PER! IODIGAL ROOM | ER AL. i) TBRA AMERICAS TEACHER CONVENTION NUMBER OCTOBER, 1932 VOLUME XVII No. 1 ‘ONGAS OF THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS THRE ACID TEST What more exacting test can there be of dic- tionary leadership than the judgment of the educational world? Every state that has adopted an unabridged dictionary for use in its schools has chosen exclusively WEBSTER’S NEW INTERNATIONAL DICTIONARY The Colleges voted overwhelmingly in favor of Webster as the standard of pronunciation, in answer to questions submitted by the Chicago Woman's Club. Nearly 100% of all schoolbooks are based on the New International for pronunciation, spelling, compounding, and division of words. The New International has been universally accepted by those best fitted to judge. It is in accord with the best modern prac- tice. Use it in your own schools. Write for our free booklets of interesting ways to teach the use of the dictionary. GET THE BEST G. & C. MERRIAM COMPANY SPRINGFIELD, MASS. The H. G. ADAIR PRINTING CO. A. R. BALFANZ, President W. T. FISHER, Treasurer CONSTRUCTIVE PRINTERS Telephones: FRAnklin 8124-5-6 107 No. Wacker Drive. Chicago PAGE a os ssh wee dislasadwiee 3 pecretary-lreasurers Report ................... 5 aa eae ale wnlbavoksta's wale 6 SE, PECUSOREION . wk. oc wc cree William Green 7 EET EO EE, a 1] SE a es 12 Political Party Platforms and Public Education .......... 13 uh culWblneececrveseccsee : 13 Our Economic Dilemma and Our Schools./ames Mullenbach 14 Southern Labor Greets A. F. T. ..............4. S. Nance 18 Chicago; A Key Situation ............ Charles B. Stillman 19 Nee De wcelapc bass «ow ta mas 21 ee EE ee 22 ER EE 23 Teacher Unemployment—Resolutions ................... 24 24 Economy Programs and School Support ................... Resolutions : Protecting the School Year. Guarding the Curriculum. Increased Cost of Public Schools The Depression and Education. Sh esecsolge bi-monthly by the American Fed- eration of Teachers, 506 South Wabash Ave., Chicago, Ill. Entered as second class matter Oc- tober 27, 1926, at the post office of Chicago, IIl., under the Act of March 3, 1879. Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in Sec. 1103, Act of Feb. 28, Nov. 3, 1926. 1925, authorized Editorial Office 506 South Wabash Ave., Chicago, Illinois. GP 20 in Table of Contents PAGE Educating the Community to Support the Public Schools. School Support in the Period of Retrenchment. Salary Cuts. Salary Reduction. Voluntary Contributions. . Basis of Taxation. School Finance. State Aid. New York City Bd. of Educ. Economy Program. Fedéral Aid for Public Education ...........ccccccccccoess 26 EN ENE ee 27 Ne iad dul sntnteelpedn ede enee 28 EO PPT er ees 28 ON ois dais cadneseesdeuseeuwae pepe 29 29 American Radio Audience League Pioneer Youth in Coal Mining Towns Resolutions—Alertness Courses, Junior High School....... 30 te egw cegcates Seababedasl been 31 Se Se VILE COP EORTC er. 31 so wound hh accedeveséedubaaesene akon 31 Permanent Committees, A. F. S unscription $1.00 for the year—Forcign $1.10 —Single copies, 25c. At the time of expira- tion, a bill will be found in the copy. Sub- scribers are requested to give prompt notice of changes of address. Remittances should be made postal money-order, express order, draft, stamps or check. Www sete ee SSS8BIRRBNS www Ww —- ra- ib- de ft, ; ™" | boners | OcTOBER, 1933 THE INDEX AMERICAN TEACHER VOLUME XVII — NOS. 1-5 OCTOBER, 1932 — JUNE, 1933 A Mo. mmeest Teachers—Book Review. ..........02cecccsseses June Ree ree ere ree Dees Adult Education, An Adventure in.................55. Dec. American Education Week-——Editorial................. Dec. i 2h, Cin, 26s cc acoecenedseseaeeesesses Dec. American Federation of Labor—School Protection I di a tie ce ell At da we wae acs wie eas Crit a Ot Oe Here Apr A. F. L. President on Educational Budget Cuts— RIES SE pee te BR a Ek a a ee Oct American Federation of Teachers UOOUOME. wc ccccscs June Ce PE. «ce cbemeenbceabececoceseéa Oct. Appreciation—Chicago, Herald-Examiner.............. Oct. B Banking and Bankers—John B. Frey................. Feb. Banking—Resolution, 16th Convention................ Oct. Winns Kadinws eee es ednrewesesoed Apr. 19, Dec Cc. Le ob. de 64a Spee Ramin 4RM eS ae aoe Dec i Cd as eines ved ed as 6 ope wk edees sen chews cee June Bells of Thyme—Catharine Dodd—Book Review....... June EE |) ree .- Apr. Blood of the Lamb—Matthew Mark Book Review-—Frances Raye.............2+.005: Apr. ewan, William J........cecccccvccccccccecs Oct. 13, Feb. EE es eee Cae Apr. British Columbia Teachers Consider Affiliation ee ee eS i ee Apr. Cc PT CT Ce eT eee eee Te Feb. Character Education—Resolution, 16th Convention . Dec Chattanooga Labor Offers Aid to Teachers............ Feb. Chicago, A Key Situation—Charles B. Stillman........ Oct. i) eM. + .occcrbconeeersbewtwestesesneee June Childhood versus the Depression—William G. Carr....Feb. ne ie Fics son enced kee eateuneseebwee vet Coes June Citizens’ Conference on the Crisis in Education......Apr. Civic Attitudes in American School Text Books— Dr. Bessie L. Pierce. Book Review—Mark Starr..June eh ts ss cee eae ee a te see ene ce aes Dec. Coat and the Cloth Guest Editorial—The Manitoba Teacher.......... Feb. PE Mick coca deeeae eee ccecdcoccessrevassewes Dec. i re TRE. ci cccccccccscesccesesen Apr. Come out of the Classroom, Teacher—Editorial....... Apr. Common Sense—James A. Meade..............-e008: June re eS d+ os nae eee dt anenteebeeses SOah June i ae. Ce i Ma Div cdatebbeancesaséeechs teen June toe ena feeb abbas ban wasae da hae Dec. Crisis in Education—Professor John Dewey........... Apr. D Danger to Free Public Education—Wm. J. Bogan..... Feb CE Ee err ee ee ee Cree Dec “Depression Will Aid the Schools’’—Editorial— i TC. - ¢ < ceucne edukdaWdewe s6seeeee bam Apr. Depression Result of Underpay—Editorial............ Dec. re Ne ss ts enmaeetaeten hence oe Apr. Dictatorship of the Bankers—Charles J. Hendley..... Feb. Disarmament—Resolution, 16th Convention........... Oct. Dollars vs. Children in Detroit—Editorial............. Oct. E Economic Geography for Secondary Schools—Charles C. Colby and Alice Foster. Book Review—Mark Starr. . Dec. Economy Programs and School Support—Resolutions, ET CIE ER Ces ee Oct. EERE SR) Se ene Dec. “Economy,” Some More—Editorial................... Feb. Educating for Citizenship—George A. Coe—Book review.Apr. Education or Catastrophe, World News............... Feb. Apr. 24, June Education, Permanent Committee.................... Dec. Education Today and Tomorrow—Henry Ohl, Jr....... June Educational Association “Investigated”——Editorial..... Apr. Educational Breakdown, A National Problem— I a a Re ee Dec. Environmental Basis of Social Geography—Huntington and Carlson. Book review—Mark Starr..........Apr. a... cc kbba cue cede cnecucws oees Oct Exchange of Teachers, Committee.................... Dec. F ne Mnote—MAltorial. ........6.cccccccccccccvce Feb Federal Aid for Public Education—Resolutions and Telegrams, 16th Convention...................:. Oct. a Bs conned ble wemis vee catale Dec. 12 18 13 19 14 28 13 25 24 20 17 27 22 22 10 16 26 17 20 26 18 Mo Figure, The—Helen F. Morton—Book review.......... Dec. Financial Fascism—Charles B. Stillman..............4 Apr. to Cs err ee er Apr. PL wea ddasawinedete wehsabetnl won Ser tala en ee June Free Schools Demanded by Labor 100 years ago...... June ig FN Oe a ee ey ey et ep Feb. oo ee Re oe ree a ee ee pe Dec. G Pee ee oe ee ee ee Dec. Gear, Sameer Wee Vaiss cdc bn 00 006 cus ccoasene Apr Ge een «00.5 ctbedbnitnc ccéhaccecsduuue Dec. CN. Ge Plas 3 4 0 Sco « weed Penn oes ina das Dec SO: SU NG wine kb 000s Seabodancere June 23, Oct. 7, June H ae, OS errr June Health of Teachers—Resolution, 16th Convention...... Dec Beemithh, Pemeeiwe, GumGeees oo 6 ccc cdécccdovccscontanal Dec. See, CD Pivcuuis wadese das éamadéeve.05 0 Feb. Hindrances to Thinking—Robert T. Kerlin............ June EGOS, PUOUSRED Bean oko 0 os bens hc ene bnekots hebeeean Feb. I Index to Labor Articles by Rand School of Social eee eee June Indians and Quakers—A timely Publication—Review. ..Dec TREE “GONE 0 0s tn oh 0206 eetetbnines d0605 Poet June J Just Blindness—J. O. Christianson.................%. June K meet, BORN Bence ccscvacdasaciaechaoueeneoe June L Labor and Education—William Green................ Oct. Labor Pres, Qupateeeeel. .occccccccccccdtiscovibue Dec. Lape, TO Mies» odd ibe oa 6 dks éaenns oreieune Feb. Leaders in Education, Edited by J. McKeen Cattell— OG POWGNN is nk Wakaenos 0s bee esesdchcake Dec. Lefevre and the Saturday Evening Post Corrected..... June LaGhowits, AMPGRGMR. 60605 cc08+s sede Apr. 17, Dec. 12, Feb. Legislative Representatives—BEditorial................. June ROOD, D-—-s ons 6 db oe ck bds on >see sche aca Dec. Lincoln Library of Essential Information. Book review— Beene - 6 GD. « cc cadendsccassccnendeee June Linville, Dr. Henry R...Apr. 15, June 15, Oct. 3, Oct. 11, Dec. Tistem In-~TROGS. PUCGPRBe ocd chen cccccepedecscseses Dec. Fe, ee TTT er Ore ee (Feb. Loyalty Pledges for Teachers—Editorial from The OO ee eee eee ee June M Making Teaching a Profession—Editorial............. Feb. Management of the School Money—Henry C. ee ae re Dec. Mass Education, Gang Rule and the Status Quo— ee he eee Dee. BG, WSUS 6 Woe. 6dpaw ties Sarnd ae oan Cee Lee Feb. Rh, A a wo dal Odin es An 6 RAO Se hela ewe Dec. Se, SE EE, on ga dod Ogeewka aus ob ea S00 eee Apr. EE En 6 so ne wee nas eee s What Became of That May A. T.? I can see a few persons trying to find their neglected copies of the May issue of the A. T., if for no other reason than to discover just how careless they were in not unearthing the “bolshevistic” stuff that got into the magazine. If they find it is “not so bad,” they may be interested to learn that Miss Sailer is a teacher in the City and Country School, one of the best of our progressive schools in New York, and that in her vacations she supervises several progressive day camp- clubs in the mining districts of West Virginia and North Carolina. They may be interested to learn that a number of other teachers give up their vacations to work with Miss Sailer—all without pay. Some of these volunteers came from that bolshevistic center called Chicago, until that town stopped paying its teachers. If Mrs. Hanson has space in the October issue, she may print one of the recent reports which Miss Sailer has written, and let the people see just how menacing this Organization called Pioneer Youth really is (p. 30). The President is a member of the Administration Committee of Pioneer Youth, and has had a son at the national camp at Rifton, N. Y., this past summer, and ought to be warned if anyone is. Dr. Henry R. Linville Who Is a Menace and Who Is Not? When we come to consider the kinds of persons and movements that are menacing to the safety of the country, I believe’ v shall agree that neither persons nor move- ments can work permanent injury to the country as a whole so long as we are building up social understanding on th part of the people. It is clear that Mrs Blank does not know what she is worried about. Somebody has succeeded in getting her excited, as are others of her type of mind. Perhaps they are the ones who are a menace, because they would not know a real danger if they saw one in the form of a movement fostered by dishonest per sons using hypocritical methods of appeal to a flaunting patriotism, which, as the dis- cerning Dr. Johnson said, “the last resort of a scoundrel.” All is not well with the country we know, but so far as known no officer or member of the Amer- ican Federation of Teachers is allow: to promote through the AMERICAN TEACHER any form of political dictatorship. But we do want to see the country become a het- ter America, a land in which the children themselves will be taught through pro- gressive methods of education to think about the conditions of their lives, and later to plan for the better social order. If Mrs. Blank knows of any body of chil- dren that needs a chance to do thinkine of that kind, and needs an opportunity to help themselves and others, more than do the children of the destitute and exploited miners of the South (exploited by the mine-owners of the North), we want to know where they are. More power to Agnes Sailer and the spirit she typifies! was There Are and Menaces. Other Dictatorships I hope some are reading this page now. If there are any, I want to say to them that when the Sixteenth Annual Conven- tion of the American Federation of Teach- ers elected me President in July for a second term, I made up my mind that in some way or other I would make clear my position on the subject of tenure of office among national officers of trade unions. I believe that one of the really shocking phases of the union movement is the extent to which there is prevalent among officers a tendency to interpret the word “tenure” to mean “tenacity.” Many of them hold on with bulldog tenacity to the office which has been tendered to them in trust.: It is a tragic experience for a local union of a national union to have to resort to something like a crude major surgical operation to yank away the office which has been given in trust to a person who in the years has en- trenched himself in the job to the extent that he and the job are one. Some- times a bombing operation is the only one that seems to be suitable to the situation. They have to be blasted out of the posi- tion and the place built over for some one else. course of Machines in Organization Politics. Often there seems to be little value in the plan of electing a person to an_ office for one year, with the implied..under- standing that the electorate may vor may not re-elect the incumbent. Unless =the incumbent has made an obvious “flop” of his responsibility, his friends have to re-elect him. After the second year the incumbent may begin to personify a pol- icy. In the face of the possibility that some one else may feel that he should have the place, or because some one has found fault with the conduct of the in- cumbent, a defense machine may be built up, and defense tactics as well as com- promise tactics may have to be organized. It may be that some officers do become apparently indispensable owing to the fact that a tenacious officer will rarely concern himself with the matter of training other members for a trust in the organization. We then face the possibility of one-man organizations and life-tenure of leaders. What an enormous waste of union energy sometimes goes into controversies that rage around these situations! And what a waste of potential opportunities for pro- gressive union work if members complais- antly avoid controversies for the sake of peace. “Talking Turkey” to Officers. There will always be strong, selfish, or merely selfish, personalities in union leader- ship, and some will try to run away with a union unless there is a conscious effort on the part of all leaders to establish the ideals of union work and policy as the major union enterprise, and deliberately to place leadership in the category of men and women under orders. Meanwhile, a tenacious union job-holder will immunize himself to all soft-hearted tips that may be he has served the “peepul” long enough. He will have to be blasted out. Well, let it be done with “T N T” if necessary. The present incumbent speaking gives you the prescription. He is against all prac- tices that lead to the establishment of dic- tatorships, political and otherwise. Mrs. Blank should take courage. 12 THE AMERICAN TEACHER Democracy in Education American Federation of Teachers Organized April 15, 1916 Affiliated with the American Federation of Labor 506 South Wabash Ave., Chicago, III. President Henry R. Linvitte, New York Local 5; 70 Fifth Ave., New York, N. Y. Secretary-Treasurer Fiorence Curtis Hanson, Chicago Local 3; 506 S. Wabash Ave., Chicago, III. THE AMERICAN TEACHER Official Organ Apvisory EpiTor1aL Boarp Lucre W. ALLEN’ RutTH GILLETTE Harpy Chicago Local 3 New York Local 5 Mary C. Barker Henry R. LINVILLE Atlanta Local 89 New York Local 5 Secma M. Borcuarpt A. D. SHEFFIELD Washington Local 8 Wellesley College Joun M.Graysier Cxartes B. StitMan San Francisco Local 61 Chicago Local 2 FLoreENcE Curtis HANSON Executive Editor Publisher H. G. Apair Printinc Co. 107 N. Wacker Drive, Chicago, III. Be 0 Co-operation is not a sentiment—it is an economic necessity.—Steimmetz. A. F. of L. President on Educa- tional Budget Cuts William Green, president of the American Federation of Labor, has declared the executive council of the Federation is giving special atten- tion to educational budgets because of the drastic curtailment of educa- tional activities in many communi- ties. He pointed out that if economy _ programs that called for the discharge of teachers continued, it would mean the breaking down of the morale of the teaching staffs. He deplored the failure of some cities to pay teachers for months at a time, and in this connection ad- vocated loans by the Reconstruction Finance Corporation to cities whose boards of education had been unable to raise funds for teachers’ salaries. In some cases, he continued, a loan from the Government is the only thing that will prevent schools from clos- ing. “Every child should have an equal opportunity to education,” Mr. Green said. “The American Federation of Labor always has fought for the up- building of the public school system, as it is the cornerstone of democracy.” We’ve Got To Organize HERE is more at stake than decent salaries and working conditions for teachers for the next generation or two. The fate of public education as we know it is in the balance. The events of the next two years will determine whether the American people will have for their children the amount and quality of public educa- tion they desire and are willing to pay for or whether they will get what a few bankers permit them to have. In most cities the head of the local clearing house association is a far more powerful governmental figure than the mayor, city council, board of education and superintendent of schools combined. Bolstered by a successful propaganda that all government is wasteful and extravagant, he dictates salaries, the number of employees and even the activities to be engaged in by the local city and school authorities. If his orders are not obeyed, no money is furnished to meet public expenses. So dependent has government become upon the banks, their will is law. There has been no tendency for these dictators to favor expenditures for school purposes over other public functions. In fact, in one glaring instance, Chicago, the money lords have discriminated against school em- ployees in doling out long past due salary money. The banks as guardians of their depositors’ money are justified in re- fusing to make unsound loans. (How many, if any, banks have failed because of bad loans to cities and school districts?) When banks or bankers specify just how each loan made to a public body must be spent, they seem to be going a bit too far. It smacks of political domination. What are the teachers of America going to do about it? They can do nothing and see their salaries and conditions slip back to a point from which recovery during their lifetimes is beyond hope. They can watch public education become dominated by groups of wealthy men whose principal interest in education is lower taxes since their own children can and usually do attend private schools. The teachers can and must organize the parents of the American children for the purpose of regaining control of their schools. They must first be soundly organized themselves. A teachers’ organization to be the most effective should be connected with as large a group of parents interested in the public schools as possible, The largest organization of parents in America is the American Federa- tion of Labor. Its members have children in the public schools and very few in the expensive private schools, Public education has never had better friend or more loyal supporter than the Federation and its members These millions of men and women are interested primarily not as taxpayers but as parents. This great organization is the one hope in retaining or re- gaining popular control of education. The members of the American Federation of Labor are in sore straits themselves in this period of depression, but can be depended upon to support public education at any sacrifice. If the great body of American teachers were organized and affiliated with them, public education and the self respect and welfare of the teachers might be saved. The American Federation of Teachers is affiliated with the American Federation of Labor and needs the support of the teachers of America. The responsibility for organizing these teachers rests with the American Federation of Teachers and its members. The national organization at its recent convention provided for an extensive and intensive organization cam- paign. The members must do their part. With nation wide salary cuts, curriculum cuts, withdrawal of sick leave, shortening of school terms, withholding of salaries and all the other break- ing down of conditions, a stronger national organization is imperative. Strong local organizations in a few cities are not enough. Cities with large locals have maintained their conditions remarkably well considering the general breakdown throughout the country. This proves the value of organization and the desirability of its extension. Heretofore, organization has been desirable. Now, it is necessary not only to maintain salaries and working conditions for teachers but to preserve publicly controlled public schools. Without it, democracy in education an education for democracy is not even a possibility for the future. prese: olutio Party educ: Syste: ee ee NE eee a \- its ort ers ect can OcTOBER, 1932 13 Education for Democrac Shall the Children Pay? No, say Kane County, III., officials. A substantial cut in real estate valuations and consequent reduction in taxation will not affect the Kane County schools. School children are not to lose because their elders have failed in business acumen and eco- nomic understanding, “We wili not take it out on the children,” Superintendent Waldo of East Side schools said. “Every other economy will be made, but the schools will be kept open.” To maintain the schools on full time at maximum efficiency is a pro- cedure for revenue harassed com- munities contrary to the usual prac- tice of cutting school costs first. This action in Kane County is heartening to all who believe in Amer- ica’s system of public education and in the rights of childhood. Dollars vs. Children in Detroit The public schools of Detroit will close May 26 in 1933, thereby short- ening the school year by four weeks and eliminating the June payroll, a saving of $2,310,000. The resolution to this effect was adopted on the recommendation of Frank Cody, superintendent of schools, and opposed only by Edward H. Williams, a member of the board of education, supported and endorsed by Labor. The city of Detroit has decided that things are not bad enough there and that the children and the future citizens must bear a share of the burden. Putting it on the children is the last word in passing the buck. To quote no less an eminent educator than President Hutchins, of the Uni- versity of Chicago, “Only a people who had no conception of the place of education in its national life could contemplate the ruin of the next gen- eration as the best remedy for gov- ermmental insolvency.” Political Party Platforms and Public Education President Green of the American Federation of Labor at the request of the American Federation of Teachers presented this statement to the Res- olutions Committee of the Republican Party at its convention in June. We urge the whole-hearted support to education, particularly the public school System of America, which should not be permitted to fall below its present stand- ard of efficiency, but should be constantly improved even during the period of de- pression. Nothing could be more disastrous than a curtailment of educational facilities for the present generation of young Amer- icans. A committee from the A. F. T. Convention appeared before the Res- olutions Committee of the Democratic Party and asked for the adoption of an educational plank. Educational Plank for the Demo- cratic Platform Educational statesmanship is the need of the hour. America must attract the highest type of socially-minded men and women to the teaching profession. This means not only sound tenure laws, but plso academic freedom as well as a cul- tural wage. The Democratic Party as a friend and supporter of public educa- tion, and especially state control of edu- cation, pledges to maintain and where possible to improve educational stand- ards during the period of depression. While wholeheartedly supporting educa- tional economy in the sense of eliminat- ing educational waste and duplication or husbanding educational resources to the utmost, it is opposed to a suicidal form of educational economy which expresses itself in the form of curtailment of nec- essary educational activity, in teacher- salary reduction, in the increase in the size of classes, or in the shortening of the school year. A similar resolution was presented at the convention of the Socialist Party in Milwaukee. Appreciation Chicago Herald-Examiner WHEREAS, During the past year the teachers of Chicago have suffered untold hardships because of delayed payments of salaries, and WHEREAS, The Chicago Herald-Ex- aminer has throughout the year given a fair and accurate news record of the school situation, and WHEREAS, During the past six weeks the Chicago Herald-Examiner has mili- tantly and courageously waged a fight to keep the schools open, to maintain teach- ers’ salary schedules, and to secure the payment of teachers’ salaries on time and in cash, and WHEREAS, This newspaper has car- ried on this fight daily through its news columns, through its editorial columns and through the sponsoring and financing of the delegates of Chicago that appeared in Washington, D. C., before a Committee of the United States Senate asking Fed- eral aid for the Chicago schools; there- fore be it RESOLVED, That the American Fed- eration of Teachers in convention as- sembled expresses deep gratitude to the Chicago Herald-Examiner, the editor, Mr. Victor Watson, and the publisher, Mr. William Randolph Hearst, for the intel- ligent interest, the understanding sym- pathy, and the valuable assistance which they have rendered to the school and the teachers of Chicago, and to the cause of education throughout the nation. | WILLIAM J. BOGAN The re-election of Mr. Bo- gan on June 29 to the super- intendency of the Chicago Schools for a term of four years was announced to the Convention in session, The news was received with great enthusiasm by the dele- gates, for it is not only Chicago _ teachers but teachers the world | over who have the deepest ad- miration and regard for Supt. Bogan. The following communication was at once forwarded to him. One of the most pleasant con- vention memories of the American Federation of Teachers is the oppor- tunity we enjoyed in our Twelfth Annual Convention in 1928 to wel- come the election to the superinten- dency of the second city of our land of an educator long outstanding for his vigorous championship of the educational birthright of the chil- dren of all the people, and of the essential value of the initiation and freedom and security of the teachers of those children. That pleasure is renewed now, and the Sixteenth An- nual Convention of the American Federation of Teachers by unani- mous vote desires again to extend to you and to the people and schools of Chicago most sincere congratula- tions. Your record for the four diffi- cult years just past, your consistent attitude of cooperation with the teachers and the community, and your splendid leadership in the exist- ing emergency in education have our hearty admiration and respect, and afford us a much needed stimulus to hope and action in this period of depression. ‘citi * 9 Esperantists’ Congress The twenty-fourth international congress of Esperantists was held in Paris, France, the first week in August. 1,650 delegates, representing 35 coun- tries, were in attendance. Four plenary sessions, twenty profes- sional meetings and five university confer- ences were held, and a play was acted in Esperanto. The next congress Cologne in 1933. will be held at There never was a time when it was so important to be a union man. There never was a time when it was so impor- tant to BRING IN A NEW MEMBER. 14 AMERICAN TEACHER THE Our Economic Dilemma and Our Schools James Mullenbach Address given at the Sixteenth Annual Convention of the American Federation of Teachers, June 28, 1932, Chicago HAVE been asked to speak somewhat broadly about the economic conditions that are exhibited in the con- dition in which we are, Of course, our country is in an economic condition the like of which we have never experienced in all the years of our history. It is a con- dition that was not foreseen by the wisest of our eco- nomic business leaders, whether they had been the pro- fessional or academic group, and after three years of experience with the depression I think we should begin to spell it with two E’s. After three years of experi- ence with this depression the leaders are still as baffled as they were. As I read the economists’ utterances, they seem to be puzzled over the cause for this depression in which we are, some ascribing it to what is called customary over- production, that we produce goods to such an extent that the shelves are finally found to be full. Prices are reduced in order to move them, workers are laid off and factories closed, and the spiral runs down and down until it has gotten to where our commodity prices are going into the cellar. The other groups say, “No, it is really due to the fact that we are on a gold basis and the production and dis- tribution of gold has brought about a restriction of credit, and thereafter the general buying power and economic enterprise of the world.” Now, you can just take your choice of these two, or neither one. The fact of the matter is that we are in a depression, a condition that has brought about dislocation and unemployment, for there are actually out of work, at least ten million workers, men and women, in America today. Some significant authorities think it will run as high as twelve million and even in some cases some of them have stated fifteen million. [Illinois is one of the States that has a careful collation of statistics even though it does not have an actual enumeration. It is based on esti- mates consistently made from year to year. The sta- tisticians say that in the city of Chicago there are some- thing in the neighborhood of 700,000 idle men and women who were customarily employed in our industries. We have in the State of Illinois 1,400,000 unemployed at the present time. The number in the city is equal to about one-half of our working population, and the wage level has sunk to a point of 54.5% of the return in the years before our trouble. We have on the relief rolls in Cook County about 120,000 families. We have, altogether, about 650,000 individuals now receiving relief from the State Com- mission. Just to give you an idea of what those figures mean, that is a number greater than the population of either North or South Dakota, and larger than the popu- lation of Milwaukee or St. Louis, or the combined popu- lations of St. Paul and Minneapolis. You can see the condition in which we are as a people from those figures, and from the outlook, the thing that sends a shiver through us, is the thing that we are facing this winter without any promise of adequate funds. and please be advised that during this year these people have not been supported adequately by the funds that have been provided. The*Workers’ Committee on Unemployment made a week’s investigation in January and found that all the moral sanctions that ordinarily are present in a com- munity with work were broken down under this degrad- ing, humiliating, and inefficient scheme of relief. I can call it those names; I happen to be chairman of the committee that supervises the lodging houses for the care of homeless men. We made an _ investigation through the Church Federation, and I happen to be chairman of a committee in that connection, so I will take the responsibility of what I say. We found that all over the city, all the virtues that go to the establish- ment and maintenance of a business economy were dis- appearing under the pressure of our relief system, the inadequacy of it, and the uncertainty of it. We were paying very little rent, people had to be set out on the streets before they would be moved into some other quarters. Clothing has been inadequate. We were pay- ing no gas or electric light. I do not need to stop but a moment to tell you the significance of having bright lights in the home so far as the maintenance of the morale of the household is concerned. It is a very vital thing. In a sense it is just as vital as food, drink and shelter. There has been absolutely no adequate pro- vision for the decency or comfort of these people who have been suffering. Actually, the foundations of our moral order are going out under the pressure of the present conditions. We have discovered that on the average it takes about eighteen months for a family to exhaust its earnings and resources and savings before it comes over to the relief list, but you can imagine what is going to happen in the city of Chicago, the city of Detroit, the city of New York, and all the large centers this next fall, by reason of the fact that our industries are not opening up. I think people will say, “Well, what are you going to do about it all, and especially, what are you going to say to the teachers?” So far as the general relief is concerned, I would say that I think the teachers are involved with the rest of us in trying to secure adequate relief for those who are in need, and I think that the only place that we can get that now is at Washington, because in the State of Illinois, at least, we practically have exhausted our credit. There ought to be proposals made to Congress for the maintenance of the schools, and when you speak of the maintenance of a school, what you mean is the support and strengthening of the teaching force, your classroom teachers. The teaching force has been the conserving force in the community. I think the trouble with most teachers—and I think you Union teachers know it bettet than anyone else because you tried to shame them out of their complacence and get them into your organize tion, and yeu know what difficulty you have in persuaté ing them to come in—is that teachers are tempera mentally complacent. They accept a regular order with out any particular exercise of their critical faculties. I know that you have heard Mr. McDade, of 0 schools here, talk about the necessity of bringing int the schoolroom a scheme of teaching that would b really scientific in arousing the intellect of the child am bringing it to a point of suspended judgment on eve - & @. af eee ae ee cou Sch nati sho tion the job for of ¢ spen than and a bi shou hd on be rill lat sh- is- he ore the 1er ay- but ght the ital and TO- vho our the out ings the ypen y of , by up. oing oing elief ; are juate - the 7ton, cally r the f the pport room rving most etter n out \niza- suad- pera: wi es. f out 4 inte Id be id ane eve OcTOBER, 1932 proposal that was brought before it. The characteristic of teaching in the past, according to McDade, has been an instruction that led to assent on the part of the child, instead of the exercise of his discriminatory faculties, the exercise of hesitation, of examination, of acceptance after reaching definite convictions through rational proc- esses. Now, I think that teaching in the past has been too much of this complacent kind, the kind that has extorted assent from the child rather than promoting his critical and discriminatory quality of mind, and so we have raised up a nation of slogan-followers. If you can devise a good slogan for any movement you can pretty nearly get it going in this American habit of mind of conformity. The words that Wells put in his “Outline of History,” that “civilization is really a race between education and catastrophe,” are truer today than the day he wrote them. We did not anticipate in that time any such world-wide catastrophe such as we are passing through now, but if we are going to hold our own against the forces that are distintegrating us, it will be because we have an intelligent citizenship. Our Republic was founded upon the theory that we had a population, that, so far as character was concerned, could be accepted— it had the moral stamina. The only thing that worried the “founding fathers,” as Mr. Harding described them, was the question of whether they were intelligent enough. So, as you know, Jefferson set up in the Northwest Territory, Section 16, to make the school a social center, the community center, the center of in- telligence, where the forces of intelligence and the moral quality of the community would radiate from the com- munity center, the country school. If Congress has wisdom and understanding and appreciation of the neces- sity of maintaining the public school as a bulwark of our present order, it will see to it that the application of the teachers that was sent to Washington will be acted upon favorably. I think that one.thing the united teachers ought to do, the teachers in the Unions, is to urge the Senate Committee on Labor to begin a nation- wide investigation into school financing, urban and rural, I think they ought to deal with the standards of in- struction and the scope of the curriculum. When I think of school financing, | mean how the finances are raised, how disbursed, and what portion goes to the teacher and what portion goes aleng the line, and what portion perhaps is distributed in places where it is not needed, but where it is expected “to do the most good.” I think there ought to be a canvass made of the relations of the public school to public welfare. Just how do the public schools today function in our national economy? What is their worth, after all, as a social institution? Why should not the Senate Com- mittee on Education and Labor, through the Department or Bureau of Education at Washington, begin such a country-wide investigation into the financing of the Schools, if they are one of the great bulwarks of the nation, along with the home and the church. Why should not the schools welcome that type of investiga- tion? When I say, “investigation” I do not mean by the Senators; I mean by experts who will do such a job for the general system as the Strayer people did for the people of Chicago. Why should not that kind of canvass be made throughout the whole nation—we spend money for other things that are less worth while than what the schools are doing—what their needs are, and how they are being met or not being met adequately. Then, I should like to talk for a minute or two about a broad program with which, I think, the teachers should unite with all the forces of our country who are 15 really looking for some sort of redemption and retrieval from all these evil days. You are, of course, a part of the American Federation of Labor, and I should like to emphasize first the proposal that the American Fed- eration of Labor makes. Its chief proposal with regard to the cure of the present unemployment condition is re- duced working time. I think we ought to start with the Federal Government. I think we ought to see to it that Federal employees are first put on the six-hour day; then I think that Organized Labor, of which you are a part, should see to it that all contracts that are made under government, for the expenditure of government money, should carry with them a clause in the specifications providing for the six-hour day and the five-day week. Action of that kind would mean an entering wedge in establishing the six-hour day and the five-day week. I think that Labor could do a great deal in putting through that item in its program if it really went at it systematically and saw to it that those two provisions were urged upon the Government. This is a good year to do it when all the politicians are looking for votes. I do not believe that unemployment insurance at this present moment would be able to retrieve the situation, but I am sure that if we ever get back to anything that approaches normalcy, unemployment insurance would act as a brake upon anything that would approach a time such as we now have. In the first nine e@nonths of 1930, according to the Standard Statistics Company, capital spent $635,000,000 more in dividends and interest disbursements than in the corresponding nine months of 1929. How did that happen? Nobody will pretend that that money was earned in 1930, when we were shrinking. In fact, we started to shrink in June, 1929, but did not land until the stock market went out in October and November of that year. That money represented the savings and setting aside of surpluses in previous years. Now, if capital can thus set aside surplus to insure itself against slow times, why cannot money be set aside to provide for labor during slow times? Utility com- panies take care of that all right, as you know. How do they handle it? You know the economists have divided unemployment into three different sections— seasonal, technological and cyclical unemployment. The same thing happens to capital as to labor. Take the Utility Companies. They go before the Utilities Com- mission and want an allowance. When they ask for this fare of seven cents, ten cents, or whatever it is, included in that fare are provisions for the unemploy- ment of capital. They say, “We want a six per cent return on the investment of our money.” It makes no difference whether part of the cars are in the barns, and we are in the remaining few cars, hanging on the straps, or all the cars are on the streets, we have to pay for the invest- ment of all that capital. They have a seasonal unemploy- ment insurance on their returns. Not only that, they have an old age pension scheme attached to their public utility. They say, “Look, our cars wear out; our rails wear out. We have to replace them. We have to junk them. They grow old and be- come decrepit. We can’t afford to lose any money while we are doing that, so you will have to give us an allow- ance for depreciation.” That is what it is called; it is really an old age pension for capital. 3ut these wise boys aren’t content with that. They have a provision for taking care of the technological dis- location of capital. They go before the Commission and say, “Yes, that is true; you have given us an allowance for the use of our money, whether it is working or not. 16 It is true that you have taken care of the old age of our capital, but we have a lot of wise boys around the lab- oratories and they get new kinds of motors and new types of cars and new types of control, and everything of that kind, and we have to go to work and junk our cars. We have to take up the square edged rails, even if they are not worn out, because they are no longer serviceable, and put in grooved rails. We suffer from technological dislocation of capital, and we have to have some insurance against that,” and these wise men sitting in the court, these commissions, say, “Sure, that’s right; that is proper,” and they put in a provision for what they call ““Obsolescent Depreciation.” It is nice to hit upon these legal phrases. Now, if capital—and I am not blaming capital for having this foresight and understanding—has the sense to do that, why shouldn’t labor have the right kind of sense in its head to make some provision for the time when it is going to suffer from these seasonal slacks, from technological depression, and cyclical depression, and depreciation or old age? Now, I think that we shall have to come to some re- duction in the budget of our government, as has been advocated, but I would not begin to reduce the budget at any point until we have started with the armaments. If the boys who are advocating the reduction of public expense are willing to start with armaments and go through with it, I would be willing to look at the ex- penditures that go out for the other services for the people. I would not be in favor of the reduction of our budget until the folk who are so strong for re- ducing public expenses, as our friend “The Tribune,” were ready and willing to go into the matter of the re- duction of armaments. The reduction is going to be forced upon us, anyway, throughout the whole world. The world today is spending, in round numbers, five billion dollars a year on armaments. We, ourselves, are contributing about eight hundred millions in this country toward that gigantic sum. How the world can stagger under that financial burden and expect to be prosperous must be a mystery, it seems to me, to any economist. There has been a proposal also made about the mat- ter of the Eighteenth Amendment. Well, I have only this to say about that, that, after all, we have only so much return. If you spend the money that is earned for booze, you cannot spend it fot shoes. It is just a question as to where the worker’s money is going to go. I think it is a great deal better to have it going into his wife’s hat, cloaks, dresses, and the children’s shoes and stockings, than going into the corner saloon. There is a diversity of opinion about that, but for me, I do not have any question about it and I do not see any relief for the present situation by the repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment. England has had all the beer it has wanted for the last twelve years and it has been in the slough since 1920. For twelve years England has been endur- ing what we have been experiencing in the last three years. It has never slumped to the degree we have, but England has had a permanent unemployed mining force of three hundred thousand men that have not been doing any work for the last twelve years, off and on. I want to say a word about the cancellation of war debts. I have a friend, an economist, who has said, “Yes, it is all right to put through shorter working hours, and to have the government appropriate money for public employment, and it is better to buy up govern- ment bonds and release credit in the banks, and all the rest of it, but we are never going to get anywhere until those debts are cancelled and the redistribution of gold THE AMERICAN TEACHER has taken place.” I said, “I can’t see where there is so much trouble about this matter of gold.” He said, “You used to play marbles, didn’t you?” I said, “Yes, and I was good. I skinned the other fellows generally.” He said, “When you got all the marbles, they couldn’t play.” I said, “No, of course not—unless they got more marbles.” He said, “That is the way France and the United States have all the gold, and the others have not enough, They are not playing with us. They are playing their own game. They are pushing down our commodity prices to get over our tariff walls. The only way they can pay us for anything is by paying in goods. They push our prices down until they pull us down with them. That is what we are suffering from. The fact of the matter is, we could not afford to collect on those debts. How could they pay us? Only in goods. If they paid us in goods some of the few factories that we have working would have to shut down very soon. The wise thing to do, as one of my friends said, is to take this paper over to Europe, call a conference, and say, “Gentlemen, it is true that you owe us this money. We know you are hard up. It is going to be difficult for you to pay it and hard for us to collect it. But I will tell you what we will do: as a matter of Yankee bar- gaining, you cut your war budget in half and we will throw this paper into the wastebasket.” I said, “I know that our politicians won’t have the nerve to call a conference to consider the matter, and that the European nations, unless punished dreadfully, will not consent to a reduction of war expenditures.” Since that time the President has put out his pro- posal to cut them about one-third. I think the most important thing of all, as a cure for our depression, looking toward something better, and certainly for the time being, what we will ultimately be forced to do, will be to resort to what is customarily called a “Planned Economy.” I think that we have an example of controlled economy in our railroad system. There are some of you, as grayheaded as myself, who can remember when the railroads were entirely uncon- trolled. They charged what the traffic would bear, what they could get out of you, and granted rebates to their favorites. If you want to, read Ida Tarbell’s book on Standard Oil and you will find an account of how the Standard Oil Company got no rebates from the railroads in which they had directorships, but that those railroads paid into the treasury of the Standard Oil the excess charges that they put on their competitors. That is how the railroads were operated in those days. If you were acquainted with a conductor in those times, he would tell you that there were more deadheads rid- ing in his car than live ones that paid for their tickets. Every pothouse politician could get a pass for him- self and his family, to travel any place in the country free. Those were the conditions. They put out all the bonds, all the stocks they pleased. The railroads were waterlogged, and had to be put on the auction block, and these same fellows went in and bought them back for a song. That is the sort of financing that our railroads em dured, and when organizations, like “The Tribune” and others, complain about the control of railroads being im the hands of the Interstate Commerce Commission, you must remember that these railroads are still suffering from the over-capitalization that comes down from those old days—which has never been radicated—ar? ee ee a a ee is id, cr @ n’t re ed rh, eir ity ley ley ith of Ose If we “he ike ay, We for vill ar- vill the and lly, ” rO- for and rily an em. who rhat heir on now the 10S€ the Phat If nes, rid- en FOUN VOLE HUAN & TATUM A LL Ww _ "19 °20 "21 °22 oo = my NM May ’16’ Our Greatest Glory Consists Not in Never Falling, But in Rising Every Time We Fall city central bodies, followed by survey of contacts with interested teachers. How many times have I been told that teachers have been unfairly treated because of Chicago! Using Chi- cago as a horrible example, Boards of Education have proceeded to ill treat their teachers. yond a local situation. It is beyond an independent teachers association. Would this which has happened to the schools, to society, have happened so drastically if teachers had been organized in trade unions, if work- ers and teachers had been organized together? A _ na- tional movement is needed for it is the nation’s schools that need protection. If Chicago teachers lose their fight to preserve standards, the standards of all the schools will be lowered. If the Washington teachers lose their fight to preserve salaries, all salaries will drop lower and lower. If California teachers lost their fight to keep their tenure, tenure is gone in America. It isn’t Chi- cago’s fight or Washington’s fight or California’s fight. It is the fight of every teacher everywhere. What is needed in the face of the present crisis is not only the union of all the teachers but the union of all the workers. It is by “the union of all those who work whether with their hands or their heads,” by union teachers working in and with organized labor that there can be hope for ourselves, our schools, our society. The American Fed- eration of Teachers is joined with the one force that is making for a new world. Other teachers should have this proud privilege. We alone cannot save the situa- tion. The American Federation of Teachers is the solu- tion of the teachers’ problem of effective organization. The time to start is NOW. Are we ready? Policies Committee The Committee on Policies, Mr. McCoy, Chicago Men Local 2, chairman, reported on the Organization Report, Resolution 2, introduced by Minneapolis Fed- eration of Teachers Local 59 on the creation of an or- ganization fund, and Resolution 53, introduced by Dele gate Mann, Atlanta 89, on southern organization, a8 follows: fields and J — SE RT ale I ote in a ee = This is now be- J a & 4 oe ve ~- = ae tot st OUmhCUrlUmlUCU OO cil tic str ch en OcTOBER, 1932 The Committee on Policies has read with interest the or- ganization report submitted by the secretary-treasurer. We wish to call to the attention of the convention the fact that much excellent work in this direction was done at small cost during the year just past. We recommend that the congratulations and thanks of the convention be addressed to Mrs. Hanson both on th: success of her efforts and on the low cost to the Federa- tion treasury. Substitute for Resolution 53 WHEREAS, At several preceding conventions resolutions have been adopted aimed at promoting the teacher union movement—sometimes generally, at other times with particular emphasis on sections; and WHEREAS, The execution of these resolutions has neces- sarily been ‘left to the national officers and the Executive Council; and 23 A. F. T. Teachers Placement Bureau The 1931 Convention of the American Federation of Teachers set up a committee to inquire into the need and advisability of establishing a Placement Bureau. Miss Amy A. Fox was made chairman. The problem which the Committee set was on the basis of needed service. Is there a real need of a Placement Bureau in the na- tional office of the American Federation of Teachers, (1) for the beginning teacher, (2) for the experienced teacher who for personal reasons may wish a change, (3) for spirited teachers who may have lost their positions on account of frank expres- sion of opinion on social or economic or political co idi.ions? Careful inquiry into the service rendered by commer- apemacemi-ee ag poeneey of financial ré¢ soearven has regu- cial agencies revealed that in the main charges were larly prevented the effective accomplishment of the intent of reasonable, treatment not unfair and the beginning these resolutions; and | ‘ nee re ss WHEREAS, The existing situation, which puts all teachers teacher furnished a means of contact. upon the defense of their own status and the defense of While the service to the new teacher, provided for by educational standards, offers an occasion and an opportunity agencies, university and normal school bureaus, is not a re Sens OC many Sew pees Reems Se 8 regarded as a special need, the Committee declares that RESOLVED, That the attention of the Executive Council Ce ee ee er oo a be directed to the unique opportunity for Federation growth lor the teacher dismissed, not for lack of efficiency, but presented by the current situation, that they bear in mind for his avowed opinion on some phase of the status quo ; that this period of danger and adversity makes the appeal a placement bureau is of immediate necessity. It avers a aoe —- eve can never be in that this is a situation that strikes at the very heart of ‘ normal circumstances and that every effort should be made - by the Council so to allocate revenues of the national or- our organization and the principles for which it stands. d ¢ agg to devote a! on ag — amount to the In discussing this part of the question, Dr. S. A. Ma- purpose oO organizing new iocais in the more strategic and hood of Denver savs: promising centers where local growth and stability seem d of Denver says: ¥ probable. “The program of the Federation, as I understand it, is one ” , of aggressive action for the improvement of the social ana ey Officers Reports Committee economic order through the teacher and as such it is bound - The Committee on Officers’ Reports, W. B. Satter- to react age - pron ns 4D » — oa to ad = it raite. Seattle 200. chairman ough fore ee primary duty oO € organization to protect the individua d thwa ’ he foll as 7 in, brought before the Con teacher against loss or humiliation; hence the chief func- vention the following: tion of a placement bureau in the Federation would seem One of the major activities of a labor organization should to be to take adequate care of those who in the furtherance: ‘ be continuous and aggressive organization effort. The Amer- of their duties as members lose their positions or are sub - ican Federation of Teachers has not in recent years given a jected to other punitive measures . . . Furthermore, if the 5 fair proportion of its effort to direct field organization work. organization does not stand unfailingly behind those who r As a policy not less than one-third of the gross receipts of courageously stand for it and its principles, its influence the Federation should be used for this purpose. One-third will become very much circumscribed. e . . . . of the income should be used for direct field organization _ . . 5 work, and specifically for the coming year the officers and The Committee points out that a Teachers Placement D Executive Council are instructed that all money received from Bureau will be a financial burden to the organization 4 the liquidation of notes from local unions and tax warrants but emphasizes that the service is now more needed 4 now held of date June 30, 1932, be placed in the organiza- than ever before tion fund to be used exclusively for field organization work —< . atatataets ’ : O sedi k tala Replying to the question of to what extent would ; r nization . . : : Sues ans recommendations from the American Federation of : _Upon the adoption of this policy the Executive Coun- Teachers help an applicant, the Committee says: : cil immediately took up the work of formulating a prac- _ pies... Oe ake ee: . Probably the greatest success that the department could tical method for carrying out these very definite in- achieve ole he oalliens closely linked with ~ successfully : structions. A committee composed of Selma M. Bor- it could build up a close cooperation between the national r chardt, Allie B. Mann, Charles B. Stillman, and Flor- office and efficient, energetic local committees. ‘ enc Curtis Hanson, chairman, was set up. R : This Committee presented to the Executive Council semen . a plan for an intensive organization campaign which In conclusion, the Placement Bureau Committee believes has been adopted. Four regional centers were created; He ie of wegen 1 “ = na- : ‘ : tonal office is not only necessary to care for the needs of our Altanta for the south with Miss Mann as regional rep- members, but is imperative for the social health of the or- resentative ; Wilkes-Barre, Penn., for the Middle Atlantic ganization. We hope that the bureau will eventually build with Miss Barbara C. McGlynn as regional representa- up for itself a real reputation for disseminating mature teach tive; San Francisco for the West and St. Paul for the ing ability of a very high order. We hope that eventually teachers of maturity and ability who may desire for various North Central, region: -presentatives for the or hee ; h C , regional representatives for the latter reasons to change their positions, may find it easier to do so two not yet chosen, happily and successfully through our bureau than it is at pres- | The survey of the Pennsylvania field has already be- ent, when the demand seems to be almost entirely for inex- gun and the work in all centers will be taken up actively perienced, low-priced teachers. Finally, although our study has shown no really great necessity of aid to the beginning teacher, we hope that eventually our service may extend to — the saving of shekels for the youth of our profession. But The present time is one in which it requires unusual above every consideration, if the placement bureau is estab- lished by the American Federation of Teachers, we hope : courage to be courageous. A weary acceptance of ap- that it will right some social wrongs among teachers in our parent defeat 1s easter. own corner of the working world. with the opening of schools, Work for Unemployed Teachers WHEREAS, Teachers as well as other types of workers are suffering as never before from unemployment; and WHEREAS, It is incumbent upon us to help care for our own and to be generous in allowing work to others; therefore be it RESOLVED, That the American Federation of Teachers request the Secretary-Treasurer to send to each local a plea that a strong committee be formed in the local to help unem- ployed teachers (1) By listing unemployed teachers wanting work. (2) By helping to make contacts between unemployed teachers and such teachers in the local system as may have the correcting of papers or other work that may be handled outside the classroom. WHEREAS, The policy of retrenchment in education is resulting in the non-appointment of new teachers and the dismissal of employed teachers not on permanent tenure thus adding scores of thousands to the army of unemployed, therefore be it RESOLVED, That the American Federation of Teachers and its affiliated locals organize campaigns against shortsighted economy programs in education and oppose any attempt to impair the free public school system, and be it further RESOLVED, That the American Federation of Teachers and its locals pledge cooperation with the unemployed teachers in their efforts to solve their problems, and be it further RESOLVED, That Boards of Education and public teacher training institutions be urged to devise sound and equitable methods for maintaining a balance between the needs of the school system and the numbers admitted to entering classes. Economy Programs and School Support “Economy programs” in their various forms and the means of combatting them were a major topic on the agenda of the A. F. T. Convention. Resolutions as follows were adopted: Protecting the School Year Resolution No. 36—Introduced by Chicago Women Local 3 WHEREAS, The school year of ten months has grown out of urban conditions; and WHEREAS, The first step in economy in a time of finan- cial stress is the attempt to shorten the length of the schooi year, and WHEREAS, Under present conditions of unemployment which have resulted in the demoralization of many homes, the school meets a social need in keeping the children occupied with educational activities of benefit to the individual, the state and the nation; therefore be it RESOLVED, That the American Federation of Teachers urge its constituent locals to take all possible steps to inform the public of the dangers inherent in any shortening of th« school year. Guarding the Curriculum Resolution No. 34—Introduced by Chicago Women Local 3 WHEREAS, The demands of our modern society have be- come so severe and so complex that the problem of the schools in preparing their students for living under present conditions has become tremendously involved, and WHEREAS, Because of the changing economic situation, many of the skills and arts formerly taught in the home have been transferred to the schools, and WHEREAS, The enrichment of the curriculum made nec- essary to meet this complex civilization has been achieved by the addition of (1) vocational and industrial studies, (2) by instruction in the fine arts, (3) by health programs, (4) by training, in the social studies and understanding of social, economic and political organization, (5) by vocational and educational guidance to help the student adjust himself to the community in which he must live, and by other extensions of school service, and WHEREAS, The shorter day in industry will mean that the generation in schools must be prepared for the right use of its leisure, therefore be it RESOLVED, That the American Federation of Teachers urge all its constituent locals to take vigorous action to guard against any curtailment of the school curriculum, or elim- ination of any educational activities, and that furthermore it THE AMERICAN TEACHER work in ever possible way to explain in all local communities the value of a diversified and purposeful course of study. Increased Cost of Public Schools Resolution No. 30—Introduced by Chicago Women Local 3 WHEREAS, At this time the panacea for all economic ills is reduction in governmental expenditures, and WHEREAS, The increase in the cost of public schon education during recent years is being given wide-spread pub- licity without due emphasis on the cause of this increase, an WHEREAS, The greatest increase in school population has been in the secondary schools where the cost is greater than in the elementary schools, as, for example, in Chicago where the increase in total school population in the last 16 years has been-63%, while the increase in the high schools has been 263%, and WHEREAS, Much of the increase in school expenditures is due to the higher price levels, since as late as Decem- ber, 1931, the dollar was worth 70 cents on the 1915 base in Chicago, where according to the Columbia University Survey, 39% of the increase in the total school expenditures for the last 16 years was due to increased price levels, and WHEREAS, Classes for anaemic, blind, crippled and sub- normal have contributed to the school costs in many com- munities, and WHEREAS, When the schools are paying for medical and dental inspection, school nurses, and are providing penny lunches in various localities, they are carrying the financial burden which should be borne by other governmental bodies; therefore be it RESOLVED, That the American Federation of Teachers urge its various locals to advertise and in every possible way bring to the attention of the public these and other contribut- ing causes for the increase in public school expenditures. The Depression and Education Resolution No. 32—Introduced by Chicago Women Local 3 WHEREAS, During the past two years due to the industrial depression, a tremendous increase in school membership has shown itself largely in the junior and senior high schools, and WHEREAS, The education of these workers, forced out of employment by industrial conditions over which they have no control, is a proper responsibility for the community to assume, and : WHEREAS, The increased burden on the schools has been accompanied by a decrease in school revenues, and WHEREAS, Public and private businesses have long used loans and bond issues as a means of financing: therefore be it RESOLVED, That the American Federation of Teachers recognizes as serious the emergency, created by a vast in- crease in school membership and a decrease in school rev- enues, and urges the expenditure of money by Boards oi Education in sufficient amounts properly to maintain adequate systems of education for all children of school age even though payment for this education must be made at some future date. Educating the Community to Support Public Schools Resolutions No. 4 and No. 38 combined—Introduced by Minneapolis Local 59 and Chicago Women Local 3 Taxpayers’ Associations and Chambers of Commerce are covering the country with propaganda designed to curtail school expenditures, thereby attacking the curriculum, the length of the school day and the school year, and the general effi- ciency of the public school service. Such propaganda, if successful, will deprive boys and girls in the public schools of the training which a depressed eco- nomic condition makes all the more imperative in order that these boys and girls may have the guidance and inspiration necessary to meet the new problems which youth and the community must face. It is also true that in some sections of the country such cur- tailment of the public school program would operate to deprive boys and girls in the public schools of educational advantages such as are received by students in the more favored private schools. The result would be discrimination jin educational advantages between the rich and the poor, a condition un- thinkable in a democracy. These attacks upon public school education can be defeated only by an enlightened public opinion. Therefore, the Amer- ican Federation of Teachers will undertake during the com- a - re co las ex) dr: . effi its are to \ sch per tiol be } in ¢ to met den it whc wh tion they mu! pub fell enur ot 1 plin; vita Res W con the redu W teacl have W in Sz tary W rule other best there RE toget all it wher the : Resoli WI Not c pende WI Situat ductic purch WI we re OcTOBER, 1932 ing year a publicity campaign for the purpose of presenting to the public the real effect upon the rising generation of injury to the public school system. In carrying out this program our executive officers will be expected to use the services of a publicity agency, such as the Labor Research Bureau, or to conduct the campaign with such necessary assistance as the office of the American Fed- eration of Teachers is able to employ. The locals are urged to cooperation in this campaign, using speakers’ and writers’ bureaus, local newspapers and radio stations, and any other possible avenue of publicity, in order to build up an alert public opinion on school questions. School Support in the Period of Recrenchment Resolution No. 31—Introduced by Chicago Women Local 3 WHEREAS, A decrease in public revenue due to economic conditions has been general throughout the country during the last two years, and WHEREAS, The retrenchment thus necessitated in public expenditures has in many communities been expressed in drastic cuts in appropriations for public schools, and WHEREAS, These reductions must inevitably reduce the efficiency of this great institution of service at a period when its stabilizing force is most needed, and when its resources are most heavily taxed by the increased school population due to the wide-spread unemployment, and WHEREAS, Such reductions in the efficiency of our public schools constitute a grave menace to our nation during this period of economic distress and an unfair and unwise restric- tion in opportunity for the youth of the nation; therefore be it RESOLVED, That the American Federation of Teachers in convention assembled call first, upon the people of America to take heed to the danger to which this policy of retrench- ment in public school support is exposing the nation, since democratic government is founded on public education: that it call second, upon all organizations and -individuals to whom the well-being of our nation is sacred to throw the whole weight of their power and influence into the protec- tion of our public schools: and third, it charge its locals that they recognize their responsibility for awakening in their com- munities anew the tradition of American devotion to the public school, and that they place squarely before thei: fellow-citizens the danger in which reduction of school rev- enues will place their schools, to the end that the sentiment of the community shall demand of public officials that crip- pling retrenchments be not made in that public service most vital to the welfare of the community and of the nation Salary Cuts Resolution No. 6—Introduced by Cambridge Local 195 WHEREAS, The American Federation of Labor at its last convention jn Vancouver reaffirmed its position in regard to the economic unsoundness and injustice of wage or salary reductions in this present crisis, and WHEREAF, Throughout the United States severe cuts in teachers’ salaries have been made, and automatic have been withheld, and WHEREAS, In many cities and towns virtual decreases in salaries have been brought about by the so-called “volu: tary contributions” to unemployment relief funds, and WHEREAS, It is a well known fact that as a general tule teachers’ salaries have not kept pace with the wages of other workers or with the cost of living, and that at their best teachers’ salaries have been far from adequate; be it therefore RESOLVED, That the American Federation of Teachers together with the American Federation of Labor oppose with all its power and influence any salary cuts, and in places where such cuts have been made endeavor to bring about the restoration of the previous schedule. increases Salary Reduction Resolution No. 7 (a)—Introduced by New York Local 5 WHEREAS, The depression has brought great hardships, not only upon millions of our fellow citizens and their de- pendents, but also upon communities; and WHEREAS, The attempt in certain localities to meet the situation resulting from financial emergency by salary re- duction is not only unwise but dangerous since it decreases purchasing power and thereby intensifies the depression; and WHEREAS, The financial predicament in which many lo- 2 ut calities find themselves is due not only to the depression, but also to unwise financing and the failure to take the fullest social advantage of taxing possibilities; and WHEREAS, Teachers, as well as public servants in gen- eral, have for years suffered a serious loss in purchasing power because of price inflation, stationary salaries and un- usual profiteering upon the part of business men‘and finan- ciers; and WHEREAS, President Hoover said: “The very first obligation upon the natural resources is the undiminished financial support of the public schools. We cannot afford to lose ground in education. That is neither economy nor good government.” and WHEREAS, Educational outlays are investments rather than expenditures, the curtailment of which will throw the schools back into the morass from which 30 years of con- structive educational statesmanship has brought them; there- fore be it RESOLVED, That the American Federation of Teachers go on record as unalterably opposed to the unwise, unjust, economically suicidal policy of wage reductions, which bleeds the schools rather than eliminates inequalities, and, instead, recommend the following social program which is economy in the best and truest sense; (1) The maintenance, and where necessary, the increase in teacher standards. (2) The limitation of class enrollment so as not to exceed 35, so that retardation, maladjustment and delinquency be reduced to a minimum. (3) The creation of special classes to meet varying edu- cational needs. (4) Individualized instruction to enable the children to travel at their own speed, to give all a sense of achievement instead of frustration. (5) The catching up in school building program at th« present low building rates, and thus reduce part time. (6) The elimination of real waste as embodied in un- necessary jobs, in duplication of activity, in the payment of ad- ministrative salaries for what is really clerical work, in exorbi- tant condemnation payments for school sites, in inflated repair rates, in the installation of expensive non-workable, heating devices, in having high salaried teachers and administrators do various kinds of clerical work, in unnecessary ordering of too great a variety of supplies and their inefficient utilization Voluntary Contributions Resolution No. 7 (b)—Introduced by New York Local 5 WHEREAS, Salary cuts are in many instances initiated and carried through by means of “voluntary contributions” and remissions of salary, as in Detroit. Pittsburgh, Jersey City, and New Rochelle; therefore be it RESOLVED, That the American Federation of Teachers advise its locals— (a) To conduct an educational campaign to the end that teachers realize that a voluntary contribution, no matter how small at the beginning and regardless of method used in its collection, is a salary reduction. (b) That locals urge teachers not to remit any part of their salary. Basis of Taxation Resolution No. 29—Introduced by Chicago Women Local 3 WHEREAS, Taxes are levied for the purpose of making it possible that the various units of governments render th« services which society has delegated to them, and WHEREAS, During this period of business depression, schools are the haven for thousands of young people de- prived of employment who present a tremendous problem our schools are inadequately prepared to meet, and WHEREAS, Law enforcing bodies are finding added rea- son for their existence, charitable institutions are crowded beyond capacity, and many other governmental agencies are confronted with enormously increased duties, and WHEREAS, Self-constituted citizens’ committees have seen fit to recommend reduced tax levies or expenditures on the basis of what these committees estimate the taxpayers can o1 will pay and through propaganda have attempted to force the adoption of these levies, and WHEREAS, It is futile to expect that such determina tion of tax levies will more than superficially take into consideration the comparative value of the various services rendered by these bodies, and 26 WHEREAS, Such procedure will undoubtedly materially impair the functioning of the schools and other govern mental bodies which are abnormally extended during this period of economic chaos; therefore be it RESOLVED, That the American Federation of Teachers oppose any attempts to determine the tax levies or expen- ditures by unofficial committees who do not have proper under- standing or due consideration for the social services rendered by the bodies for which the levies are made. School Finance Resolution No. 52—Introduced by Chicago Men Local 2 WHEREAS, During the past year or more there have been successful efforts over the entire country sharply to reduce the expenditures for tax-supported education, efforts which continue unabated, and WHEREAS, These reductions have, in nearly all cases, re- sulted in a curtailment of the services rendered by the schools or a lowering of the quality of those services and in either case have compelled the teachers to carry part of the burden which should be assumed by the community, and WHEREAS, In most cases of these curtailments they are not due to any inherent poverty of the community, since it is often one whose aggregate wealth is high in proportion to its school expenditures, and WHEREAS, The public schools are universally admitted to be necessary for social stability and progress, which are ef- fectively served only in proportion as the services of the schools are maintained and extended; therefore be it RESOLVED by the American Federation of Teachers, That (1) in the name of the teaching body of the nation and of the pupils in our public schools we protest against the false economy of curtailing the services of the schools and of reducing the incomes of the educational staffs of thos« schools, and that (2) We believe that the available statistics of our national wealth and income, reduced as the latter is at this time, show that the individual states and that the nation as a whole are able to maintain without distress the aggregate of expenditure for public schools which they made in school year of 1929-30. State Aid Resolution No. 11—Introduced by New York Local 5 WHEREAS, Localities, because of inequalities of wealth, find themselves incapable not only of establishing equal edu cational opportunity for their children but also of adequately financing essential school needs, and WHEREAS, Taxes on real property are largely inflexible, at times unjust and often bear heavily upon small land owners, and WHEREAS, Educational needs must be met if America is to develop intelligent, world-minded, thinking, courageous citizens, ready to do their part in the solution of world prob lems; therefore be it RESOLVED, That educational opportunities be equalized through larger grants of state aid, the state securing its needed revenue from income taxes, franchise taxes, mortgag: taxes, a tax on gasoline and other forms of equitable taxation On New York City Board of Education Economy Program Resolution No. 19—Introduced by New York Local 5 WHERFAS, The depression and political extravagance have forced public officials to face the problem of economy in public expenditures, and WHEREAS, The Monthly Survey of Business published by the American Federation of Labor defines economy as “reducing waste, not cutting out expenditures necessary for the constructive functioning of government,” and WHEREAS, Curtailment of necessarv educational activity is not only poor economy but is socially menacing since that means reduction in the number of regular teachers, prevents the appointment of new teachers and substitutes, and thereby results in further unemployment and curtailed buying power, an WHEREAS, Educational economy in the form of increas ing the pupil load per teacher in the public schools is socially unwise since it will increase retardation, truancy and de linquency, and WHEREAS, The efforts to destroy free education at Hunter College, City College of New York, and Brooklyn College, by forcing students to pay $2.50 per point or $37.5 THE AMERICAN TEACHER per year exclusive of library and laboratory charges, is equally dangerous; therefore be it RESOLVED, That the American Federation of Teachers express their unalterable opposition to such an unsound form of economy because it is not only pedagogically and eco- nomically wasteful and socially dangerous, but ultimately defeats the constructive purposes for which public education is established. Federal Aid for Public Education Resolution No. 50 Introduced by Chicago Men Local 2 WHEREAS, Public Education, although a state function and subject to control by state and local agencies only, is a primary national necessity in a democracy, and a serious im- pairment of public education in any part of the country is an injury to the nation; and WHEREAS, In many sections of our country there has been a large lowering of educational standards, manifesting itself in shortened school years and a serious reduction of educational facilities and opportunities; and WHEREAS, In some localities because of the temporary dislocation of the machinery of taxation the teachers have carried on their own shoulders the full burden of school support which should rightfully be borne by the community, having received only a few months pay during the past year, and unless funds can be secured for payment of back sal- aries, schools cannot be reopened, and public education must collapse in such communities; and WHEREAS, During this depression the stabilizing influ- ence of the schools is needed as never before, and a tre- mendous overload is thrown on the schools since young people unable to obtain jobs must be in the schools or on the street, with all the demoralization and danger to the nation that implies; therefore be it RESOLVED, That this Sixteenth Convention of the Ameri- can Federation of Teachers memorialize Congress to author- ize the Finance Reconstruction Corporation to loan to states for and on behalf of the municipalities, such as cities and school districts, for payment of salaries when in the opinion of the Board of Directors of the Reconstruction Finance Cor- poration such municipalities are unable to obtain funds upon reasonable terms through banking channels or from the gen- eral public, and can offer adequate security for such loans, Telegrams to Congress To the Senate and House of Representatives: American education faces a crisis. Thirteen thousand lo calities were forced to curtail constructive educational activity or to shorten the school year or to reduce salaries and teach- ing standards. As economic conditions make it impossible for these localt ties, however willing, to relieve the situation, we call upon you to amend the Wagner Bill to provide aid to enable these localities to maintain their former high educational standards and under full state control. We further request the immediate passage of the amended Wagner Bill to make possible the feeding of thousands of American undernourished children, the innocent victims of the depression. In these days when democracy is being challenged by die tatorships, let us remember that the Father of the Democracy, Thomas Jefferson, said: “Above all things, I hope educations of the common people will be attended to, convinced that om their good sense we may rely with the most security for tht preservation of a new degree of liberty.” Telegram to President Hoover His Excellency, the President of the United States: 13,000 localities were forced to curtail constructive educa tional activity because of adverse economic conditions enge dered by the depression. As one who has rendered a signal humanitarian service by feeding the starving of Belgium and Russia, we call upon you to use your high office to e& pedite the passage of the Wagner Bill which will make # possible for those localities, not only to maintain their formeét educational standards, but also to care for their thousands @ under-nourished children, the victims of the depression , Demand for Social and Economic Reconstruction Resolution No. 46—Introduced by Delegates of New York Local 5 The economic crisis has reached a stage of develof ment that enables teachers to see more plainly than evé O be oti pl. tio em ur dis cri: em wa fes 7 dict ploy not of sucl tion fect mas Am¢ ural men plani ers ; rece! natu: at th He due t “man cruel and ¢ ally « of en! labor of th and ¢ source in the mass « a live busine as of cheapl: for th extensi Was un The econom tion of impera: bread t and soc There news its to orgar are doir More wealth, tribution for initi: economi organize sed on Ist. Th: bili of t |0- ity h- Se “ds of the lic cy, ion on ork lop pve OcToOBER, 1932 before their economic and social relationship to one an- other, to other workers and to society generally. We are plainly revealed as employees who work under condi- tions very much like the conditions of labor that all other employees, public and private, have to face. Our ten- ure, as a rule, is uncertain. We are subject to arbitrary discipline and to arbitrary wage-cuts. In the present crisis when there are tens of thousands of teachers yn- employed our burdens are increased much in the same way as industrial workers are speeded up. Our pro- fessional dignity and privileges are a delusion. The present crisis also reveals the intolerable contra- diction in modern society of millions of people unem- ployed and without prospect of employment in the midst not only of a great need for goods and unlimited means of production but also of a plentiful supply to meet such demands. The progress of the industrial revolu- tion of the last 150 years continues with cumulative ef- fect, yet want and insecurity are the lot of the great mass of workers in all occupations including our own. America is especially blessed with an abundance of nat- ural resources, with the most wonderful industrial equip- ment most efficiently organized in so far as individual plants are concerned, and with millions of skillful work- ers and managers. Moreover we have not suffered in recent years from the devastation of war or from any natural calamity that reached all parts of the country at the same time. Hence it is plain that our burdens of poverty are not due to the limitations of our natural environment, but to “man’s inhumanity to man,” that is, to our stupid and cruel institutions that have become established by law and custom. Constitutional principles that were origin- ally established to guarantee to the individual freedom of enterprise and the enjoyment of the fruits of his own labor have become the bulwarks of privilege. By means of the corporate form of organization the ownership and control of the most essential instruments and re- sources of wealth-production have become concentrated in the hands of the privileged few, upon whom the great mass of workers are dependent for opportunity to earn a livelihood. Moreover, the normal operation of the business corporation is the exploitation of labor as well as of natural resources. For labor must be hired as cheaply as possible if there is to be a substantial profit for the corporation. The effect is that labor is more extensively exploited under the wage system than it was under the slave system. The cumulative effect of the long train of social and economic injustices that have grown out of this exploita- tion of labor makes a strengthening of organized labor imperative not only for winning the right to daily bread but for the reconstruction of the whole economic and social order, Therefore, the American Federation of Teachers re- news its urgent appeal to all the teachers of the country to Organize and make common cause with all others who are doing the work of the world. Moreover, we affirm that since labor, the source of all wealth, is the greatest sufferer from the present dis- tribution of wealth, labor therefore has the responsibility for initiation and promotion of a program of social and economic reconstruction. Therefore, we appeal to all organized labor to draft and proclaim such a program based on the following principles: lst. That labor shall recognize and assume responsi- bility for its share in the organization and control of the work of production. 27 2nd. That the means of production shall be so planned and utilized that they shall serve the needs of all society rather than that their usufruct shall be vested in a privileged class of absentee owners as at present ; 3rd. That the modern equipment and organization of industry shall be utilized to effect a progressive re- duction of hours of labor for all workers, an in- crease in the real wages of all workers, and a guarantee against the insecurity of unemployment; 4th. That the conservation of human resources be made the chief concern of organized society, and that, to this end, education, recreation, the protection of health, and social insurance be made available to all workers in all parts of the country; That the education of children shall receive much greater consideration than at present both in the thought and care on the part of parents and teach- ers and in the proportionate share of material goods and services devoted to this purpose. Sth. Banking Resolution Introduced by Policies Committee Wuereas, Speculative bankers in their desire for large profits and quick returns have diverted money from productive industry into the field of speculation; and Wuereas, This anti-social and unsound economic policy has not only curtailed productive industrial ac- tivity, but at the same time, has given an added impetus to speculation as well as to a policy of unprecedented inflation which helped to precipitate the present indus- trial panic or depression; and Wuenreas, These speculative financiers in their mad desire to accumulate more wealth induced a trusting public to invest in billions of dollars of worthless foreign securities ; and Whereas, These same bankers are mercilessly capital- izing the present financial needs of cities by refusing to lend them money until they receive exorbitant and wholly unjustifiable interest rates, or unless cities radi- cally curtail their necessary constructive functions and reduce salaries of public employees, whether earning a living wage or not; and Wuereas, The control of credit, the life-blood of industry, by private corporations interested primarily in profits rather than social welfare, is menacing to the existence of government and orderly progress; therefore be it RESOLVED by the American Federation of Teachers, That we urge upon Congress and the President the en- actment of legislation which shall enlarge the powers and duties of the postal savings banks so that they may engage in all forms of banking on a parity with private banks; and be it further Resotvep, That the American Federation of Teachers inaugurate a nation-wide campaign with a view of ex- posing these efforts of the bankers to undermine Ameri- can education and constructive local governmental ac- tivity, as only through government control of banking and credit can the manipulation of our financial struc- ture for private ends be terminated. Teacher Tenure The following resolution on Teacher Tenure, as a substitute for three resolutions presented by Chicago Women Local 3, New York Local 5 and San Francisco Local 61 was adopted by the 16th Annual Convention of the American Federation of Teachers. WHEREAS, In this period of economic chaos which is being used as an opportunity for a major offensive upon public education the tenure laws for teachers in the states of the United States are being made the target for destruc- tion, and WHEREAS, These attacks upon the existing tenure laws are various and insidious; therefore be it RESOLVED, That the American Federation of Teachers reaffirm its position on tenure for teachers and renew its efforts to secure tenure laws based upon its tenure program; and be it further RESOLVED, That the American Federation of Teachers wage a militant struggle against any attempt to take advantage of the present economic crisis to undermine tenure rights of teachers won through years of struggle. Tenure Committee Statement J. M. Graybiel, San Francisco Local 61, Chairman of the permanent committee on Tenure, submitted a state- ment as follows: The California Teachers’ Association through its committee has recommended that the present tenure law be left as it is with the exception that we take out of it the two words, “and fact.” The present law says we have a right to go to the courts on questions of law and fact. If thev can get these words out then we will have no tenure law. Of course, I do not think that such a law would be constitutional but why should we be compelled to spend thousands of dollars to prove it unconstitutional? Where is there a teacher who could afford to go to the courts to prove such a fact? If the California Teachers’ Association was a teachers’ association and not an administrators’ association, it would be different. As it now stands, it is worth verv little. Most of the school boards are voiding the law by dismissing all the probationary teachers at the end of three years. Something radically different is needed. The power must be taken out of the hands of a political board. This may mean a fight to place tenure in the constitutions of the several states so that every legislature will not make a political football out of tenure. The status of a teacher at the end of his probationary period must be determined by some sort of a disinteretsed board or commis- sion or the granting of a teacher's certificate only upon a careful determination of the ability of the recipient of such a cer- tificate. This certificate would then mean tenure from the very first for the holder of such a credential. Unless some- thing of this kind is done I cannot see a bright future for the teacher or the cause of education. Our best talent cannot afford to take a chance at anything quite as uncertain as teaching would become. Women might take a chance with the hope of changing their names in the near future. Is it neces- sary to be a prophet to tell what the results will be for the public schools of the future? As of particular significance and of direct bearing on this Convention topic is anvended an article appearing in the Wauwatosa Teachers’ Bulletin by Colin G. Welles, delegate from Milwaukee Local 212. Importance of Teacher-Tenure The job has come to have an almost sinister importance. As jobs grow scarcer and more people are obliged to depend on each one, a sense of insecurity corrupts even those who are lucky enough to have work. And that sense of insecurity has a most demoralizing effect on the very qualities of character which we have been taught to value. This is particularly true in the field of teaching, where, if anywhere, it is important that teachers display intellectual courage, originality and that sense of high adventure which should stimulate the raw young minds in their power. No teacher afraid of losing his job dares fully to revea!' these qualities. Indeed, insecurity sets up an altogether different THE AMERICAN TEACHER standard of behavior. Safety becomes the highest value. On! the undistinguished are safe. Better to be an automaton, lost in the group, than take the risk of attracting attention, be- cause attention is perilous. Community Pays And so, in these days, teachers who have no tenure do not frankly express their opinions; they do not display to the utmost their originality of method or venture to give their pupils the benefit of whatever may be their special and peculiar gift of personality. Instead, they do only and precisely what is} expected of them. They conform to whatever standard of behavior is least dangerous. They participate as little as pos. sible in the civic life of the community, because they do not want to run the risk of offending any group which might bring pressure on the administrator. This is much more true of the so-called common schoo teachers than it is of teachers of professions in universities It is conceivable that one might learn from a coward to be an able accountant, and it may take little inspirational imagina tion to train accountants or attorneys. But in the grades and in high schools, where attitudes and talents are given their first direction, it is of crucial importance that the particular] genius of every teacher be released for the task of firing theJ children to the finest and fairest attitudes of which they ar capable. ; The cost to the community of insecurity for teachers lies in} the comparatively inferior quality of teaching for the childre The children in such a community are not likely to explore new and thrilling paths in the wilderness of intellectual adventure They will merely sit in their seats and learn reading and arith metic, till the bell rings. War and Education Disarmament Resolution No. 25—Introduced by New York Local § WHEREAS, The governments of the great spending more on armaments and war preparations today tha they did prior to the last world war, and WHEREAS, The antagonisms leading toward a new worl conflict are accumulating with alarming rapidity and an actud state of war exists in the Far East, therefore be it RESOLVED, By the American Federation of Teachers: 1. That we call upon the teachers of the country to recog nize their duty as educators to train the youth of the lan to recognize the economic waste of war; the error @ attempting to settle international differences by means @ war; the tremendous cost to the people of maintainin huge armaments; the serious consequences of imperial ism and imperialistic action; and to work for recogniti¢ of the fact that the brotherhood of man is universal an not national; to work for universal disarmament; 2, That we endorse any genuine disarmament proposal; 3. That we, as a section of the American Labor movement advocate and work for the organization of labor cout cils of action against war to be set up by the labor move ment with a view to meeting any emergency that arise. powers af Comparative Costs of War and Education Resolution No. 40—Introduced by Chicago Women Local WHEREAS, the Federal government for 1931 wars, and WHEREAS, The effort to balance the budget has laid added burden of taxation on citizens of the United Staté in part to support the enormous military expenditure, and WHEREAS, Everywhere public education in the Unit States is being reduced in quality and in the opportunity offe the individual child, as though it were a non-essential luxug and WHEREAS, Public education is the foundation of sow citizenship and a progressing democracy; therefore be it Eighty-two per cent of the expenditures @ went for past and futuq RESOLVED, That the American Federation of Teac assert through the press and through every available a nel the prior claims of public education above battlesh and guns. ar in: un the cot sai ins trie ins me plo dec dus the one ploy is f h was trol the to p ists thei: "a Ame tive man: jobs ing t of a ment tion.’ Th Gree meeti appre to th of La Th conve Res W outst intell have in a and and } econc nomic nin riat tiot an our ove $s 0 utu tate id nite ere! xu $0 chet cha esht OcTOBER, 1932 Federal Unemployment Insurance Favored by AFL Executive Council Atlantic City, N. J.—The executive council of the American Federation of Labor, at the closing day of its Summer session here, instructed William Green, presi- dent of the American Federation of Labor, to draw up a Federal unemployment insurance bill to be enacted by Congress rather than by the Legislatures of the various States. To meet the fear voiced by many trade union officials that under a Federal compulsory insurance unemployed persons would be compelled to accept jobs in plants where wages and hours were below trade union stand- ards, the council directed Mr. Green to include in the insurance bill the right of trade unionists to retain their union membership and insurance benefits even though they refused to accept work in non-union shops. Mr, Green will begin work on drafting the bill at the conclusion of the executive council’s session here. He said he would study the various plans of unemployment insurance in Great Britain, Germany, and other coun- tries, as well as the Wisconsin law recently enacted and insurance proposals in other States. “Whether I shall propose that the Federal Govern- ment contribute to the insurance fund as well as em- ployers and employes I cannot say at this time.” he declared. “It may be that it will be sufficient for in- dustry and the workers to make contributions. But the scheme, whatever it is, will have to be a national one—that is, it will have to be formulated for all em- ployers and employees by Congress, if such a measure is found to be constitutional.” Mr. Green said the action of the executive council was made imperative by several factors beyond the con- trol of the trade unions. In these factors he included the long-continued depression, the inability of industry to provide employment and the appeals by trade union- ists urging some action by the Federation to alleviate their distressing condition due to long-continued idleness, “In its annual report to the 1931 convention of the American Federation of Labor,” he added, “the execu- tive council recognized the fact that the owners and managers of industry, through their failure to provide jobs for the working people of the Nation who are will- ing to work, have contributed much toward the creation of an increasing public opinion in favor of the enact- ment of compulsory unemployment insurance legisla- tion.” The unemployment insurance bill prepared by Mr. Green will be submitted to the executive council at its meeting in Washington on October 18. If the council approves the plan it will be placed before the delegates to the annual convention of the American Federation of Labor in Cincinnati in November for ratification. The following resolution was passed by the 1932 convention of the American Federation of Teachers: Unemployment Resolution No. 22—Introduced by New York Local 5 WHEREAS, The question of unemployment presents the outstanding problem and challenge to America’s collective intelligence and statesmanship; and WHEREAS, Under modern technology every worker should have his ordinary needs fully satisfied since we are living in a surplus economy era, and WHEREAS, Unemployment due to our economic system and those who control it for gain, forces the innocent worker and his dependents to bear an unduly heavy if not impossible economic burden, therefore be it RESOLVED, That pending the evolution of a saner eco- nomic system dominated by the idea’ of cooperative ser 29 vice instead of individual gain, the American Federation of Teachers urges upon Congress and the American Federa- tion of Labor the adoption of the following program to be made effective at once: 1. The establishment of the six hour day and five day week without reduction of earnings, to be justified by the ex- istence of a national emergency greater than war or flood. 2. The establishment of a unified system of government employment agencies working in close cooperation with sim- ilar state agencies to avoid duplication. 3. The enactment of legislation for unemployment insur- ance maintained by the Federal Government or the states with or without Federal Aid, including the creation of a reserve to pay the unemployed in crises involving expenditures in excess of the unemployed reserves. 4. The establishment of economic councils on which labor shall be at least equally represented with industry, to plan for the stabilization of industry—public or private. 5. The long-range planning of necessary public works under federal and state appropriations. 6. The issuance of loans to states to help them finance public works and unemployment relief at least to the extent given to industry. A_ resolution on Unemployment Insurance, the same in principle as No. 3 above, was introduced by the American Federation of Teachers at the 1930 Convention of the American Federation of La- bor and was, we believe, the first resolution favoring compulsory unemployment insurance introduced to that body. Our delegates also have been the first to introduce resolutions for this legisla- tion to State Labor and City Central bodies. American Radio Audience League The American Radio Audience League, of which Harris K. Randall is Executive Director, has been or- ganized during the past year. The question which en- gages its attention is that of “custody of the broadcast channels in the hands of transmissionists, as compared to agencies acting on behalf of the audience.” To teachers certainly this question is of vital interest “so long as educational institutions can secure access to the broadcast channels only by operating transmitters in legal and quasi-commercial competition with commercial transmitters, or else at the direct sufferance of trans- mission selling licensees. “The Audience League is striving for the management of all broadcast programs so far as possible by authori- ties concerned primarily with the public interest rather than with private interests, yet without sacrifice of the traditional American principle of free and uncensored expression,” The American Federation of Teachers is interested in the betterment of broadcasting as an important fac- tor in the child’s home environment and has adopted this resolution: WHEREAS, The American Radio Audience League has been organized for entrustment of the financially valuable broadcast channels to competent agents representing the audience rather than to sellers of transmission, and WHEREAS, The American Federation of Teachers is aware of the growing difficulty of tuning in on desirable programs and of the continually increasing amount of time being devoted to commercial advertising over the air, and WHEREAS, The nature of the programs available to be tuned in is a vitally important item in the environment of the people and of young people in particular; therefore be it RESOLVED, That the American Federation of Teachers approve the avowed purpose of the American Radio Au- dience League, namely, to limit the radio time devoted to advertising, to reduce the cost of radio advertising, to make the type of radio program desired by the audience more easily available, to make a freer use of the air for groups now often denied the opportunity for such, and to lift the standard of radio programs. California Is a Leader in Wages for all classes of teachers, principals and superintendents, California has seven teachers unions organized in a State Fed- eration of Teachers. 30 Pioneer Youth in Coal Mining ; Towns Dizzily we swayed across the crazy lit- tle footbridge that swings over Paint Creek, and met our fist playmates in the mud on the Holly Grove side. “Won’t you come and play with us this afternoon?” we asked. “We're going to have some games, and do carpentry and painting at the school house this after- noon. Want to come?” The urchins nodded bashfully and sidled away. But they were there, thirty strong, when two o'clock came. The man with the school house key had gone off “up the holler, settin’ bee bait,” so we had to climb in through the window. The young- sters' were ready for anything, and sang lustily favorite Union songs while two boys played their guitars. At Dry Branch a flood had driven half the village up into the hills the night before, and the few children who weren't too tired to join us at the school house came with dirty faces and bedraggled clothes. But hollow-eyed as they were, they went vigorously at cleaning the school house, bringing buckets, brooms, rags, and scrubbing the whole place, even the walls. While the school house dried, we played games outdoors, and then set- tled down to plan eagerly what this “club” should do. The children wanted to try everything. All of them wanted to be on the library committee, and asked for every imaginable kind of book—history, geog- raphy, fairy tales, adventure stories—from Pioneer Youth’s tiny library. Ward tent colony was still digging out of the mud when we arrived there two days after the flood. The tents are al- most in the bed of the stream, and water waist deep had swept the flimsy shelters away and scattered the miners’ pitiful lit- tle belongings beyond recall. Everyone was washing bedding and clothes, rebuild- ing tents, or moving higher up on the hillside. The higher ground all belongs to the coal company, however, and the min- ers will only be evicted again and returned to the creek bottom, where sanitation is impossible, where flux and typhoid are prevalent, and babies are dying every weck from disease and starvation. Mothers, dry-eyed, resigned, told us of losing a baby a few days before. Yet out of this welter of mud and misery, that afternoon, came some of the cleanest children that we had seen any- where, scrubbed until they glistened, little frocks stiffly starched and immaculate. And some of the dirtiest children we had seen were there, too, grimy, ragged, half sick, half starved. Two night-black little negro girls in clean tatters joined us late in the afternoon, but not to play. One said she had heart trouble, and caught her breath in short little gasps. The other told us she could not go to school, for most of the time she could not see well enough to read. We are not allowed to use the school- house at Hughston, but we hold our paint- ing classes on the school porches and play games on the school grounds. Farther down the road, on ground that belongs to the grandfather of one of the children, we pitched our tent and started boys and girls on carpentry projects. “Grandpap’s” wooded hillside behind our tent supplies branches, saplings, and bark for the rustic furniture and baskets we are making. “Grandpap” is “proud” to have us use his property. The doctor on our staff has been taking a microscope to all the schools to show the children why it isn’t wise to dump garbage into the creek, to build open privies, to swim in the polluted streams. “It looks like a cat’s tail,” a boy says in surprise, as he looks through the micro- scope at a fly’s leg. The doctor leads his wondering thoughts toward what those bristles might pick up in privies and gar- bage. “Germs,” the boy decides; and then, “And germs make us sick.” So this is how our labor education is starting. When we write you again, there probably will be many more interesting developments to tell. AGNES SAILER. West Virginia, July, 1932. Pupil Self-Government The National Self-Government Com- mittee, Inc., of which Richard Welling is chairman and Sophie Pollack secretary and treasurer and on whose council are many distinguished educators and social work- ers, in the furtherance of its program of self-government or pupil cooperation in high schools and colleges has distributed a leaflet containing objections to the plan and excerpts from an address by Richard Welling on “Pupil Self-Government as a Training for Citizenship,” as refutations to these objections. The following quotation from the leaflet 1S certainly pertinent and seems unanswer- able: Objection No. 10.—We have ment without an organization. dren are orderly, polite and considerate. do not need a formal system. Answer.—And when the children leave the school they will continue to be orderly, po- lite and considerate, Each will go his way and work out his own salvation, thinking that the government of his city and state and nation is to be left to the politicians. And when he awakes to the fact that the politicians are in the governing business for what they can get out of it and he under- takes to better conditions by enlisting the interest of his neighbors and friends he will find them preoccupied and apathetic. Pupil cooperation aims to make apathetic citi- zenship militant, and in order to function there must be some system—all the better if the pupils evolve it themselves (always with the cooperation of their teachers). The Committee began its publicity and educational work in 1904. It advocates the vitalization of civics by some form of pupil cooperation. Headquarters Broadway, New and information will be self-govern- Our chil- We are maintained at 80 York City. Literature sent on request. National Picture Week October 16-22 It is acknowledged that good pictures are both an important and valued in- fluence in a child’s education; they are an element of brightness and beauty in the home, school or office. Therefore, they make for happiness in life and refinement of taste. What- ever is beautiful in our surroundings is an influence against evil. To this end good pictures in the home, school and office are a positive good in the community. THE AMERICAN TEACHER Two Resolutions No. 27, Alertness Courses Introduced by New York Local 5 “WHEREAS, Our increments were for- merly automatic and based solely on satis- factory teaching service, and “WHEREAS, The new requirement of alertness courses in New York City con- ditions increments, and “WHEREAS, This sets a dangerous precedent for the imposition of further conditions, and “WHEREAS, Many teachers in New York have already been deprived of their salary increments due to this additional re- quirement; therefore be it “RESOLVED, That the American Fed- eration of Teachers take a definite stand against this procedure, and that it help Local 5 and any other locals where this condition exists to wage an active cam- paign of resistance against this principle.” ONES No. 35, The Junior High School Introduced by Chicago Women Local 3 | WHEREAS, The junior high school pro- gram provides a greatly enriched course of study for the adolescent student, and WHEREAS, These schools are so or- ganized as to make provision for the vary- ing interests and abilities of pupils, and WHEREAS, The junior high schools give adequate attention to a program of exploratory courses thus insuring wise choice of vocation, and WHEREAS, Through their program of extra-curricular activities and _ through their guidance programs, the junior high schools are promoting a high type of ad- justment not only in the school but in the community as well, and, WHEREAS, This valuable educational institution is now under attack; therefore be it RESOLVED, That the American Fed- eration of Teachers reiterate its stand in support of the junior high school. ty Do You Know That more than 98 per cent of nearly 1,500 cities now demand at least four years of higher education of their newly appointed teachers im senior high schools? | Who's Who in this Issue William Green, president American Federation of Labor. James Mullenbach, recent member Chicago Board of Education; arbi trator Hart, Schaffner and Marx for Amalgamated Clothing Work- ers; economist and sociologist. A. Steve Nance, president Atlanta Federation of Trades. Charles B, Stillman, vice-president A F. T.; president Joint Conference of Teachers and Principals, Cht cago. Summaries of reports of permanetil and special committees will appear @ the November American Teacher. ac th er co th vil th an sel era abc the dea to ma’ R prot upo cum the has that RI erati RE eratic financ No, 2 W RE: eratio: discrit rende1 who a No. 2: RES eration Presid States cost h Propos. plan, t earliest mMiniste throug] cies of an ent r in OctToBER, 1932 Resolutions No. 8, High School Loyalty Pledge RESOLVED, That the American Fed- eration of Teachers oppose loyalty pledges which limit thinking as not only futile but dangerous. No. 9, Academic Freedom RESOLVED, That the American Fed- eration of Teachers reiterate its stand on academic freedom and offer its coopera- tion to individuals and organizations in their resistance to such attacks No. 13, Yellow Dog Contracts RESOLVED, That the American eration of Teachers urge all cooperate with State Federations of Labor to outlaw all Yellow Dog Contracts since they deny the fundamental right of indi viduals to unite for mutual protection and thereby deprive the teaching profession of the service of these socially-minded men and women who have the courage to as sert their rights as citizens Fed- its locals to No. 14, Mooney RESOLVED, That the American Fed- eration of Teachers support efforts to bring about Mooney’s unconditional pardon and the publication of the Wickersham Report dealing with the framing of Tom Mooney to the end that authoritative information may be in the hands of the general public No. 15a, Scottsboro Boys RESOLVED, That this body strongly protest against the sente nce of death passed upon the Scottsboro Boys under such cir- cumstances, and express gratification that the Supreme Court of the United States has consented to review this case in order that the accused may be given ful! justice. No. 15b, Class-War Prisoners RESOLVED, That the American Fed- eration of Teachers demands l. The unconditional release of these victims of injustice, 2. The repeal of all “criminal syndical- ist” laws, 3. The repeal of the “alien deporta- tion” law which is used as an instru ment of persecution against labor or- ganizers and militant workers. RESOLVED, That the American Fed- eration of Teachers locals be urged to give financial support to defense organizations. No. 20, D'scrimination Against Teachers Who Have Resigned and Desire to Return RESOLVED, That the American Fed- eration of Teachers oppose such unjust discrimination against teachers who have rendered valuable educational service and who are able to continue such service. No, 23, Program of Home Construction RESOLVED, That the American Fed- eration of Teachers earnestly appeal to the President and Congress of the United tates to adopt a national program of low- cost home construction as a part of the Proposed federal unemployment relief plan, to be initiated and financed at the earliest possible date, the plan to be ad- ministered by the federal government through state, county and municipal agen- cies of government. No. 25, Recognition of Soviet Union RESOLVED, That this convention re- iterate its position for the immediate rec- ognition of the government of the Soviet Union by the government of the United States of America. No. 41, Shortened Week and Increased Wage for Labor RESOLVED, That the American Fed- eration of Teachers and its locals, where- ever and whenever possible, exert all the influence they possess in behalf of every effort to shorten the working week in every field where unemployment exists; and be it further RESOLVED, That the American Fed- eration of Teachers and its locals work to the end that the wages of labor reflect the increased productivity of the laborer. No. 54, Unemployment RESOLVED, That the American Fed- eration of Teachers urge local and state governments to study the Seattle situation with a view of using as much of the self- help idea for the unemployed as condi- tions permit. No. 55, Vocational Education and Guidance RESOLVED, That the eration of Teachers and its locals urge their respective state legislatures and the Congress of the United States to increas« rather than to decrease appropriations for vocational education and guidance American Fed- Residence Ordinances Because of the seriousness spread of the situation outlined publish Resolution No. 18 in full, WHEREAS, There is many municipalities and alarming tendency to dinances, and general therein, we eTrToOwing among communities the enact residence or- this tendency to set local as a condition of employment must be condemned as socially, economically and educationally unsound and unwise, and WHEREAS, In accord with modern ideals of civic planning and general com- munity welfare, teachers and other citi- zens have taken up homes in suburban communities, and narrow residence or- dinances virtually compelling such teach- ers to move back to the already con- gested cities would mean not only unfair economic loss to the families of teachers but would bring added civic problems to the cities adopting such residence restric- tions, and WHEREAS, It would mean a danger- ous interference with the American demo- cratic right of freedom of residence, the consequences of which may be _ undesir- ably far-reaching, and WHEREAS, This residence policy will result in an economic boomerang to those who think such legislation will mean in- creased business and increased employment for those of the home on the contrary such narrow provincialism must result in other communities in self- defense, enacting similar restrictive legis- lation, thus setting community against community, city against city, and _ state against state, and WHEREAS, The residence requirement would constitute an irreparable blow at the best educational interests of our schools and our children, such _ restric- Tesl- dence community, for’ tions can only mean inbreeding of our school faculties with its consequent edu- cational limitations and the American Fed- eration of Teachers strongly maintains that sound educational policy demands that cities be free to seck the best teach- ers whatever their place of residence; therefore be it RESOLVED, That in the best interests of our children and our teachers the American Federation of Teachers declares residence ordinances restricting employ- ment of teachers and others to local resi- dents alone, educationally, socially, and economically unsound and unequivocally de- mands the end of such shortsighted policy. Local 5, Libel Suit Resolution No. 10—Introduced by New York Local 5 WHEREAS, Unions have been attacked by employers because they sought to sub- stitute democracy for autocracy in indus- try, and WHEREAS, Employers have sought to weaken or destroy unions by the abuse of injunction, court decisions, the establish- ment of the Open Shop, damage suits, and WHEREAS, The latter method of un- dermining unionism has been followed in a libel suit for $25,000 because of charges of coercion in connection with the col- lection of 5% from teachers for the re- lief of hungry children attending the schools and for family relief, and WHEREAS, If such a suit were suc- cessful it would establish a dangerous precedent which would undermine the union movement, therefore be it RESOLVED, That the American eration of Teachers give the Fed- fullest moral and financial support to the Teachers Union, Local 5, in its efforts to render abortive this new attack upon the union movement, and to enlist the backing of the American Federation of Labor in this strugek A. F. T. Permanent Committees Chairmen of permanent committees of the American Federation of Teach- ers are the following: ACADEMIC FREEDOM, man, Memphis 52. EKpucaTIONn, Bernice bridge 195. Finance, C. L. Vestal, Chicago 2. INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, Selma M. Borchardt, Washington 8. Pensions, Florence Rood, St. Paul 28. Tenure, J. M. CISCO ol. The following committees chairmen are continued: Crepit Unions, H. S. Bechtolt, Chi- cago 2. EXCHANGE OF TEACHERS, Mary C. Dent, Washington 8. Extra CurrRICULAR Activities, Alice F. Drechsler, Minneapolis 59. PLACEMENT Bureau, Amy A. Fox, Minneapolis 59. Positive Heattu, Bertha F. Fer- guson, Minneapolis 59. Carlotta Pitt- Rogers, Cam- Graybiel, San Fran- and i oR NERS ee enya = = eee eminence 7 American Federation of Teachers 506 South Wabash Avenue CHICAGO, ILL. The American Federation of Teachers desires to establish an intimate contact and an effective co-oper- ation between the teachers and the other workers of the com- munity. The American Federation of Teachers desires to co-operate with all civic organizations for improved civic life. Groups of seven or more public school teachers are invited to afhliate with this National Organization of Classroom Teachers, for mutual assistance, improved professional stand- ards and the democratization of the schools. Our Slogan Is: Democracy in Education: Education for Democracy THE AMERICAN TEACHER Membership dues carry subscription to the magazine. To all others the subscription price is $1.00 per year, 25 cents per copy. is published bimonthly by The American Federation of Teachers.