must command if civilization is to ad- vance. “The teacher is the most important agent of the taxpayer.” : THE AMERICAN TEACHER FREE TEXT BOOKS The American Federation of Labor is making good progress with its program of free text books. Nine- teen states and the District of Columbia have laws requiring that text books be furnished without cost to children in the elementary grades. Eight of these nineteen states—Arizona, California, Delaware, Montana, Nevada, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah —have statewide adoption for free textbooks} while the remaining eleven states—Maine, Maryland, Massa- chusetts, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming—have either county, district, town or city adoption of free textbooks. In twenty-three states free text books are permit- ted but not required. Six States—Indiana, Kentucky, New Mexico, Ore- gon, South Carolina and Tennessee—do not appear to have any free textbook laws, but in practically all states indigent children are furnished textbooks free. In twenty-five states the selection of textbooks for elementary public schools is made by the state board of education or a specially created county textbook commission. In the remaining eighteen states in which there is neither state nor county adoption, the text- books are selected by the district school authorities. There is no evidence of a general method of text- book selection by the experts in the field, that is, the teachers. TEACHERS BARRED FROM PENSIONS The teachers’ pension bill went down to over- whelming defeat in the Iowa lower house last week. While it was optional as to adoption upon the part of the boards of education in the few cities of the first class to which it would apply the farmer mem- bers were bitter in voicing their opposition because of the fear that in the dim and distant future consoli- dated school districts might be called upon to pension the faithful teachers. An attempt by Representative Frank Byers of Linn to so amend it to apply to cities of a certain population, which would include oaly Cedar Rapids and Davenport, was rejected. Legisla- tion favorable to the wage-earners or salaried peo- ple in the cities stands no chance of adoption in the present session, apparently.—Cedar Rapids Tribune. I hope I may live to see the day when an unfet- tered start and a fair chance in the race of life i guaranteed to every American boy and girl.—Abr- ham Lincoln. THE AMERICAN TEACHER 9 Just Observations The George-Reed Bill providing for the further extension of federal aid in the promotion of voca- tional education has passed Congress. The bill es- tablishes no new principle, but provides for addi- tional funds for the administration of the Smith- Hughes act, which was adopted eleven years ago. Under this bill 3590 schools have given training in vocational agriculture and 1978 have maintained departments of home economics. Valuable as this work has been the limitation of funds has prevented its being extensively carried, the number of schools receiving aid for vocational agriculture representing but 29% of the rural high schools in the United States, and those receiving aid in home economics representing but 8.7% of the public high schools. Fortunately, the many students given this voca- tional instruction are now in the agricultural work. A recent nation-wide study made by the Federal Board of Vocational Education shows that from 60 to 75% of them have accepted farming as a def- inite vocation. We welcome this aid from the federal govern- ment, which makes possible this practical training in the states whose financial condition is such as to prevent théir providing this very essential sort of training, from state funds alone. Federal aid, yes; admiriistered by the several states, of course. A good bill to meet a great need. cd * The current Appropriation Bill for the Depart- ment of the Interior carries a provision to enable the U. S. Bureau of Education to carry on a study of our secondary schools. The plans for this study are as yet highly tentative, but the references thereto made at the hearings on the bill by rep- tesentatives of the Bureau of Education, indicate that the study will be far-reaching. We are very happy that this appropriation is to be made. Our Federal Bureau certainly needs funds—needs them badly—tso conduct its, research work. Our secondary schools, so certainly in a state of transition—to goodness knows what or where— will need the scientific attention which we feel the U. S. Bureau of Education can now, with its ade- quate funds, give thereto. We add but one hope; that it will be true study; that those who actually teach will be consulted on this study. Mr. Lucius Littauer, of Gloversville, has decided to be a philanthropist. He has set up a fund of :- $1,000,000 to be used “To enlarge the realm of human knowledge, to promote general moral, mental and physical improvement of society so that the sum total of human welfare and wisdom may be increased and better undersanding among all mankind promoted.” Now, if Mr. Littauer is sincere this is good news, for it means that the conditions in the fine dress glove industry in Fulton County (Gloversville and Johnstown, New York), will be vastly improved; it means that as an immediate manifestation of his desire for “better understanding” and “human wel- fare,” that the glove workers of Fulton County will no longer be deprived of those supposedly inalien- able human rights of which they have so long been deprived, very largely because of Mr. Littauer’s at- titude. But, if Mr. Littauer is simply giving a million as a monument to himself and his erstwhile unsound practices, and not for the purpose for which he professes to give it, he will continue to deny em- pleyment to amy man of woman who seeks to work in co-operation with his fellow workers to secure “better understanding and human welfare.” coe * * The teachers of Chile are indeed in a sad plight. If they join a teachers’ union, they are dismissed. If they champion freedom of speech or the right of peaceable assembly, they are persecuted. The Teachers Union of Chile has been ordered disban- ded by the tyrannical Chilean dictator. So we learn from the journal of I. M. A., the Latin American Teachers Association. We sincerely hope that in the very near future, these fellow workers of ours will join as we do with the bona fide trade union movement; that they will affiliate with their respective national trade union centers and so place themselves in a position to work in and through the Pan Ameri- can Federation of Labor, and the Amsterdam In- ternational Teachers Trade Union—to work to- ward the realization of the ideals which caused their organizations to be formed; to work, there- fore, for that better truer education which we trade unionists feel is so essential. Our well wishes are indeed with these Latin American pioneers in their efforts to evolve and establish a social form of education. Se i A AS Bee Sa eS gnny meen ear Rae ee ee “Allen A” Hosiery workers continue to hold their own, and ask for the right to arbitrate their differences with their erstwhile employers. The differences arose over what to most of us seems to be an important matter. Each of the workers had been watching 14,000 little steel needles. The management wanted each one to watch 28,000 little steel needles. It does seem that one work- er’s nerves might be a little taxed at this assign- ment. And this is but one factor to be arbitrated. We have all received the names of thirty-two firms which make excellent hosiery—make them now under wholesome conditions—and of course, we'll spend our money with our friends. > + % Hearings were held, before Congress adjourned, on the Newton: Bill, a successor to the Sheppard- Towner Act, for the extension of federal aid in the maintenance of infancy and maternity welfare centers, and the bill was favorably reported out of Committee. The Sheppard-Towner Act has served its pur- pose in demonstrating that co-operation between the States and the Children’s Bureau of the De- partment of Labor in a baby-saving campaign can be successful. In 1927, according to the Bureau of the Census, the infant mortality rate, i. e., deaths per 1,000 live births, was 65—a very much lower rate than we have ever had before: Expressed in terms of living babies, this new rate meant that 24,500 babies survived their first year of life in 1927 who would have died if the conditions of 1921 had prevailed. The baby-saving campaigns which brought this result were educational in character, that is, they made available to mothers through child-health conferences, mothers’ clubs and classes, and home visits of nurses scientific in- formation as to the care of babies. While the Children’s Bureau laid the foundation for this national baby-saving campaign by its studies of infant mortality which convinced Con- gress and the States that this’ was a field in which co-operation between the Nation, the State, and the local community was necessary, the educational ac- tivities have been carried on by the States. Under the Sheppard-Towner Act plans were initiated by the States, and the doctors and nurses who carried out the plans were appointed by the States. The Maternity and Infant Hygiene Division of the Chil- dren’s Bureau, which administered the Act, has had a small staff—doctors, consulting nurses, an auditor, THE AMERICAN TEACHER and three clerks—usually nine persons altogether. It has kept track of expenditures, and has assisted the States when requested. The best traditions of our Federal form of government have thus been utilized to start out children toward a healthy manhood and womanhood. On the basis of the work that has now been done it should be possible for the States to lead and the Federal Government to assist. This the Newton Bill, H. R. 14070, makes possible by providing for a Child Welfare Extension Service in the Children’s Bureau which can be as useful in baby saving as the agriculture Extension Service has been in improving livestock. Of course, the action by the Committee in the old Congress has no legal effect on the new Con- gress, but we hope it will be a step toward bringing about speedy action by the new Congress. % oe * It’s encouraging to hear through Mrs. Cora Wil- son Stewart, director of the National Illiteracy Cru- sade, that very substantial progress has been made in the efforts to eradicate illiteracy. The fact that 4,000,000 of our illiterates according to the last cen- sus are native born citizens makes the challenge the more serious. Many national organizations are actively co- operating with Mrs. Stewart in her splendid work. It’s a movement we heartily endorse and one which should have our fullest support. * * Teachers are to blame for their own low salaries, declares the report of Yale Chapter of the American Association of University Professors, after a study of this question. Right! Their reasoning, however, isn’t quite . sound, it seems. They’re still back in the period which would explain the whole thing in a queer sort of “Wage Lump Theory.” There’s just so much money, they’ say, and if there were fewer people to share it, then each one would get more. When a university gets more money, it should raise pay—not simply enlarge its faculty. They’ve worded the re- port more adroitly, ’tis true, but this is their conclu- sion, crudely stated. . It would seem that they’re quite unsound in their reasoning. Teachers are to blame for teachers’ low salaries, most assuredly, but not on any “Wage Lump Theory.” _(Continued on Page 23) THE AMERICAN TEACHER A True Tale of Long Ago Once upon a time—in fact, early in the second quarter of the present century—five teachers, A, B, C, D, and E, went to a teachers’ institute. As it happened, this institute was held in the building where they ordinarily pursued their labor, and so, as was customary, they punched a time clock. For you must understand that in those days there was much discussion as to whether teaching was a trade or a profession, and it seemed best to the authorities that, until the matter was settled one way or the other, the teachers should conform te the custom of both callings. For instance, although the time of their arrival was arbitrarily set, as in a factory, and the day definitely divided by the ringing of bells into certain periods of time for certain specified duties, still at the same time the teachers were permitted to prolong their work at their homes far into the night, as did certain of the medical profession, and even to dream about it when they had fallen asleep, like a young lawyer with his first case. Moreover, many of them spent their vacations learning to do their work bet- ter, and they were glad to do so. And, indeed, they were urged to do this. And thus they strove to do too many things. They did not realize, as we do now, that teaching is neither a trade nor a profession, but a much more honorable calling than either one, to which in this day we have given the name of “trades- sion.” And so those five teachers punched the clock and proceeded to enjoy the institute. “A” Was CONSCIENTIOUS Now A was a very conscientious person, and liké- wise very heavily laden with burdensome duties. So A took with her one hundred and forty-three test papers and corrected them during the less entertain- ing portions of the meetings. They were called ob- jective tests, and there really should have been one hundred and fifty, because A taught five classes of thirty pupils each, but seven had missed the test and would return the next week and demand seven “make ups.” A even took her lunch to her room and finished her papers there by the end of the third day. And that was a good thing, because then she would be all ready to get some more papers the next week. So A really got a great deal out of the institute. Now B was of a different type entirely—a very sociable person—and he managed to put in his time very well. He stood around in the halls and met his friends and talked to the bookman, picking up an idea Gr two and even a book. Now this was a good thing to do, and almost necessary, for this institution where B taught was so highly organized that the teachers did not see one another very often during the days of their ordinary toil, and a certain amount of contact is very good for teachers. Besides, as B argued, you could not hear well, what with the creak- ng of chairs and people passing to the farther side of the balcony and then coming back. So by shaving off both ends of each lecture, B managed to visit a good deal, and enjoyed the institute very much. BEWILDERED BY NEw Worps C was a very earnest young thing, and very eager to learn. And, indeed, a good chance she had, for many wise men were there to explain things to the teachers. She heard many new words—norm, objec- tive, correlation, problem-project, and curriculum. Some of them she had heard before, but not quite in the same use, and so she took them all down on the back of her program, and was very busy indeed. Then, too, she laughed sometimes, and that is very good for a teacher. But, withal, she appeared troubled and somewhat dazed and mentally disturbed, so many new things having come upon her all at once, and she said to her neighbor, “I do not know where to begin. I wish someone would show me how to do a problem-project.” Now in our day she would not have to be so puz- zled, for demonstrations and discussions wherein someone shows someone else a clever device or two are a matter of course, but in those days it was only beginning to be demanded, and C was not bold enough to demand, And so C was not quite satisfied with the institute. : D was a very practical woman, and able to do two things at once equally well. So D took a handkerchief that she was preparing as a Christmas present for Mr, D and wrought upon the handkerchief while she lis- tened to the lectures. And, indeed, that was a wise arrangement. But D did not wish to attract atten- tion to her singular occupation, and so she seated herself behind a woman with a fur collar. PLENTY OF Fur Coats And here I must stop and tell you that-there were many women with fur collars, and even fur coats, for, although the climate of that place was very sa- lubrious and not at all cold, yet they all had to wear fur collars because Fashion said so. And the mer- a ee —cree chants of that city were all very glad indeed to have all those teachers gathered there from many cities around, and they displayed all their wares, both in the regular market place and in large halls which they hired for that purpose, in order to tempt them to buy. And the teachers were not at all loath to do so, but, truly, it did seem a pity, as many of them said that the sessions were so long they did not have time to see all of the wares that were displayed and ta judge where best to spend their money. And those merchants lost much good profit in that way. But perhaps it was just as well, for many of the teachers did not have much money to spend, It is not so in our day, of course, because now the teachers have much more money and more time in which to spend it. For you must know that they had an organization, called a federation, which put forth great efforts for many years to aid those teachers in getting what they needed to make their lives profit- able, and now all these things for which they labored have come to pass and their federation has become an honorary organization, and many clamor to belong to it or pine with secret envy. But they cannot now get in, unless they can prove that they or ther fathers worked or did give money for the great cause when the labor was difficult. THE AMERICAN TEACHER But now I have led you a long way from Mrs. D, She did finally finish her handiwork, and so she con- sidered the institute a great success. Now E had taught a great many years and was very tired, but still she attended the institute faith. fully and hoped to find some great thought that would lighten her burden for the rest of the year. She heard all of the new words. But they were not so new to her as they were to C, for she had read them in books and had heard those same wise men say them many times in the summer. So she just sat and listened. She was too tired to do handiwork. There were a great many like E, even more than there were like C, only you couldn’t tell them all, because they had very pink cheeks and their hats were pulled down over their eyes. And then one day after a long, lang wait, she heard it—that thought that was go- ing to lighten her burden—and she was glad tho it did seem to E that that was an expensive way to get a thought. So E and all those like her considered the institute a success. And the next day there was proclaimed a great Thanksgiving day, with feasting and rejoicing, and they all went to their homes or the homes of their friends and made merry with one another. MarGaRET Moore, No. 31. Although characterized by the Chairman of the Education Committee of the Oregon State Senate as “An insult to the teachers of Oregon” and pro- tested by Local 111 of the American Federation of Teachers, Senate Bill No. 86, the “Moral Education Bill,” favored by the Oregon Congress of Mothers and the Parent Teacher organizations of the state, passed the senate on February 27 with only sixteen dissenting votes and, with the signature of the gov- ernor, becomes another law to be added to the long list of impractical or unenforceable measures on the statute books, each one a challenge to the respect which the youth of the land ought to have for the government of his state—the respect, by the way, which this law specifies shall be inculcated by pre- cept, having been forfeited by force of example— ofttimes by the example of the parent. The provisions of the bill are as follows: Section 1. It shall be the duty of each and every teacher employed to give instruction in the regular course of the first 12 grades of any public school The Moral Education Bill in the State of Oregon, so to arrange and present his or her instructions as to give special emphusis to honesty, morality, courtesy, obedience to law, respect for the national flag, the constitution of the United States, and the constitution of the State of Oregon; respect for parents and the home, the dignity and necessity of honest labor and other lessons of steady- ing influence, which tend to promote and develop an upright and desirable citizenry. Section 2. For the purpose of this act, the State Superintendent of Public Instruction shall prepare an outline with suggestions such as, in his judgment, will best accomplish the purpose set forth in Section 1, and shall incorporate the same in @ course of study for the first 12 grades of all schools of the State of Oregon. In the press of other, more hotly contested legisla- tion this bill did not receive any great amount of publicity nor arouse much comment. Howevet; George C. Howard, a member of the Portland Teach- ers Union, in a letter to The Oregon Daily Journal, a said in part: “Youth, particularly modern youth, is not incited to performance by periodic presenta- tion of pious platitudes but by actual ethics of the ' daily life. Standards of morality, honesty, courtesy and patriotism, in order to be effective, as every student of psychology knows, must be absorbed from the environment of home and school and not by the recital of codes of conduct. It is essential to a true understanding of the youth of today to realize that they are in wholesome revolt against just this sort of thing. It is not that they have less regard for the conventions than had we of the Victorian era, but that they have become disgusted with large profession and little performance, to a point where they now prefer to witness a period marked by performance without profession.” And in conclusion, Mr. Howard added, “Should not the teachers of the state themselves be the best judge of the merits of this measure? That they are not in favor of it is shown by the fact that the Teachers Union of Portland has passed resolutions against it. There can be no doubt that this would not only be a step backward that would do more harm than good, but that would consume, in the aggregate, a vast amount of time that could be ap- plied to better purpose. If one cared to view the matter wholly from its economic angle of waste it would be easy to translate into dollars the cost to the taxpayer of even I0 minutes per day wasted in the futile effort to persuade the youth of this day to do as we say and not as we do.” ARGUMENTS GoT LaBor PUBLICITY. The Oregon labor press, too, gave the arguments against the bill considerable publicity. The resolution mentioned by Mr. Howard was adopted on February 2 at the regular meeting of Local 111 A. F. of T. and reads as follows: Whereas, Our experience as teachers and our ac- quaintance with the results of research and experi- ment in the formal presentation ef moral codes, con- vince us that children acquire their standards of honesty, morality and courtesy, as well as their love for their parents and their respect for home, from their natural contacts with parents, their teachers and their classmates and from example set by their elders, rather than by set courses of instruction, and, Whereas, We believe that the teachers of Oregon, in their contacts with their pupils, are now doing all that it is possible to accomplish through the schools in the matter of inculcating moral standards THE AMERICAN TEACHER 13 and are, therefore, already accomplishing .the purpose of Senate bill No. 86, and Whereas, We believe that a formal course in moral precepts would defeat its own purpose by tending to antagonize adolescent youth, and Whereas, It would be impractical to require “each and every teacher” in Oregon to give instruction in such a course, and Whereas, The teaching of respect for the flag, for the Constitution of the United States and for the Constitution of Oregon is already a part of the work of teachers of history and civics; therefore, be it RESOLVED, That while adhering to the same fundamental principles of morals and patriotism as the framers of Senate bill No. 86, we oppose the passage on the ground that it is both unnecessary and impractical, and be it further RESOLVED, That we empower the legislative committee of the Teachers Union to take such ac- tion as it deems advisable to secure the defeat of the above mentioned bill. PassED DesPITE OPPOSITION. Copies of this resolution were forwarded to the Multnomah County delegation in House and Senate, but to no avail. In spite of the stand of labor and vigorous opposition by those senators and represen- tatives who were ranged against the bill, the com- bined effects of the influence of the sponsoring groups and the indifference of others who should have been interested, left an overwhelming majority in favor of the bill, Even Dorothy McCullough Lee, who is the only woman member of the House of Representatives and who was supported by many teachers in her campaign, said in her speech made in support of the bill that at least twenty-five percent of the teachers of the state do not stress character education. She did not disclose the source of her information, but undoubtedly this twenty-five percent will be reached, to the last man, when the “Seach and every teacher” named im the statute has taken his prescribed ten, fifteen, or twenty minutes of the recitation period to carry out the provisions of the new hw. DaryL BELAT. A better principle than this, that “the majority shall rule,” is this other, that justice shall rule. “Justice,” says the code of Justinian, “is the con- stant and perpetual desire to render every man his due.” —Bovee. The ruthless methods of the Seattle Board of Edu- cation toward the teachers union last spring bas at- tracted attention far beyond the borders of our own land. In the January 10 issue of The Social In- quirer, a trade union newspaper published in Paris, there appeared an article entitled “Seattle, or an Epi- sode in the Intolerance of Economic Power.” The French trade union point of view on this glaring in- cident in abridgment of American civil liberties is so to the point that the publication of a translation of the article for the benefit of the readers of THE AMERICAN TEACHER will no doubt be welcomed. Details relating to the history of the case are omitted since they would be a mere repetition of what has already been fully reported in these pages. The translation follows: The American trusts, which are monopolies in fact, are not merely seeking to control wealth through the unified aid of capital nor are they merely seeking to direct, in an officious manner, the political life of the country, but they are also trying to crush the trade union development of the salaried classes through their brutal economic power. In- timidation of the workers by this industrial monarchy extends even to the domain of education as is seen in the Seattle incident. Seattle is a flourishing seaport situated on a vast estuary by the Pacific Ocean in the state of Wash- ington. Seattle, it is true, is not all America but the local incident, resulting from economic tyranny, ex- tends beyond this corner of the Pacific coast, beyond the Rocky Mountains and the plains of the West and involves all those who love liberty. To us Europeans it presents an aspect, and a most signi- ficant one, of a plutocratic civilization unabashed by scruples. (At this point a detailed account of the history of the teachers’ union and its struggle with the Seatile board of education is given with a concluding remark that “the Seattle local of the American Federation of Teachers has not been wrecked. It has been reor- ganized and, though very much reduced, it remains a very vital factor with a membership not responsi- ble to the Seattle board of education.” The article then proceeds to an interesting discussion of the Seattle situation in its relation to the broader aspects of the struggle for industrial democracy. The trans- lation continues: This conflict between a trade union of intellec- THE AMERICAN TEACHER Seattle As Viewed Abroad tuals and the economic powers is significant. It demonstrates clearly how political power fails in the face of economic organization. It is no longer the army which yields to the toga, but the toga which yields to the waistcoat of the business man. “The right of association is inalienable; it is a con- stitutional right,” say the jurists. “Perhaps,” says the employer, “but I am master of my own shop,” and he demonstrates it by his actions. The princes of oil, of cotton, and of railroads, or rather their hire- lings who are at heart more administrative and cold, can impose their wishes in spite of the intent of the law which expresses, in principle at least, the wish of the nation. It is enough for them to say, “For such is our pleasure.” But their irony is bitter. Is not the citizen free? Salaried men and capitalists—are they not equal in the eyes of the law? The miners of West Virginia and the teachers of Seattle, are they not free to refuse to sign a contract? They are also free not to work and even to starve. The condition of the salaried class involves servi- tude. The one who asks for work is obliged to ac- cept, under penalty of losing a livelihood, the de- mands of the employer who controls the instruments of production. But a union of the salaried classes, organizing with the workers in opposition to the employers, would permit them to stand as equals in making a contract and this is precisely why the be- ginning of unionism, and, after all, of industrial democracy, is feared among those capitalists who persist in exercising an economic tyranny which they justify on the grounds of “might makes right.” It is ludicrous to see this tyranny going beyond the purely economic limits to exercise itself upon the schools. The Board of Education of Seattle wants its teachers to be submissive, paying them their salaries only after they have abandoned their rights. “He who pays commands,” is the order of the day there also. A stupid tyranny, too, for the union is not destroyed. The group of militants who direct the decimated union, itself a living protest against economic dictatorship, has the secret support of the teachers who have been forced to sign and the open support of all liberals of the United States and of all trade union organizations. Public opinion is aroused and.a conflict, having possibilities of real severity, emerges from the darkness. The victory is not yet- ol THE AMERICAN TEACHER 7 15 It is merely an engagement of the vanguard which gives warning to the main body of ‘troops. It is of value, finally, to observe that the course of the conflict is not primarily American. In our old Europe, as in the United States, the resistance of the proletariat to oppression is organized upon the same basis and according to a similar technique, that is, appeal to a central organization, support of or- ganized labor, appeal to liberals and independent per- sonalities who constitute a sort of national super- conscience, resistance carried to the courts, devotion of a militant personality, persistence of the organiza- tion to the last ditch—all these the invariable proc- esses which show the profound unity of mankind. The working world is little by little becoming con- scious of the universality of its claims, and the time is near when American trade unionism will not hesi- tate longer to grasp the hand extended to it from across the sea by the European trade union move- ment. Should Intellectual Workers Be Unionized There exists a notion among certain groups of people, even among so-called friends of organized labor, socialists and parlor radicals of all shades, that intellectual workers, such as writers, jouraalists, poets, composers, teachers, professional musicians, professors, architects, artists, etc., are beyond the pale of trade union organization. They maintain that such “creators” of human values—for workers is too com- mon a term to be applied to such groups of people— are in a class by themselves, cannot be subjected to rules, programs and regimentation of organization. They and their work are purely individualistic, heavenly inspired and as such require absolute free- dom and independence. Their service is paid and determined by public esteem and judgment and therefore does not fall within the category of ordi- nary crafts. As if organized labor were trying to impose control over one’s thoughts and ideals! As if unionism were an attempt to stifle initiative and cre- ative work! Just the contrary is true. If journal- ists, artists, composers, etc., were creating, and pub- lishing as well, their own works, then probably it would be puerile, because useless, to advocate union- ism to them, but as long as such groups of crafts- men are obliged in modern society to sell their cre- ations to publishers, editors and dealers in order to reach the public, gain recognition and earn an in- come, they are subject to the same mistreatment, ex- ploitation and underpayment as all other groups of workers, and as such are in urgent need of organiza- tion for the protection of their rights and interests. Publishers, like capitalists, financiers and mer- chants of other wares, are human and subject to temptation. Like the others, they are primarily in- terested in getting the most of returns from their investments, and as such they will naturally never overlook an opportunity to make profits, regardless of the fact whether in so doing they will have to un- derpay their employes, in this case in the persons of artists, authors, editors, etc., or by illegitimate sale of their products. Publishers may be dealing in a finer article and may be juggling with a nobler human material, but fundamentally their objective is the same as of all capitalists, as of all business ven- tures, to wit: Keep down expenses at all costs and swell profits in geometric proportions! Atways Room For ABUsE. . Whenever and wherever there is an interchange of capital and labor, regardless of form; whenever services are dependent on wages or royalties, there is invariably room for abuse, friction and exploitation. Consequently, the intellectual workers—artists, ac- tors, authors, etc.—feel and should feel the need of organization, mass action and mass movement as urgently as the other skilled and unskilled proletari- ans of all trades and crafts. A union does not dictate opinions or ideas to its individual members. Unionism does not imply the imposition of specific intellectual standards. A union is fundamentally and primarily an economic weapon: economic in origin, economic in purpose, unless it is organized by a group.of workers who, following a certain political and social philosophy, super-impose it upon the structure of their union. Such are po- litical unions, revolutionary organizations, and we are not speaking of such kind of unions in this connec- tion. Of the union we are speaking, catholics, protes- tants, Jews, orthodox, infidel, radical or conserva- tive—all of them may join hands under its wing and present a common front and pursue a common end. Regardless of their individual eccentricities and phil- osophies, their economic interests are identical. They all labor under the same conditions. If there is any exploitation or abuse, they are all subject to a share of it. Hence, the need for uniform demands for IOI LT are ST shorter hours, higher pay and more dignified rela- tionship. PRIMARILY ECONOMIC. Trade unionism, therefore, is fundamentally an economic movement. The trade union is principally an economic ‘organization of craftsmen or artisans of similar avocations or professions founded for the purpose of introducing in their respective fields of endeavor more agreeable working conditions, a nobler relationship between the human factors concerned, a more equitable remuneration, an extension of hy- giene to greater fields, and correspondingly a higher standard of living for society at large. Granted that artists, writers, musicians, teachers, etc. are compelled in this modern world to sell their creative products or services not directly to the pub- lic but indirectly through private or quasi-public or even public agencies, which are organized either ex- clusively for gain and profit or for the perpetuation of certain interests, it is therefore logical and im- perative that there should exist a sentiment of com- radeship, a solidarity of interest, a need for organiza- tion among all professional groups of workers. Al- though there may be a relative difference between an artisan and an artist, a clerk and a teacher, a writer and a bookkeeper, fundamentally, however, they are all alike in as much as they all render a certain spe- cific service on behalf of society at large. The in- tellectual and creative workers may require longer preparation, more intensive education and as such may be entitled to higher remuneration and public esteem but that does not invalidate the fact that fundamentally their service is Labor, of a nobler quality it is true, but /abor just the same. ALL Have Sacrep RIGHTs. Professors, teachers, artists, etc., and mechanics, hod-carriers, shipping clerks, etc. pursue their in- dustrial functions in different manners but their in- terests converge to the same denominator; they have rights as human beings and rights as dispensers of service, and as such need protection and organization. As such they have 2 solidarity of interests which calls fer a similar organization along trade union lines Certain groups of actors, teachers, musicians, writers, etc. have already seen the light and have founded organizations based on trade union lines and principles. And the day is not distant when the others, who still hold themselves “aloof from com- mon labor”, who still regard organization in unions THE AMERICAN TEACHER as beneath their dignity or calling, will realize their fallacy and modify their tactics, There are unmistakable signs of an awakening among our intellectual workers. Such men as Pro- fessor Dewey have blazoned the trail and their com- rades sooner or later will join the ranks. What unionism has done for the teaching profes- sion and aims to do will be seen from an interesting statement issued by Miss Florence Fish, member of the Minneapolis branch No. 59, the American Fed- eration of Teachers, and affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, and printed in the June issue of THE AMERICAN TEACHER, organ of her union: WHY TEACHERS SHOULD AFFILIATE WITH THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR. “In order to produce a higher type of human kind, greater freedom and greater responsibility for the use of that freedom are necessary in the workers of the world. Such freedom can be increased by greater control, by the workers, of working conditions, With this greater control will come greater co-oper- ation and understanding. “This increase in control of conditions is just as vital in teaching us in any other work. It means greater freedom and greater sense of responsibility in teachers and this will bring about finer schools and thus make a greater people. “We of the American Federation of Teachers believe: 1. That humanity becomes better through greater freedom; 2 That through education to the effect that the freedom of each must be limited by the freedom of all will come responsibility for the use of freedom; 3. That workers can best obtain this freedom by a co-operative and orderly progress to- wards greater control of working conditions; 4. That teachers: should, in common with other workers, work towards this same end; §. That teachers in a,special way need this re- sponsible freedom in order to help make it @ heritage of generations to come; : 6. That teachers should therefore affiliate with the A. F. of L. as the greatest body of work- ers striving towards this goal in order to help and be helped by them.” * + % And does not the same reasoning apply to every other profession? Micnaer B. ScHELER. Seis >eae me SiVi eXxi: for spec tratio the ci unusu Probat certair ith TEN YEARS IN SACRAMENTO The group of high school teachers who gathered one morning during the flu epidemic of 1918, met with the serious purpose of attempting to improve the working conditions of all Sacramento teachers. A small volunteer committee, called together by a special need had been working for some time and were ready to recommend immediate affiliation with the American Federation of Teachers. Their argu- ments were so strong that the larger group voted unanimously to join this national body of progres- sive classroom teachers, and Local 31 came into existence that day. Since one reason for the organization was a need for better salaries, a salary committee was the first special committee to be appointed by the new local. Its members went at the task with enthusiasm. They did not believe in half-way measures and from the beginning resolved to secure an increase that would be worth all the effort necessary to secure it. It meant hard work, continuous work, even the sacri- fice of vacation time for some of its members. But by 1920, through their initiative a salary schedule had been made, the maximum of which was better than that of even the largest cities in the state at that time. The independence and fearlessness which carried through to success these salary campaigns, has been a marked characteristic of the organization ever since. Probably only the workers themselves realize just how wide has been the influence of this inde- pendent thinking. It is not exaggeration to say that all movements for the betterment of the profession in Sacramento have originated in formal or informal gatherings of the membership of No. 31. Our leaders have been courageous and also wise. They have believed in co-operation with the adminis- tration of the schools and with the organizations of the city. This co-operation has been possible to an unusual extent. Of course the local went through a probationary period when the authorities were un- certain what the policy of the organization was to be. They have come to see, however, that Sacramento Chapter 31 has on its rolls some of the most pro- gressive thinkers in California. These thinkers have not been afraid to criticize, but with criticism they have presented constructive programs. Situated at the state capital, the chapter has had a unique opportunity to watch educational legistation. Under the guidance of the Legislative Committee— chairmaned in the last few years by Mr. Everett—it THE AMERICAN TEACHER 17 has made its influence felt in the educational com- mittees at the state house. The constant work of No. 31 has not been unwelcome to the other teachers of the state. This past year a committee has been working with members of the Sacramento Board of Education on a possible scheme for a local pension system. This has meant also the sponsoring of a state law by which the legislature shall make it legal for any city to establish such a pension plan for its teaching staff. Local No. 31 has always taken the stand that the wider its influence the stronger it will be. So from the first years of our existence, we have worked to- ward putting classroom teachers on the official bodies of the California State Teachers’ Association. Today one of our own members is president of the northern section, and we have been instrumental in putting classroom teachers into the p--sidency on two pre- vious occasions. As the executive body of the Cali- fornia State Teachers’ Association was practically made up of administrators, the chapter started a movement to put more classroom teachers on the State Council of Education, and one of our members has been on the Board of Directors for the past four years. Looking back over the ten years, there is evidence of a steady growth in influence and increased confi- dence in the sincerity of the efforts of the chapter. Those who have been in the organization from the start have never regretted founding the chapter and they can see a still larger sphere of influence ahead. Assy Rutu Tracy, Local 31. CAN ETHICS BE PROFESSIONAL? (Resume of an address delivered by Dr. Stanley Rypins of the San Francisco Teachers College, at the Tenth Anniversary Banquet of Local 31, Sacramento, February 1, 1929.) .Trust Dr. Rypins to give an unusual twist to a title and to follow it up in an unusual fashion. Dr. Rypins prefaced his address by announcing that, al- though he refused to punch a clock in his college, he would keep his watch before him on this occasion, and—(nmiuch to the disappointment of the audience) —that he would curtail his address somewhat. Ethics coricerns the relation of man to God and the relation of man to his fellow men. The-speaker dealt with the second half of the topic and that only in the sense in which it applies to the group. Social in- stitutions are always changing and therefore ethical ideals are im a state of flux. Through the centuries 18 they have passed from the ideals of a hunting society, through the agrarian, to the industrial. Today’s ideals are those of trade unionism. “What is a trade union?” asked the speaker, and then made his own definition: “A union is an association, entered into voluntarily, of the members of a given trade, craft, or profession for the purpose of mutual assistance in maintaining and improving the conditions of work and of life by use of such weapons as strikes, boycotts, sabotage, propaganda, parliamentary procedure, and control of capital.” He then developed the thesis that all people con- cerned with the earning of a livelihood form unions, though under different names, and use the same weap- ons, though under different names. Whether the union is called a chamber of commerce, American Medical Association, or what not, the purpose is the same. When refusing to “purchase” labor, business is practicing the boycott, only it is called using “the American Plan;” dumping a ship-load of bananas into the Atlantic in order to keep up the price in New York City answers exactly to the definition of sabotage; many corporations publi. bulletins—that is propaganda; also what about lobbying? All big business gains control of capital—the most recent weapon to be used by labor. “How,” asked the speaker, “does this kind of ethics apply to teachers? Teachers cannot be professional until they learn to use these weapons. Teaching as a profession is in its infancy through cowardice, ignor- ance, lack of contact with industrialism. Get away from the old interpretation of ethics as merely being good. Do something good—good for yourself—and you will be a member of a profession.” A NEW CURRICULUM FOR SACRAMENTO Significant of a forward-looking community and a progressive board of education is the recent school survey made in the City of Sacramento by Dr. J. B. Sears of Stanford University, and the subsequent cur- riculum revision now under way. “The object of the survey was to present the re- sults of a thorough study of the three school sys- tems, elementary, high school, and junior college, to the end that plant development might be entered upon in terms of a well-thought out plan, that the strong and weak points in the system might be clearly understood, and that needed extensions or revisions in policies might be determined.” The survey showed that the instruction in Sacra- THE AMERICAN TEACHER * librarian is being organized for the guidance of mento is in line with the best practice elsewhere but that it is in need of more definite formulation. Simi- ‘ larly the type of organization following the . K-6-3-3-2 plan was commended but found to be in ‘ need of greater co-ordination between the units, with tt more definitely fixed responsibility, and a greater de- P gree of supervision. th Some of these weaknesses in the system had already xg been fully recognized by the city school administra- sf tion and steps had been taken to remedy them. This e is particularly true of the lack of co-ordination be- ” tween the units composing the city school system, > and last year (1927-1928) co-ordinating committees : were set up to bring some of these units, namely, the = junior high schools, senior high school, and junior “i college, into closer relationship with each other. The - committees were organized by subjects (social science, English, foreign languages, mathematics, science, et cetera) and one representative from each school sat on each committee, with the head of the department in the senior high school acting as chairman and a member of the conference bureau (the supreme ad- O ministrative body) acting as adviser. = It became apparent, in the deliberations of these @ high committees, that some such permanent clearing house @ Were was necessary for the continued co-ordination of the 1918 groups and that some machinery should be set up by Chri which the course of study might undergo continu- Na ous revision as the need arose. gram, Following the survey of last year and the findings memt of the committee, the first step in the reorganization om of the city system seemed to be a thorough-going re- dice vision of the course of study. Accordingly a “set-up” J ginnin has been made of curriculum plans for 1929-1930, ™énts which involves the apnointment of many small com- and D mittees, each to work in a definite field of curricu Bp y 7 lum-making, with the chairman, at least, to be te brough lieved in great part of teaching duties. While the 9 body. | plan includes the actual publishing of this new cours the hig ; tainme of study at the end of next year, it contemplates respect: using the “loose leaf” system so that curriculum ft Out. ics) te] vision may be continuous and the form flexible enough to admit revision in any part. A professional library in the hands of a rained “J EFEy® curriculum groups. It will include not only the mo® progressive books and articles on scientific curriet lum making but also copies of courses of study have recently been made under expert guidance | Fe te by 5 plates im fe- such cities as St. Louis, Denver, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. The curriculum committees, with the exception of "the English committee, are to be appointed this spring so that work may go forward rapidly when the fall term opens. Owing to the complexity and size of the English problem, work has already begun in that field, and a permanent English Council (out- growth of the co-ordinating committees of last year) has been working throughout the year on both prob- lems of co-ordination and curriculum revision. The administration and teaching force of Sacra- mento hope that by June, 1930, Sacramento will have made a distinctive contribution to scientific curricu- lum-building. Sara CANTERBURY AsHBY, No. 31, Head of the English Department Sacramento High School. LOCAL 31 On February 1, the Sacramento Federation cele- brated the tenth anniversary of its organizaiton with a banquet, at which teachers from the junior college, high school, and elementary schools, with their guests, were assembled. Local 31 was founded in October, 1918, but the pressure of events in the fall made it necessary to postpone the celebration until after the Christmas holidays. Naturally the occasion gave the keynote to the pro- gram, which began with a roll call of the charter members present. J. N. Gardner, president, intro- duced S. J. McLean, first president of the Federation and guest of honor at the banquet, who told of the stormy scenes amid which the Federation had its be- ginning; Miss Mary Cravens traced the accomplish- ments of the Federation in its ten years of activity, and Dr. Stanley Rypins gave the main address of the evening which appears on another page of this issue. E. L. Dupuy, representing the San Francisco chapter, ght greetings and congratulations from that body. Mrs. Madge Roach and E. L. Plaskett, both of the high school faculty, furnished the musical enter- tainment of the evening, with vocal and cornet solos tespectively. Out-of-town guests were Dr. Stanley Rypins of San Francisco, $. G. McLean of Oakland,-and E. J. Dupuy of San Francisco. Other invited guests in- President R. L, Ennis and Secretary L. R. Marsh of the Federated Trades Council of Sacramento, and J. F. Dale, former principal of the Sacramento High School. Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. _ ing can bring you peace but the triumph of Painciples.— Emerson. THE AMERICAN TEACHER A SCIENTIFIC SALARY SURVEY San Francisco has just completed a wonderful bit of work, a scientific salary survey. It is a splendid contribution of school salaries and will soon appear in book form. Dr. Hart and Dr. Peterson of the Uni- versity of California were the surveyors, and 1,800 teachers of San Francisco footed the bill of $7,500. Local No. 61 was strongly represented on the con- solidated salary study committee of 33 members. ——_o—_—_ Mr. J. M. Graybeil of Local 61, has just written a thesis for an M. A. degree from the University of California on the American Federation of Teachers. This thesis, which Local 61 will soon print, is a re- markable study. —_o———. A new school journal has appeared in California— The Public School Journal of California—under the circulation managership of E. J. Dupuy. This journal is an-open forum and will fill a long-felt need which The Sierra News, the official organ of the California State Teachers Association, has not met. HIGH SCHOOL CONTESTS FIXED BY UTILITIES Mrs. Josephine Corliss Preston, former superin- tendent of Public Instruction for the State of Wash- ington, explained to the Federal Trade Commission how private public utilities induced her to arrange a state-wide essay on “State Regulation of Public Utilities” among high school students. The witness is a former president of the National Education Association. She told the commission that the contest was arranged by her while superintendent. The Puget Sound Power and Light Company of Seat- tle made the suggestion. The material was furnished by the Northwest Power and Light Association. Mrs. Preston said that when she agreed to co- operate she was not aware that the question of pri- vate as against public ownership and operation had any political significance, but realized the political aspect of the question when the contest had been subjected to criticism during the 1924 campaign. WORLD GOODWILL DAY On Saturday, May 18, there will again be cele- brated World Goodwill Day. Last year a large num- ber of schools in many countries joined in the cele- bration of this day. It now seems certain that its observance will be even more widespread in 1929. Schools everywhere should be encouraged to prepare programs symbolic of the day. Teacher rating means the measure of an in- structor’s teaching power. It is the~administrator’s device to determine a teacher’s status, the basis for promotion, salary increase, or dismissal. Accompanied by religious, political, friendly influence, it serves as a lever to boost the individual to a higher level. It fails to account for the most desirable qualities, voluntary and progressive growth in service. Rating is done by the supervisory officers or the school principal. In the city school systems the teacher finds her principal the one most to have re- gard to, please, fear for position, rank, promotion, rating. She, however, is thankful that her own school is far better in procedure than the old rural school still far behind. There, the faithful peda- gogue pleased all, the children most; the retarded, disinterested lad with his puzzle tripped the school- master, reduced the public opinion of him, misbe- haved, resisted punishment and created such a dis- satisfaction that the School Board appointed his suc- cessor. Nevertheless our present day tendency seeks the child’s viewpoint, aims at home rating. The dis- gruntled pupil depicts the instructor as autocratic in a school renowned for its democracy, respect for teacher and principal, and high teaching efficiency. He decries such hardships as: The teacher has talkers stand on the floor or write the virtues, requires a quiet room, or keeps in school the big boy who does not say ‘nice things. Home-rating influences public opinion, creates a criticism of a teacher for “lack cf tact” in dealing with the misconduct of an incorri- gible pupil. Public opinion, led by that of the school child, censures the instructor for engendering race prejudice, hate, defiance of law, rudeness, depend- ence rather than regard for authority, easiness, courtesy, democracy, initiative. In the public eye, and in the mind of a fearing principal, this pupil opinion receives as much consideration as that of a rating officer in the school room. Don’t WANT STANDARDS. Our instructors are further rated by the general impressions of their supervisory officers. From re- plies, sent out by Boyce, to a hundred city school superintendents, it appears that most rating officials do not use or care to use, for their judgments, a standardized measuring instrument. Should they be asked to cite and rank the most desirable qualities that constitute merit in a teacher, their ideals would THE AMERICAN TEACHER Teacher Rating vary with the number of cities they represent. Some put a premium upon the undefined qualities of the - teacher such as personality, resourcefulness; others emphasize the amount of preparation, work covered by pupils, number of pupils promoted. Supervisory officers have had the sole power of teacher rating, which, once done, was final, incontestable, circula- tory. General impressions can not be the final criteria for an official’s just rating, the improvement of a teaching force or of a school system. While ratings of an instructor by officials with varying ideas range from the undesirable low to the desirable high grades, these officers are so self-confident of having done a good work that they have criticized those who gave a dismissed teacher another trial and found her excellent. The instructor with the inefficient mark, who secured a new ‘assignment and made a success elsewhere, established a worthwhile precedent for the future unfortunates of the profession. The general impressions method of grading pro- vides little constructive work for the improvement of the teacher in service. By it the instructor at- tempts to satisfy the whims of the official rather than attain worthy aims or labor according to sound educational principles. If all teachers so rated are satisfactory so that the method of judging is not called in question, the rating official is safe. SHOULD RaTE From First. In these times when good teachers are in demand, justice to the welfare of the school and to the in- structor necessitates, in order that she may be helped where needed, that her possibilities and deficiencies be discovered. The right time to launch the rating of a prospective candidate is at the beginning of a career. If teaching is to rank as a profession, the rating system should be such at the beginning of the course as will warrant an assurance of the individ- ual’s being able to make it his life work. With 20 such security, few would undertake a business ft quiring the long preparation of an instructor. To meet the new demands caused by changes in educt- tion due to new ways of living, the teacher is always in the making. The laws of some states require thit she get 2 new major in some institution of advaneed learning once in three or fewer years. To ascertain the dependence placed upon the rating of an individual in preparation for the profession for the purpose of predicting success, compare the rating given to the graduates of a good teachers’ training school with those of the superintendent where the youths, a year later, are employed as teachers. For the purpose of grading these two hundred young folk, the term personality was broken up into six- teen component parts, each receiving an_ especial mark. Scholarship ranked first at the training school and second in the public school, while the pupil’s in- terest in both places took the sixth place. The cor- relation between the ratings of the superintendent and those of the teachers was .23. There was a chance of one in five that the ratings given in the training school would agree with those given by the superin- tendent. The fact that more than twice the number of A’s were in the superintendent’s report than are usually present in the probability curve shows that there was a possible question as to his marks. The greatest disagreements were on the elements of con- trol, pupil interest, pupil co-operation, initiative, de- sire for professional growth and loyalty. The cause for such differences was that the traits are not seen the same in both teacher and student. Nort FrnisHep Propucts. From the foregoing, we find that our normal school graduates, because of the lack of varied situa- tions in which to practice, are not a finished product. Since educators in city school systems have agreed in regard to these new found facts, they have led to a movement in our city schools to provide for a | teacher secure in service. In some cities the normal graduate is placed on probation for a term of three years, during which time, the accumulation of rat- ings serve as a basis upon which to grant that the individual is a finished product. In one city there is established a system by which a college graduate with the required normal preparation, enters the teaching force, receives a salary for the first year of about six hundred dollars, observes the work in dif- ferent departments, teaches part time under guid- ance, takes a study in college,then, if successful, emerges as a member of the teaching profession in any of the three schools. From the foregoing, it would seem that the train- ing schools should provide the varied situations to give the desired and adequate practice for her stu- dents. Because situations in varied localities through- ut the country are different, such a provision Would be impossible. Besides, from the very nature of the case, a student teacher could not take a re- ponsibility like that of an assigned instructor. She THE AMERICAN TEACHER 21 has not, as yet, completed her preparation and cannot be rated as an instructor. When the individual, with a high school, college, and often a normal school course, has, during a pro- bation period as teacher covering a term of three years, been many times rated and, as a result, given a teacher’s certificate, there is no just cause for a re- gression. States have long since granted life licenses to teach. From this time on, if rated at all, the in- dividual should be graded for growth, due to years of service, number of new university credits obtained or other things of equal worth done for self-improve- ment. If, as is claimed, a teacher’s growth is con- tinual and gradual for fifteen years of the teaching period, after which time it is a complete product, it might be well to stimulate that growth by a pro- gressive placement. There might be a sort of pro- gressive movement in a school system not unlike that of the salary schedule so that the teacher would re- ceive an automatic advancement in rank with her salary increase, such to serve as a reward of merit, A device of this kind might result in a more vital interested teaching force than is now had by the old- fashioned examination for which the individual pre- pares by means of the “Cram School.” The regular work of an advanced school of learning is far better than a “hurry up” preparation in a review school. A definite number of major credits at such a place is of equal or better worth than the examination and the teacher, it would seem, should be at liberty to offer for her promotion to or in any position, the credits from such a place, in lieu; of the examination, as a record of growth. No System IMPARTIAL. It appears that no rating system could be devised that would, at all times,,be impartially applied to all teachers of a system. The newer ones, having the different elements of personality expressed with relative values, are more acceptable than are those that have made the teachers victims of a defect which could have been easily remedied. “A rating which acts as a disintegrating force among teachers, emphasizes a fault rather than gives a constructive criticism, stresses the extra-curricular rather than the regular school activities, has little or no value in the improvement of teaching, weakens the teacher’s power of initiative, engenders discontent, worry and ill-health, should not dominate the instructor. These ratings are not professional, since, in many cases, the supervisor and the teacher are far from honest in their application. The children, as well as the teacher, YR ere eo om + 7 . arian < ~ 7 ween - a 2 ———= Se 22 may receive a greater or less than the earned grade, determined by the expected returns for good work in the teaching force.” “A rating record, coming months after the efforts have been made, is not so ef- fective in making for efficiency as are words of com- mendation or constructive criticism given when the teaching lessons are in the mind of the instructor.” Rating is used more as a spur than an aid. The New York City Board of Education did not favor the two point—satisfactory or unsatisfactory— mark. The type of rating with the “yes” or “no” answers to printed questions, having the advantage of being quickly prepared, easily and quickly read, meets with favor, at present, with those acting on the results of ratings. The type in which the numerical values for different characteristics with the number of points to be deducted for a part or a complete failure in any element is given, it is thought, may be reduced to a success grade and prove of greatest use. The Federation of Women High School Teachers of Chicago feels that “the purpose of all markings should be to improve the ability to teach and the power to inspire pupils to lead a higher life.” Etta C, DEFFLER. EDUCATION MEETINGS The Annual Convention of the Manitoba Teachers Federation will be held on Thursday and Friday of Easter Week at the Royal Alexander Hotel, Win- nipeg. The Conference of the World Federation of Edu- cation Associations will meet in Geneva, Switzer- land, July 25-August 4. Several thousand Ameri- can teachers will be in attendance. ‘The Fifth International Conference of the New Education Fellowship, a World Conference on New Education, will be held at Elsinore, Denmark, Au- gust 8-August 21. The general theme will be The New Psychology and the Curriculum. The first world meeting of adult educationists will be held August 22-29, 1929, in Cambridge. Pro- grams and particulars may be secured from Dorothy Jones, secretary of the World Association for Adult Education, 16 Russell Square, London, W. C. 1. The twenty-first universal Esperanto Congress will be held August 2-9 at Budapest. At the same THE AMERICAN TEACHER time University courses in Esperanto will be organ- ized for the fifth year in succession. The Easter Conference of the British National Union of Teachers will be held at Llandudno, Wales, March 30. Mr. Lloyd George has accepted an invi- tation of the Conference Conimittee to welcome the delegates. The National Education Association of America will convene in Atlanta, Georgia, June 27. The sea coast University of Aberystwyth, Wales, has been chosen by the National Union of Students of Great Britain as the place of its fifth annual Con- gress, April 9-15, which 400 delegates are expected to attend. : The Institute of Progressive Education will meet at the Pennsylvania State College, State College, Pennsylvania, July 1-July 19. A constructive group of courses in the principles and practices of Progres- sive Education, taught by experts, with college credits granted. The Ninth Annual Ohio State Educational Con- ference will be held at Ohio State University, Co- lumbus, Ohio, April 4, 5, and 6. The Sixty-first Annual Congress of the Irish Na- tional Teachers’ Organization is being held in Water- ford, Ireland. the coming Easter week. ; NEW EDUCATION HEAD Dr. William John Cooper, of California, was sworn in as commissioner of the United States Bureau of Education on February 11. He was appointed to that post by President Coolidge on January 12, and con- firmed by the Senate on the 18th. Dr. Cooper is a graduate of the University of California and a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Delta Kappa fraternities. He has been active in the teaching profession since 1907, and when he received the nomination as Commissioner of Edv- cation was serving as Superintendent of Public Io- struction for the State of California. - We can never be sure that the opinion we are ¢ deavoring to stifle is a false opinion; and even if we were sure, stifling it would be an evil still. —Jobn Stuart Mill. Fash wag Ame ally of th a sig ing ¢ possil tract the s paper and bustir Th opinic this c never ing s| such | ganize Ameri have | one of associa Wh: really } ing us Federat seCtion: where | The ho of the ticular contrac \- THE AMERICAN TEACHER 23 True Meaning of “Yellow Dog” Contract American Federation of Full = American contract. The man or woman who signs a “yel- low dog” or “individual” contract usu- ally has no realization of the significance of the document to which he or she places a signature. By reading the legal look- ing document printed herewith, it will be possible to determine what such a con- tract MEANS, even if the words are not the same as those usually used on the papers drawn up by A. R. MacDonald and other such specialists in “union- => busting” devices. The “yellow dog” contract, in the opinion of some of the best lawyers in this country, is clearly unconstitutional; nevertheless, the courts, to their everlast- ing shame, have upheld, in some cases, such documents as valid contracts. Or- ganized labor, and all liberty - loving Americans, should work untiringly to et Be, up age association. What the “yellow dog” or “individual” contract really means is shown by this cartoon, which is be- ing used in handbills circulated by the American Federation of Full Fashioned Hosiery Workers in sections of Pennsylvania, Indiana and the South where anti-union employers have used the contract. The hosiery workers point out that the exact form of the “individual” contract depends on what par- ticular detective agency drafts it but that all such contracts mean the same thing and are designed to _ have legislation passed that will make it impossible for judges to pervert or ignore one of the most fundamental tenets of our Constitution — the absolute freedom of Oe a as te an Individual Contract i ‘ shereby set the wishes i=} and prejudices of my employer above ~== the Constitution of these United States and do hereby sign away a right hitherto regarded as the most precious privilege of citizenship ___the right to associate freely with my fellows for trade betterment and mutual protection. | hereby write myself down a virtual Slave to the rulers of industry and permit my- self to be labelled not worthy of the rights of _. ge a free-born American. a prevent wage earners from organizing bona fide trade unions. Pennsylvania labor is preparing to use the car- toon in a campaign for slegislation outlawing the “yellow dog” contract. Labor contends that the “yellow dog” contract is clearly illegal but that its big danger lies in the face that the courts, by misuse of their power, have entertained suits brought by em- ployers to uphold the validity of the contract, thereby forcing unions into expensive litigation, which often hampers or cripples organization work. Ihave a terrible conviction that if the human race in peace had ever been willing to undergo half the sacrifices—even the money sacrifices—which it was Willing to undergo in time of war, we should have had Utopia painted on the map of the world long 4g0.— Robert Lynd. JUST OBSERVATIONS (Continuéd from Page 10) It’s up to teachers to make teaching a profession, and in keeping with true professional standards our salaries ought to be determined by us, not for us, in relation to the social whole. Secma M. BorcHarpT. i a te PR cea at oe aed ole eee de * omen | i. ets ee ee Pye 2 BOOKS “There is no frigate like a book To bear us lands away.” —Emily Dickinson. i ol MIDDLETOWN, by Robert S. Lynd and Helen Merrill Lynd. Harcourt Brace. Without the slightest hesitation, it may be said that this book 1s indispensable for teachers and for all who have more than a superficial interest in the de- velopment of American society. There have been a number of excellent studies of various phases of Amefican life in recent years, both in fictional and non-fictional form, but none of them surpasses this one, I think, for thoroughness and insight. ‘Here are facts and figures about a lot of things about which you have had notions but no definite data, and there are perictfating interpretations of things with regard to which you have had facts but no insight. The authors have taken a middle western town of about 40,000 inhabitants and have made a detailed study of how the inhabitants of this city get a liv- img, make a home, train the young, use their leisure time, engage in religious practices and in community activities. In order to make the significance of present conditions clearer, they have contrasted them n each point with the situation in Middletown in 1890 when it was still the center of a farming com- munity and less than one-third its present size. To students of labor conditions and all others in- terested in the problem of organizing American workers into an effective labor movement, there is a mass of valuable information in the chapters on Making a Living. For teachers, and especially for those interested in the unionization of teachers, the four chapters under the heading, Training the Young, are a gold mine of information and tremendously suggestive. Education is a religion to Middletown. Not less than 45 per cent of all the money expended by the «ity in 1925 was devoted to schools. The fourteen school plants are-valued at more than one and a half million dollars, nearly nine times the value of the school equipment of the 1890’s. Seven out of ten of all those in the city between the ages of six and twenty-one are in school. In 1890 there was one graduate from the high school for every 810 persons in the city, in 1920 one im 320, in 1924, one in 161. THE AMERICAN TEACHER There have been some additions to the curriculum, particularly in the field of manual training, “busi- ness subjects,” history and civics. But the authors point out: “The school like the factory is a thoroughly regimented world.” In the history and civies course children are taught that “we had a revolution 140 years ago which made it unnecessary to have any other revolution in this countty. . . One of the many mieanings of democ- racy is that it is a form of government under which the right of revolution has been lost.” For all the multitude of Middletown young people who go to high school and beyond, only an insignificant hand- ful goes to any of the leading nationally known col- leges and universities and those few almost invariably make poor records in these institutions. ‘One sees in the high schools young people caught in the cross- currents of rapid change in many deep-lying institu- tional habits being trained by teachers many of whom are only slightly older and less bewildered than their pupils.” The entire community treats its teachers casually. They are paid about what a retail clerk is paid, and the whole business of running the schools is in the hands of a school board of three business men appointed by the political machine. “As in many other aspects of Middletown life, criticisms of individuals or creakings in the system are met primarily, not by changes in its foundations, but by adding fresh stoties to its superstructure. If teaching is poor, supervisors are employed and critic teachers are added. . . Thus in personnel.as well as in text books and coutse of study, strains or malad- justment in education are being met by further elab- oration and standardization.” Are the Middletown teachers ready for organiza- tion? A reading of the book does not make one too hopeful, yet the authors speak of “the often bitter comments of the teachers themselves upon their lack of status and recognition in the ordinary give and take of local life.” A. J. Must. THE PHILOSOPHY OF JOHN DEWEY A man who has written as long, as diversely, and as fruitfully as has Mr. John Dewey deserves to be made available in a single volume. *Mr. Ratner has not only culled from Dewey’s various books enough good material to make another large book, but he has s ordered his material under Dewey’s own guidance @& to make a book that comes more nearly presenting Mr. Dewey whole than does any one of the books lic an and e itself Thi: of De invites throus of the Startin human politic: in org the inc evoluti adequa and a Zation. Dewey. of voly Ther Meetin; to triu Loaded ase lUcelUMWDOll Oe hlUlUlC DOC that have come fresh from his own hand. There is method in the presentation. Starting with a conception of thought or phil- osophy as method of adjustment to our world, the book presents this twentieth century thinker as he moves up in his interpretive function from nature to man, from man to mind, from mind back to the world of social and individual forces. Education stands central in the human enterprise as the device by which society molds the individual in such a way, if it be wisely done, as to enable the same individual to transform society. The book makes it easy to see how and why Dewey has, in putting education in its philosophic setting, sought to make it appear the all-important matter that it actually is. Mr. Dewey once remarked that his book Democ- racy and Education, had not taken the proper rank in general favor that it deserved among his books. He said that political scientists saw the term “educa- tion” and thought it was meant for others than themselves, whereas educators were led by the term “democracy” into thinking that it was meant for others than them. Democracy, with which Dewey has concerned himself from his earliest book on The Ethics of Democracy to his latest book on The Pub- lic and Its Problems, has its fulfilment in education, and education is the only tool whereby democracy itself may come to be. This is not the place to undertake an evaluation of Dewey’s philosophy as a whole, though the book invites such. It is enough to say that it is easy through such a volume as this to detect the unity of the various contributions that Dewey has made. Starting with his theory of ideas as instruments for human enrichment, ethics, metaphysics, psychology, Politics, art, religion and education all stand related in organic fashion to the reconstructive role that the individual plays in both civilization and natural evolution. Nothing is lacking to make the volume an adequate introduction to the Deweyan philosophy and a brilliant commentary on contemporary civili- tation. If one can .afford only one volume of Dewey, he would be wise in investing in this volume of volumes. There is perhaps no living man from an intimate Meeting with whose mind a teacher has more to gain. Modestly this man has marched from triumph to triumph as a leader in educational engineering. Loaded with honors in his own country, he went some years ago to China to leave a definite impress Upon Oriental ideas and institutions. Later he sur- THE AMERICAN TEACHER 25 veyed the Mexican scene and left the leaven of pragmatism there. Later still he went officially to Turkey to advise regarding the reconstruction of educational machinery so as to fit it into the new nation. He has only now returned from Russia, where his advice and influence is sure to count in the years ahead. Certainly few human beings, and per- haps no philosophers before him, have ever lived ef- fectively in so large a scene. Few human beings have ever so effectively out-written themselves. This book is the record of this large and generous mind, and it reflects as in a mirror the arduousness and promise of modern life. T. V. Smirn, University of Chicago. Reprinted from Chicago Schools Journal. 1The Philosophy of John Dewey. Selected and Edited by Joseph Ratner. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1928. Pp. xii-560. SCHOOL FOR “OLDER BABIES”—A “REAL” COLLEGE COLLEGE OR KINDERGARTEN, by Max Mc- Conn. New York, the New Republic. 275 pages, $1.00. “Older babies who have progressed in their amuse- ments from rattles to rah-rah.” Thus does Max McConn, dean of Lehigh University, describe the average American college group of today. And most colleges are designed to fit these “superkindergart- ners,” though few or none of them will admit it. As such they serve a very useful purpose. For where else shall “Dad and Mother” send the boy “who is too young to be of any real use in business, and the girl too young to marry—or at least mother thinks so. What to do with the next lap of their young lives? Why, obviously—send them to college.” College is “such a safe and reputable place to take care of them for the next four years.” Thus this dean courage- ously confesses for himself and the professors, peda- gogues who are perennially and unescapably “timid,” except when they “cautiously unmask” at the Uni- versity Club, their “pipes and cigarets” going. Yes, says this dean, “the college has become for the most part a country club, or, as many professors prefer to say, a kindergarten—a place for play, mostly innocent and healthful, but very slightly affected by those intellectual values professors like to suppose the word college should connote.” Dean McConn tells us that he is not a “radical” after the manner of Upton Sinclair, Thorstein Ve- SE ee eer valdiionenmaiiian Ait a - eae Serene aoa 26 blen, and other writers who of late have attacked the colleges. The “thinkers” inside the colleges, “‘pro- fessors, deans and presidents,” “know, much better than the most rabid outsider, the multitude and pathos of academic tragedies, the mediocrity of the best results, the almost laughable absurdity of many established practices.” But being “thinkers” they will be careful about when and where they almost laugh. Being courageous, and having made confes- sions, the dean proposes a cure for our childish col- leges. Some might call his cure radical, but the dean has confidence in it. This authority proposes that all or at least most existing colleges be labeled “Gentlemen’s Colleges” and that the “thinkers” then proceed to organize “Real” colleges. These will not need elaborate plants, great stadiums and athletic staffs. They will have as students only that small minority who have “superior intellectual ability” and a “‘self-felt” inter- est in the cultural purpose. This mild reformer is not interested, apparently, to inquire why the great mass of young adults in our colleges remain merely “older babies” who have passed from “rattles to rah- rahs.” Certainly the dean is not applying the prin- ciples of the “New Education” in his “Real” col- lege curriculum or in its technique. He would pre- serve the traditional scholastic programme and would still make the intellectualist approach. The sacred ~ number “four” is required to measure the time it takes to inculcate the “higher learning.” He still will teach subjects rather than people. If he remains a classical traditionalist in the mat- ter of programme, the dean becomes a radical again when he plans the constitution of his “Real” college. He would abandon the almost unquestioned American notion that a college governing board should consist of laymen. He will cure the “pettiness” of facylties where the “sillier members” have their fling while the abler ones sit through in a “cynical silence,” by abolishing the lay boards. Instead he would have a board of twelve, six faculty representatives, three students and three alumni, the- three “well informed and powerfully motivated” groups, to which should be committed all the functions of the present board of trustees. Thus, the dean thinks, the trustees would no longer need to serve as “‘a rubber-stamping bureau for the policies and decisions of the president,” the president would no longer be “constantly cruci- fied by an impossible task,” and a “Real” college would come into- being. Perhaps too, when these well informed and powerfully motivated groups are THE AMERICAN TEACHER thus fully charged with responsibility for their own work, they will discover much in the matter and method of even the few “real” colleges ef today which can well go to the museum along with the lay boards of control. J; E. Kirkpatrick, in “Books.” HAVE YOU READ? Robert S. Ellis, Psychology of Individual Differ- ences, D. Appleton and Co.—a scientific explana- tion of the fact that no two persons are alike men- tally; a study of nervous, glandular, sexual, racial, hereditary, environmental and other factors which cause deviations in individuals; written for persons with little previous knowledge of psychology. $3.50. Sidoine Matsner Gruenberg, Your Child Today and Tomorrow, Child Study Association of America—an interesting and stimulating volume. Among the in- teresting chapters upon a wide range of topics are those upon Punishment and Rewards, Truth, and Falsehood; Being Afraid; Learning the Use of Money; Gangs, Clubs, Friendships; and Sex Education. $2.50. David Snedden, Educational Sociology for Begin- ners, The Macmillan Co.—a text for a new subject in the teacher-training curriculum; clarifies the pur- poses and aims, present and future, of the teaching profession and the schools through an understand- ing of general sociology and the conditions of Ameri- can life. These subjects are logically related to the problems of the young teacher and of current edu- cation. Written with insight and vision and is worth while in every sense. , Jacob S. Orleans and G. A. Sealy, Objective Tests, World Book Co.—gives the basic theory and prin- ciples of objective testing; includes in clear detail the methods of treating and interpreting test scores and how to use the results. NEW PUBLICATIONS Child Labor Facts, 1928. A revision of the 1927 edition containing new sections dealing with Child Labor and Health, and Child Labor and Education. Price 15 cents, Child Labor Laws and Child Labor Facts. An analysis of the child labor law and summary of child labor facts for every state including the District of Columbia. Bound volumes containing the analysis for each state with a looseleaf arrangement which will permit the substitution of a new sheet for any state whose law is changed, can now be secured. Price 25 cents. The tors, f about. freedot ' what ¢ lizatior In The C the mo of To } Throu; of you! world. The under ‘ Subseq ings: Youth cation, The public. lantic, affiliati eral Ce the U Work; and ot sided o ferent and lec youth. The articles 75 cen Society The pean re ful to all spo: Men ai World | "Ree social . simulta Now o1 An have c ternati "Rec oe = = The youth of today is giving parents and educa- wrs, religious and welfare workers much to think about. In this very progressive age youth has more freedom than it ever had before and many are asking what effect this is to have on the future of our civi- lization. In view of the widespread interest in this subject The Christian Science Monitor is publishing during the month of April, a series of articles on The Youth of Today, written by Reverend Walter Van Kirk. Through this series he has made an interesting survey of youth’s activities and achievements throughout the world. The introductory articles in this series will appear under the general heading: Youth’s Quest for Truth. Subsequent articles will be published under the head- ings: Youth and Prohibition, Students and Industry, Youth and International Relations, Youth and Edu- cation, and Youth and Maturity. The writer needs no introduction to the reading public. He is well-known on both sides of the At- lantic, as a lecturer and also because of his religious affiliations. Mr. Van Kirk is identified with the Fed- eral Council of the Churches of Christ in America; the Universal Christian ~Conference on Life and Work; the World Alliance for Christian Associations, and other organizations. He has initiated and pre- sided over institutes on international relations at dif- ferent universities, and has been a discussion leader and lecturer in summer conferences and institutes of youth. The series The Youth of Today — twenty-six articles appearing April 1 to 30—may be obtained for 75 cents, from the The Christian Science Publishing Society, Back Bay Station, Boston, Massachusetts. The re-establishment in this country, of a Euro- pean review which in the past has proved very use- ful to all scholars engaged in social research and to all sponsors of social reforms as well as to educated men and women interested in a synthetic view of World progress is a significant and important event. “Records of Progress” has since 1907 reported on social experiences of all nations. It was published ‘simultaneously in London, Paris and Berlin; from now on it will be published in the United States. A number of distinguished statesmen and writers have contributed articles or collaborated in’ these in- ternational inquiries. “Records of Progress” desires to publish reports on THE AMERICAN TEACHER 27 the activity of responsible Americ..o societies in so far as it commands international interest. The con- sideration of this review as one of the organs through which these societies speak to friends of their ideas, in this country and abroad is welcomed. Rudolf Broda, president League for the Organiza- tion of Progress, Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio, can be addressed for specimen copies and further informatio». A NEW TEST The Burton Civics Test, by William H. Burton, associate professor of education, University of Chi- cago, and Virginia N. Burton, formerly teacher in the Portland, Oregon, public schools, has just been issued by the World Book Company, Yonkers, N. Y. This is perhaps the most comprehensive civics test now available for grades 5 to 9. The questions, of a wide range of difficulty, deal with political, economic and social aspects of civics. Validity and reliablity are high. as shown by the Manual of Directions. The norms given are based on the testing of 8,000 pupils and differentiated grade norms for racial and economic groups. Teachers of civics will find it worth while to ex- amine this set of tests, and the accompanying Manual of Directions. LABOR’S NEWS. Labor’s News, the new form of the Federated Press weekly news magazine, made its first appear- ance on March 1. The weekly has been enlarged from three columns to four and each column in- creased 25% in length. Feature headlines and gen- eral typographical improvement are noticeable. It sells to individual subscribers who are not connected with publications at $2 a year. Republication rights are reserved, as heretofore, to member papers of The Federated Press or to such other publications as pur- chase the rights at non-member rates. FREMONT OLDER’S ARTICLE ON MOONEY AND BILLINGS AVAILABLE Reprints of Fremont Older’s careful sumntary of the cases of Mooney and Billings entitled “Mooney and Billings Are Innocent” which appeared in The Nation, January 2, 1929, may be obtained free by persons interested in the cases. Write to the National Mooney-Billings Committee, Room 1403, 100 Fifth Avenue, New York City. THE PARIS PEACE PACT AND “THE LAST MAN” An Invitation and a Challenge to All the High Schools of the Country. On the advice and with the consent of the Senate, the government of the United States has ratified with fourteen other nations a treaty renouncing war as an instrument of national policy. Practically all the other nations of the world have signified their intention to adhere to the same treaty. Before long this covenant of peace will doubtless be world- embracing. “Why was there no ringing of church bells” after the Senate had ratified and the president had signed the Multilateral Pact for the Renunciation of War?” asks Bruce Barton, the writer, in a letter to the edi- tor of Printeers’ Ink. Why “no parades? No holi- days declared by banks and businesses? Why no mighty paean of gratitude from the mothers of the world because of this step toward peace?” He is sure of the reason: “Because nobody knows what is in the Treaty.” : “The signing of the Pact,” writes Dr. Charles Clayton Morrison, editor of The Christian Century, “is not the end of our peace endeavor: It is the be- ginning. There is no intrinsic strength in the pact. All its strength is derived from the will of the peo- ples whose governments have subscribed to it. It will gather strength from year to year as the peo- ples of the world invest it with their own pacific purposes, and as governments show by their deeds that they hold inviolate their plighted word. “What, then, everybody is asking, is the next thing to be done? The answer is there are many things to be done. There is everything to be done. But the one thing nearest by—most immediate— prerequisite to all other things that wait to be done —is to see to it that the last man knows what his government has done in his name.” In order to assist in “telling it to the last man,” the Committee in Charge of the National Student Forum on the Paris Peace Pact invites principals of high schools and teachers of high-school classes in history, civics, and current events to study and dis- cuss the text of the Pact with their students and, when the significance of this great instrument is thoroughly understood, to encourage their students to prepare thoughtful original papers in not more than 200 words on this theme: “The Significance and Implication of the Paris Pact for the Renunciation of War.” THE AMERICAN TEACHER For the best paper prepared in each school (the decision to be made by the school authorities them. selves) the Committee in Charge will make a suitable award, After the school authorities have selected the best paper produced in their school they will send this paper with their certificate to the State Supervisor and from all the papers submitted by the schools of the state the committee will select the best one pre- pared in the state. For this the Committee in Charge will make a suitable award. After the State Committee has chosen the best paper produced in the state they will send this paper to the Committee in Charge in Washington and the best one for the entire country will be selected. The Committee in Charge will make a suitable award. ONE TOWN DOES IT The school board of the Borough of Wigan, Eng- land, has banned all studies relating to the army, navy, or air force, “to create a peace mentality among school children and to accelerate the estab- lishment of international peace.” “Wars do not just happen; they are made; they are the result of the actions of nations. They are not accidents; they come as a logical result of the conduct of nations in times of peace. There would have been no World War if Germany and Great Britain and France had not been armed to the teeth. It is perfectly natural, it is perfectly human, that if men or nations continue to arm themselves, to. in- crease their armaments in a race with each other, ultimately they will come into conflict.”—Senator George W. Norris of Nebraska. HISTORY PRIZE WON BY PROFESSOR The prize of $2500 for the best unpublished work on American (History, offered by Little, Brown & Company, publishers, has been awarded Ulrich B. Phillips, professor of American History at the Uni- versity of Michigan. Professor Phillips, a native Georgian, was educated at the University of Georgia and Columbia Univer- sity. He has been professor of American history at the University of Michigan since 1911. The prize winning manuscript, a history of the South, will be published in May under the title “Life and Labor In the Old South.” Professor Phillips is the author of several books, including American Negro Slavery. gation needed siderat play ir labor of eve bearing one of gaps b worker a defir ments, guard « nO suc schools howeve selves ; ing th To the nex teal in tation Press; of Edu THE AMERICAN TEACHER Local News Cuicaco, Locats 2, 3 AND 199. The breakfast in honor of Dr. John Dewey on February 24 at the La Salle Hotel will be long re- membered by those of the three executive boards and building representatives who were privileged to attend. It was a generous act on the part of Dr. Dewey to permit the few to meet intimately with him in the press of his many public appear- ances. In the quiet, unhurried atmosphere of the morning he spoke informally, not as an outsider at us or to us but as one of us. He talked of the at- titude of some teachers who object to joining an organization allied with labor for the following reasons—they fear a strike, they do not want to ally themselves with one special group in the com- munity, they do not want to ally themselves with labor because it is labor, and last, they are above the “material.” Because he did not want to fall into the error of the preacher who lectured his faithful congre- gation about church attendance when those who needed it most were away, he turned to the con- sideration of the part such organizations as ours play in the social order. He reminded us that the labor groups have always been in the foreground of every educational movement having a_ social bearing. And he made the startling statement that one of the most effective ways of bridging. the gaps between classes in society was by professional workers joining hands with workers. Professional organizations which hold themselves aloof made these gaps wider. He spoke of the fact that in Russia the teachers are made to feel that they are a definite and organic part of great social move- ments, that they are the social creators, the van- guard of the new social order. In the United States no such unity between social movements and the schools has been effected. The most effective way, however, by which the teachers may feel them- selves a part of such social development is by ally- ing themselves and working with labor groups. To the question which was asked, what can be the next immediate steps in making this unity more teal in the United States, Dr. Dewey replied—resto- tation of liberty of thought, speech, and of the press; and better representation of labor on Boards of Education. 3 * % 3S At the regular business of Local 3 on March Ist, Mr. H. D. Roberts, editor of The Chicago Schools Journal, explained the editorial policy of The Journal, told of his plans to make the magazine of interest to high school as well as elementary school teachers, and solicited the help of high school teachers by asking them to send in contributions. A report from Miss Lenore Leins, chairman of the Legislative Committee, Local 3 summarized the pending legislation and urged the members to co- operate in the passage of the following bills by writing to their senators and _ representatives: amendment to the Compulsory Education Law of 1909, H. B. 247 and S. B. 150, reported favorably out of the Education Committees; and the Old Age Pension Bill, H. B. 200, S. B. 149, which has come up for third reading. The Executive Board of Local 3 on March 8, voted to continue its scholarship to Brookwood Col- lege in honor of Ethel Beers. A special committee will be appointed to collect from individual mem- bers and the Executive Board has agreed to supple- ment the amount so that $225 may be sent. ‘The Executive Board also voted $200 to the Or- ganization Fund of the American Federation of Teachers and is planning a permanent committee to be known as the Special Funds Committee so that future contributions also may be made pos- sible. + ob oa * A most significant event was the appearance on March 4 of Mr. William J. Bogan, superintendent of schools, before the regular meeting of the Chicago Federation of Labor, when he spoke on specific ways in which the Board of Education would extend its program on adult education. Mr. Bogan showed how far the Board was willing to go when he said that to the adult workers themselves, the Board would leave the choice of course and in- structor. If the instructor charged more than the Board was permitted to pay, labor groups could supplement the amount. Miss Lillian Herstein (Local 3), chairman of the Schools Committee, Chicago Federation of Labor, Victor Olander, sec- retary of the Illinois Federation.of Labor, and John Fitzpatrick, president of the Chicago Federation of Labor, have been working closely with Mr. Bogan in the formation of the plans. FLORENCE E. CLARK. a a a 7 Mr. James A. Meade,: president, Chicago Federa- tion of Men Teachers, Local 2, has appeared before the Education Committees of the Senate and House of the Illinois State Legislature in behalf of the bill strengthening the Compulsory School Attendance Law. Mr. Meade reports favorable progress. The Federation of Men Teachers is having the most successful year of its history both in member- ship and accomplishment. On March 15 at the Great Northern Hotel, the Federation held a large and interesting meeting. Prizes were given to the schools having the largest attendance and bringing in the greatest number of new members. Three questions in particular were discussed: 1. Do you care to help promote your own eco- nomic interests? 2. Do you wish to be truly professional by 30 working with your fellows in the solution of your own educational problems? 3. Are you always going to be willing to “let _ George do it”? * cod > * An open meeting of the Elementary Teachers Union, Local 199 of the American Federation of Teachers, on Friday evening, April 5, 1929, at the City Club, 315 Plymouth Court, will have as speak- ers Professor John A. Lapp of Marquette University, who will talk on Freedom in Education, and Mrs. Florence Curtis Hanson, secretary-treasurer of the American Federation of Teachers, whose subject is The Social Significance of the American Federation of Teachers. % Ey * * Recognition of the value of teachers’ contributions to the labor movement was evidenced at the meet- ing of the delegates of the Chicago Federation of Labor, on Sunday, March 3, 1929, when that body voted to increase the Committee on Education from five to nine members. The names of the additional members will be announced in the near future. AGNES B. CLOHEsY. New York, Loca §. Dr. Abraham Lefkowitz appeared before the Edu- cation Committee of the New York State Senate and Assembly to present labor’s arguments in opposition to the bills before the Legislature weakening and nullifying the day continuation schools for employed minors under 17 years old. A course of six lectures in mental hygiene, con- ducted by Dr. George K. Pratt, assistant medical director, National Committee for Mental Hygiene and E. K. Wickman, psychologist, Institute for Child Guidance, New York, and author of Children’s Be- havior and Teachers’ Attitudes, was given in Feb- ruary and March, at The New York School of Social Work under the auspices of the Teachers Union Auxiliary. The course was offered especially to teachers in elementary schools and junior high schools of Greater New York, but was open also to others. Union members are planning their Easter vacation at the Hudson Guild Farm. WASHINGTON, D. C., Locat 8. The Washington Teachers Union has published Bulletin No. 2—The Normal Probability Curve in Teacher Rating. This report was prepared by a special committee after an exhaustive study of the subject made during the spring of 1928. Included in the many activities of the Washington Teachers Union is the interpretation of the complex laws governing us as teachers, The Union will welcome inquiries at its office, Room 413, International Building, 1319 F. Street, N. W. A Teachers Union benefit performance of Madame THE AMERICAN TEACHER X was given at the National Theater on the evening of Tuesday, March 12. The evening provided an artistic, social and financial success. ELIZABETH Draper. St. Paut WoMEN LocaL 28 The Minnesota Teachers have won their fight to protect the teachers’ retirement law. The bill to amend this law was killed in committee. The bill, which automatically would have retired a teacher who had served for three years in the public school system, if she married, was bitterly opposed by the teachers themselves, but was sup- ported by Commissioner of Education L. R. S. Fer- guson. Superintendent of Schools S$. O. Hartwell appeared before the committee in favor of the bill and also asked that a definite age limit be estab- lished for the automatic retirement of teachers. SACRAMENTO, LocaAL 31. The publication of a monthly bulletin represents a new endeavor of the Sacramento Teachers’ Feder- ation. It will mean some expense to the chapter. It will mean considerable work and worry to members who already have enough to do. But we realize that if the Federation is to continue to be a vital factor in the Sacramento school system, it must constantly show signs of progress, and that no organization can prosper without a membership which is willing to assume burdens and responsibilities that it may succeed. We believe that the Sacramento Federation has such a membership. Therefore we embark upon an enterprise such as this with confidence of its suc- cess. A number of reasons can be advanced . ; to why the Federation should publish a monthly bulletin. The membership is widely scattered in schools throughout the city. We hope that in the near future there will be still other units represented ia the chapter. In any case there should be an easier means of communication between the organization and the members than has existed in the past. A regular bulletin provides such a means of communi- cation. This bulletin will make all necessary an- nouncements. It will publish the important minutes of the Federation meetings. It will publish reports of committees, thus making it possible to dispense with much of the routine of the monthly meetings. We hope to be able to publish interesting news oF gossip about the members of the local. Moreover the bulletin should be a means of incréasing activity among the members and an effective aid in securing new members. We earnestly desire the co-operation of all that the undertaking may be a success. We are starting in a very modest way. At the present a small bulletin will be published. We feel that it is better to make haste slowly and to feel our way carefully. There is a dream in the minds some into If ens bullet ably circu! is des For copie: to ea tribut that 1 the F terest: such distril The ing a " organi Ander of the The this st of the Schoo! annua Teach interes; - formu! THE AMERICAN TEACHER 31 some of us that this bulletin may in time develop into a sheet worthy of a more general distribution. If enough members will take a sincere interest ih the bulletin and in the Federation itself such will prob- ably be the outcome of the enterprise. Time and circumstances will tell whether a larger publication is desirable or possible. ; For a time we expect to prepare two hundred copies each month. This number will allow one copy to each member and some extra copies to be dis- tributed wherever they may be needed. We feel sure that there are teachers who are not now members of the Federation who are interested or may become in- terested in the work we are doing. If you know of such teachers, kindly inform the editor, who will distribute the extra copies accordingly. J. W. GarDNER, President. —From Vol. 1, No. 1, The Federation Bulletin. St. Paut MEN, Loca. 43. The St. Paul Federation of Men Teachers is mak- ing a study and comparison of teachers’ salaries in " organized and unorganized cities and towns. A. C. Anderson and George C. Christansen are in charge of the work. There is considerable hard work connected with this study and the prompt and hearty co-operation of the locals would be appreciated. The Federation has presented each St. Paul High School with a copy of the proceedings of the twelfth annual convention of the American Federation of Teachers. E, J. Harre 1, ATLANTA, LOCAL 89. In line with the policy of conducting a more active campaign to promote its ideals and general plan of accomplishment, the Atlanta Public School Teachers Association has opened headquarters in Room No. 607 Rhodes building. This is a perma- nent office and will be open every afternoon. The teachers in the Atlanta public schools are now organized almost 100 per cent and new enrollments are being made continually. The Atlanta local is one of the strongest and most active in the country, while its president, Miss Mary C. Barker, also is president of the American Federation of Teachers, the parent organization.—Exchange. TEACHERS OF ATLANTA PROGRESSIVE. It has sometimes been charged that the Teachers Union is primarily interested in the teacher but this can hardly be said of the local union. On a num- ber of occasions they have gone out unselfishly for a more adequate school program, for a program that had for its primary object the advancement of the interests of the children. Frequently the teachers have taken the lead in formulating and sponsoring such a program. The most recent instance of this is the action of the teachers in recommending the establishment of a “Department of Mental Hygiene which would pro- vide the means of discovering and correcting neu- rotic mental conditions among school children, thereby helping to prevent cases of mental disorders and insanity in the later life of such individuals.” The teachers by formal resolution presented to the mayor, General Council and the Board of Education, urging upon the mayor, General Council aad School Department an additional appropriation “for the establishment of such a department in the school system under the direction of a competent alienist, to the end that all of our school children who need special medical attention for the correction of medical disorder or neurotic conditions may have such defects corrected by proper attention in child- hood in order that they may be developed into use- ful citizens rather than left to become wards and dependents on society.” May we urge upon labor, may we urge upon the entire city, the serious duty of rallying to the support of the teachers in this movement. Now and then the whole country is horrified by some foul murder, inhuman treatment of some woman or child only to find that the gruesome de- tails of the crime tell the story of the work of some maniac, some pampered moron whose peculiarities, whose mental disorders were known but allowed to pass unattended until the blood-curdling details of the murder brought it home to us. Too late then to save that particular child. But had society been willing to give to such unfortunate people the same time and attention, the same allotment of funds that we now give to the treatment of criminals these might have been prevented. The blood cannot but be upon our hands if we, knowing that a single case might be prevented, failed to do so. Necessarily the details of such a department would require time and expert thought to perfect it. A great deal of public education would be neces- sary before the people fully understood and appre- ciated its services, but ‘certainly Atlanta should neither hesitate to establish it nor to withhold from it the necessary funds.—Atlanta Journal of Labor. Granp Forks, Loca 205. The Grand Forks Teachers Federation, Local 205, was very fortunate in having Miss Florence Rood of St. Paul as its guest and speaker at its meeting on the evening of February 13. First a banquet was held in the dining room of Hotel Dakota, following which an opportunity was given to all members of the council to meet their guest. After the banquet a regular meeting for all mem- bers was held. Miss Rood as speaker discussed the purpose of the American Federation of Teachers, labor’s program on education, and the relationship of the teacher to organized labor. She stressed the SN se nee ae ee ee ee i — = Ss oe 32 desirability of an affiliation with the local labor or- ganization. Her charming personality and forceful speech in- fluenced all of the doubtful ones to favor affiliation. It was therefore unanimously voted that we join the Trades and Labor Assembly. Miss Grace Greenwood and Mr. C. K. Baarman as delegates have already attended one meeting of the local central labor union and are highly enthusiastic over the possibilities presented to the teachers for real advancement to their profession. FLORENCE FJELDSTAD, Secretary. PoRTLAND, Loca 111. The Portland Teachers Union has inaugurated a study class this spring, The class will be conducted as a discussion club under the leadership of members of the union and without an outside instructor. At the first meeting February 16, Mr. Schwarztrauber reviewed Kent’s Political Behavior. Siegfried’s America Comes of Age will be discussed under the leadership of Miss Reid at the next meeting. Inter- ested non-member teachers will be invited. The next number of The Union Teacher will be published in April. The Union has been actively interested in the Moral Education bill now before the state legisla- ture. An account of this bill and the Union’s op- position to it appears elsewhere in this magazine. HitMA ANDERSON. PERLE SHALE KINGSLEY Mrs. Perle Shale Kingsley, an active member of the Teachers Union of Denver, Colo., and national- ly prominent educational and social service leader, died February 6 after a short illness. For almost a quarter of a century Mrs, Kingsley had been associated with the public speaking de- partment of the University of Denver. For sev- eral years Mrs. Kingsley was a leading spirit of the Denver Labor college, where she gave liberally of her services, She taught public speaking in the labor college several terms and last summer was a profes- sor at the University of Wisconsin school for women workers. Mrs. Kingsley’s death is a distinct loss to the teachers union movement, both nationally and locally. Her ardor of spirit, keenness of intellect and beauty of character will not soon be replaced. The aim of education should be to teach us rather how to think than what to think;—rather to improve our minds, so as to enable us to think for ourselves, than to load the memory with the thoughts of other men.—Beattie. THE AMERICAN TEACHER CHATHAM COUNTY TEACHERS ASSOCIATION, Loca 207. On December 14, Secretary Hanson and Vice- president Scott of Atlanta by invitation of the Chat- ham County Teachers Association visited Savannah and spoke to the Association on the program of the American Federation of Teachers and the value of affiliation with this national organization. Mr. Scott very ably and clearly set forth what affiliation had done for the schools as well as the teachers of At- lanta. Mr. I. J. Gaines, the president, had previously dis- tributed literature and considerable interest had been aroused, . The schools had been closed for the holidays early on account of the flu epidemic and the attendance at the meeting was not therefore as large as was hoped for. Those present, however, were sympa- thetic to the proposed affiliation but thought the matter should be further discussed and the full mem- bership be given an opportunity to vote upon it. The question was therefore postponed until the January meeting. On January 24, 1929, by a3 to 1 vote, the Chatham County Teachers Association af- filiated with the Amefican Federation of Teachers and is now chartered as Local 207. The organization is composed of about 90% of the teachers of Savannah and Chatham Cuunty of all grades, elementary and high school. After careful study and consideration, the Association came to its decision, and its members have become convinced of the value of the connection for themselves and the schools. They have given an intellectual assent to the advanced social and educational program of the American Federation of Teachers. The American Federation of Teachers is proud to welcome this new Georgia local which we feel confident will keep pace with its two older sisters in Georgia, Atlanta 89 and Fulton County 183. A brilliant future is predicted for Local 207. Intelli- gent union interest among teachers is particularly noticeable in the state of Georgia. The excellent rural consolidated school system and the high rank of the schools of Georgia are the cause and effect be- tween alert progressive teacher unionism and efficient progressive schools. The officers of the organization are Miss Caroline Miller, Chatham Junior High School, president; Lowry Axley, first vice president; Miss Ardel Wil- burn, second vice president; Mrs. F. H. Marshall, corresponding secretary; Miss Reba Bridger, financial secretary; Mrs. Birdie Axley, recording secretary; and Mrs. Arthur Wilson, Jr., treasurer. The twenty-fifth annual report of the Workers’ Educational Association of England shows that 35,- 730 adult students attended its classes during the year 1927-28, not counting single lectures, study circles, and summer schools. MA‘ tharr