fx" BULLETIN Vil, No. 1 September, 1918 Whole Number 36 Entered as second-class matter December 8, 1917, at the post-office at Washington, D. C., under we Act of August 24, 1912. Publisht September, December, January, February, April, and June, National Education Association of the United States. Acceptance for mailing at special rate CS provided for in Sec. 1103, Act of October 3, 1917, authorized July 1, 1918. Office of ~ publication, 1400 Massachusetts Avenue, N. W., Washington, D. C. ae NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES OFFICERS FOR 1918-19 % I cng. phy. Y not 'e are been Se of 0 de. hood, very- | not We P an We rood We the tm 2. EA BULLETIN 13 Ne AA RRR NR ER RRR A FRR RR RR a SN cre Nn ee Half-time Employment In most of our States the period of compul- sory education ends at 14. We have deluded ourselves into thinking that preparation for citizenship could be accomplished during this period. If we had only stopped to consider the question we must have realized that the ideals and purposes which control in the lives of men and women are not gained before 14 years of age. We would have recognized the fact that the years between 14 and 18 are of the greatest significance. For those who go to work there should be, between 14 and 16 years of age, half-time school work, and a limit placed upon the hours of labor not to exceed twenty-four hours per week. This half-time arrangement would not interfere with the proper employment of these young people, and would insure the training which would enable them to participate more efficiently in the oc- cupations in which they might be employed. They should be trained as well in the fields of history, literature, and music. We should seek to develop in them that power of appreciation which would give them the ability to enjoy the nobler pleasures. Between 16 and 18 years of age a minimum of eight hours per week on the employer’s time, in daylight hours, should be required of all boys and girls. The educa- tion for citizenship should be continued, and the development of a better understanding and appreciation of the vocation in which they are engaged should be obtained through the teach- ing of those subjects which furnish the theo- retical background for the processes in which they are engaged. We should seek above all to keep in school those of superior ability. In England it is seriously proposed to support boys and girls,in secondary schools whose parents are unable to provide for this longer period of education. Scarcity of Trained Teachers The war has brought to our attention the alarming deficiency in the number of ade- quately trained teachers. The fundamental weakness of our schools today is to be found in the immaturity, the brief tenure, the inad- equate preparation, and the small salaries of an overwhelming majority of our teachers. Ap- proximately a fifth of all the children of the United States are being taught by boys and girls not yet 21 years of age, who have not had more than one or two, or rarely three or four, years of education beyond the eighth grade of the common schools. Every six or seven years these five million children are re- placed by another group of boys and girls, equally numerous, who have provided for them teachers with the same limited opportunities for preparation for their work. If we are to develop a democracy which is to persist and to lead in the development of those ideals which President Wilson has, placed before us it will be because we have replaced the immature boy and girl teachers with men and women trained for that profession which is charged with the responsibility to hand on to each succeeding generation our social inheritance. We are coming to realize that the training of these teachers is the business of the nation. As the situation is at present, those States which most adequately prepare teachers are investing their funds in the training of teachers for the na- tion, for the more enlightened communities constantly take from whatever source they are available the better-trained and more compe- tent teachers. Rebuild Rural Schools The inadequacy of our present scheme of ed- ucation is nowhere more important than in the sparsely settled parts of our country. Rural schools are less efficient because the teachers in them are less well prepared, as well as on account of the more limited opportunity pro- vided in the way of equipment, courses of study, and the like. For the most part our rural communities are less able financially to support public education than are our cities. The expense of maintaining a rural school of from fifteen to twenty pupils must of necessity be very much greater per pupil than is the maintenance of a city school of equal stand- ing, where from forty to fifty children are taught by a single teacher. The mere item of transportation may cost the rural community half as much per pupil as is spent in the main- tenance of city schools. A fundamental prin- ciple of our democracy calls for the equaliza- tion of educational opportunity and of the bur- den of taxation involved in the support of public enterprises. Approximately half of the children of the United States are enrolled in rural or small village schools. These children have not had opportunities equal to those en- joyed by the children of urban communities, and such equality of opportunity cannot be provided under our present system of support without placing a most inequitable burden upon rural communities. The problem of rebuilding these rural schools is of too vast magnitude to be affected fundamentally by anything short of a national movement. The time for that movement has clearly come. Increase Teachers’ Salaries We cannot hope to secure for service in our schools the choicest of our young men and our young women until we are willing to pay teach- ers a living wage and to make it possible for all to find in teaching a worthy life career. | 14 1e2 2 S.A BULLETIN ee CE ————————————E The average annual salary of teachers in the United States is less than $600. Even in the cities of more than ten thousand population the average salary is not above $800. The report of the Railroad Wage Commis- sion calls for an increase of 42% in the wages of railroad employees receiving $600 annually, and for 41% increase for those receiving $800 annually. Increases in teachers’ salaries dur- ing the period of the war have not averaged 10%. Surely teachers who are to inspire and instruct children who are to assume the re- sponsibility of citizenship in a democratic so- ciety, should be considered in the readjustment of wage scales made necessary by the increased eost of living in war time. lt may confidently be asserted that the maintenance of their place in the com- munity, the equipment of books and travel, and the complete devotion to the public service which is required of them might place them in the wage scale even above railway employes. If we want competent teachers we must pay for them, We know that in the present emer- gency teachers have gone into other types of service because the salaries paid enable them to live comfortably. We know, as well, that wherever the rewards are sufficient the type of service demanded is forthcoming. Men and women will secure the training required, and will continue in the service of the State in the field of teaching if only we provide adequate rewards. I look forward confidently to an in- crease of from 50 to 100 per cent. in the sal- aries paid to teachers. If we fail to take this action our schools will be less well taught, and the nation will be less strong. National Department of Education It is with conditions in mind such as I have attempted to describe above that the National Fducation Association has become sponsor for a bill drafted by its Commission on the Emer- gency in Education, which provides for the creating of a national department of education and for the appropriation of funds from the National Treasury for the promotion of edu- cation in the several States. The idea of na- tional support for public education is not-new. The nation has long given support to agricul- tural colleges and experiment stations. It has more recently entered the field in the promo- tion of agricultural education and in the train- ing of teachers in the fields of agriculture, and of industrial and household arts. Several of the departments or administrations of our na- tional Government spend large sums of money in educational work. Reference has already been made to the activities undertaken under the direction of the War Department for the education of enlisted or conscripted men. Many of our most thoughtful leaders recognize the necessity for careful investigation in prep. aration for the reorganization of education which must take place in the immediate future. The National Education Association helicves that these ends can be best achieved through the establishment of a national department of education, with a secretary who shall sit in the President’s Cabinet. It believes that there should be transferred from other departments or administrations such bureaus or agencies ag deal with educational affairs. We believe that such a department of education should co- operate with the States in the development of a more efficient system of education. We have the example of our allies, England, France, and Italy, in which such ministries of educa. tion already exist and in which these officers of the Government have taken the lead in the development of a program of education dur- ing and after the war. For the initial expenses of this department the bill prepared by the commission and ip. dorsed by the National Education Associatioy proposes that Congress appropriate for the first year the sum of $750,000. This sum would he used in inaugurating and carrying on such in- quiries or investigations as the cmergency might demand. It would include the organiza. tion of a staff competent to conduct investiga. tions along any line of education to the end that a more efficient system of public education be developed. National Support for Education The bill carries, as well, the provision for the allotment of moneys to the va rious States to supplement their own re. sources. It is proposed to distribute money for the elimination of illiteracy to the several States in the ratio which that State‘s illiterate population bears to the total illiterate popula- tion of the country. In like manner, that money be granted to the States for the teach- ing to immigrants of the English language, their training in the duties of citizenship, and their development in understanding and appre- ciation of the principles and ideals of our demo- cratic society, the money to be apportioned in the ratio which the immigrant population of any State bears to the total foreign-born pop- ulation of the United States. In order to co- operate with the States in equalizing opportu- nities in education it is proposed that moneys be assigned for the improvement of schools of less than college grade to the end that the length of school term may be equalized, that local interest may be stimulated, and that rural schools be improved. It is likewise proposed that national support be given for the develop- ment and carrying on of a program of physical education and recreation, including the medi- cal examination of school children, the employ- \\ ment the p Provi grant supp< are bette alrea prov Gov mate Stat is € cau sup is | — | prep. ication ‘uture, clicves Tough nt of in the there ihents ICS as * that I ¢o. nt of lave ince, lutea. icers | the dur- ent in- tion first | he in- ney THE &. ©£ A. BULLETIN 15 a pe enema et ane nA ae ene a sw REN ar mR ee ae ment of school nurses, and the instruction of the people in the laws of health and sanitation. Provision is also made in the bill for the granting of support to the several States in support of those institutions in which teachers are trained, in order that teachers may be better prepared for their work and for the sake of developing greater efficiency for those already in the educational service. The bill provides that any apportionment which the Government makes for these purposes shall be matched by a like amount appropriated by the State and local authorities. The Burden Distributed Our association advocates this measure, and js committed to the policy of advancing it, be- cause we are convinced that in the present emergency, and even after the war, national support is necessary if educational opportunity is to be equalized. We believe that the admin- istration and control of public education should be left in the hands of the several States, but we recognize the fact that sources of revenue once available for the locality of the State have been taken over by the National Government. It is, of course, possible for enlightened com- munities to add still further to the burden of taxation, but unless such taxes are evenly dis- tributed throughout the nation the tendency would inevitably be to drive out of the com- munities levying the heavier taxes the wealth which is now available for this purpose. It is enly as the burden is distributed over the whole nation, and the funds made available by the national Government, that we can hope for the great increase in support which is neces sary for the maintenance of an efficient system of public schools. Democracy Needs Best Schools Within the past year the American people have awakened to a new consciousness of their national unity. They have always looked to the public schools to lay the foundation upon which is based intelligent loyalty to our na tional ideals. Men and women everywhere are coming to realize the necessity for strengthen ing our public school system. There is com ing to be a demand that every boy and girl he provided with that sort of éducation which will send him or her from school sound phyically, trained mentally, and grounded in an apprecia tion and understanding of the ideals and pur poses of our democracy. I confidently believe that these ends can be realized only when there is a clear recognition of the need for a na tional plan for education and a more generous provision in support of public schools. The people of the United States have pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to the cause of democracy in the world. If free Governments are to endure we must establish in this country a system of public schools which will develop an intelligent, law-abiding, liberty-loving citizenship. The hope of our hu- manity is to be fulfilled in the lives of the children who are even now in our public schools. If you do not receive National School Service write, Committee on Public Information, asking that your school he placed on the mailing list. Use the war material and other suggestions in your school. Similarly if you are not receiving copies of School Life write the Bureau of Education. These semi-monthly magazines contain up-to-date information. Let every member of the National Education Association assist in the drive for 100,000 new members. | | | | | | 16 THEN. E A. BOLLETIN a NN ee =e eee Commission Condemns Teaching in Foreign Languages Sirong for English Language in Schools The following resolution was unanimously past by the National Education Asso. ciation Commission on the National Emergency in Education at its session of April 12, 1918, at N. E. A. headquarters, 1400 Massachusetts Avenue: The National Education Association Commission on the National Emergency ip Education and Necessary Readjustment During and After the War, representing thoy- sands of loyal and patriotic teachers, believes the practice of giving instruction to chil- dren in the common branches in a foreign tongue to be un-American and unpatriotic, and we believe that all instruction in the common branches for all children in every state in this Union should be in the English language. We therefore recommend that the instruction in the common branches in both private and public schools in all states be given in the English language only, and that every legitimate means, both state and federal, be uscd to bring about this result. States Have Taken Action The following states have abolisht teaching in the German language in the public schools : Alabama, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Mon- tana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah and West Virginia. The following states are said by the American Defense Society to have the ques- tion under consideration: Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin. Information to be Sent to Field Secretaries Those who have special information and data which will assist President D. B. Waldo in his efforts for increast salaries for teachers of all ranks thruout the country are requested to send the same to him at N. E. A. headquarters. Those who have special suggestions for the drive for national support for education are requested to correspond with Superintendent J. A. C. Chandler addressing him also at headquarters. It is in order for members to let U. S. Senators and Congressmen know the wishes of the profession for a National department of Education, with a secretary in the president's cabinet. THE ACTIVE MEMBERS AT THE BUSINESS MEETING, PITTSBURGH MEETING, PLEDGED BY A UNANIMOUS VOTE, 100,000 NEW MEMBERS DURING THE PRESENT YEAR. iH ind 5 1918 2 oo SUPPLEMENT N. E. A. BULLETIN September AN EDUCATIONAL PLATFORM The Program of the Commission on the National Emergency in Education and The Declaration of Principles adopted by the National Education Association at Pittsburgh, July 5, 1918 WASHINGTON THE NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION 1918 Commission on the National Emergency in Education and the Program for Readjustment During and After the War George D. Strayer, Chairman of Commission and President National Educa- tion Association, Professor of Educational Administration, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York. Lotus D. Coffman, Secretary, Dean of the School of Education, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minn. Robert J. Aley, President, University of Maine, Orono, Maine. Sarah Louise Arnold, President, Simmons College, Boston, Mass. W. C. Bagley, Professor of Education, Teachers College, Columbia Univer- sity, New York. F. D. Boynton, Superintendent of City Schools, Ithaca, New York. Mary C. C. Bradford, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Denver, Colorado. J. A. C. Chandler, Superintendent of City Schools, Richmond, Va. George B. Cook, Member of State Board of Education, Little Rock, Ark. Elwood P. Cubberley, Dean, School of Education, Leland Stanford Univer- sity, Stanford University, Calif. Agnes E. Doherty, Teacher of History and Economics, Central High School, St. Paul, Minnesota. Susan M. Dorsey, Assistant Superintendent Public Schools, Los Angeles, Calif, David Felmley, President State Normal School, Normal, IIl. Thomas E. Finegan, Deputy State Commissioner of Education, Albany, New York. J. M. Gwinn, Superintendent of City Schools, New Orleans, La. Ada Van Stone Harris, Director of Elementary Practice Teaching, Pitts- burgh, Pa. E. C. Hartwell, Superintendent of City Schools, Buffalo, N. Y. Henry W. Holmes, Professor of Education, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. W. A. Jessup, President, Iowa State University, Iowa City. James Y. Joyner, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Raleigh, N. C. A. J. Matthews, Treasurer National Education Association, President State Normal School, Tempe, Arizona. William B. Owen, President, Chicago Normal College, Chicago, IIl. Carroll G. Pearse, President, State Normal School, Milwaukee, Wis. Josephine C. Preston, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Olympia, Washington Walter R. Siders, Superintendent of Public Schools, Pocatello, Idaho. Payson Smith, State Commissioner of Education, Boston, Mass. Frank E. Spaulding, Superintendent of City Schools, Cleveland, Ohio. Nina C. Vandewalker, Kindergarten Director, State Normal School, Mil- waukee, Wis. J. W. Withers, S1perintendent of City Schools, St. Louis, Mo. NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION 1400 MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE N. W. WASHINGTON, D. C. J. W. CRABTREE, Secretary 2~ 'S r- ee ORIGIN AND WORK OF THE COMMISSION The present shortage of teachers, the necessity to provide more efficient workers in war activities, and the training of hundreds of thousands of men in short courses to meet war-time emergencies, are among tie questions which have led the educators of America to act together to make necessary adjustments in education during and after the war. To that end, Mary C. C. Bradford, President of the Na- tional Education Association, appointed a committee to represent the Association in mapping out a program for the “rebuilding of civ- ilization thru a war-modified education.” Dr. Thomas E. Finegan, President of the Department of Superintendence, at the recent meet- ing in Atlantic City, appointed a committee to cooperate with the National Education Association Committee. These committees with the members of the Executive Committee and the Board of Trustees of the National Education Association, met in Washington, March 7-9, and completed the organization of the Commission on the National Emergency in Education and the Program for Readjust- ment During and After the War. The Commission has since met twice in Washington and once in Pittsburgh. Cooperating with the Commission are state commis- sions in the several states, each composed of the state superintendent, the state director of the National Education Association, the presi- dent of the state teachers association, and other representative edu- cators appointed by them. International relations between the edu- cational bodies of the allied countries have also been establisht. This Commission plans to enlist the services of all the educators of the country and to cooperate with all the agencies related to edu- cational readjustments in outlining a progressive program of educa- tion. Among the problems considered definitely by the Commission are: Higher salaries for teachers, adequate teacher training, a com- plete program of health and recreation, rural education, immigrant education, the education of adult illiterates, training for all forms of national service, the coordination of war service in the schools, the creation of a national department of education, and the extension of national cooperation with the states in strengthening the public schools. IV. VI. VII. THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY IN EDUCATION The Nature of the Present Crisis Faced by the Public Schools of the United States. The Preparation, Supply, and Compensation of Teachers. The Importance and Needs of Rural Education. A Complete Program of Physical and Health Education. Problems of Immigrant Education and Adult Illiteracy. Compulsory Continuation Schools. The Creation of a National Department of Edu- cation and the Extension of National Co-oper- ation with the States in Strengthening the Public Schools. THE DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES The National Education Association, assembled in annual con- vention in the city of Pittsburgh, July 5, 1918, recognizes that the first great business of the nation is the winning of the war, and to this end pledges the fullest measure of service and sacrifice for the sacred cause of our country, of democracy, and of humanity. At this fateful hour in the life of our nation, the Association reaf- firms its faith in the American common school system as the only safe and sure foundation for a democracy either in peace or in war. It asserts its belief that the three-quarters of a century of free public instruction was the main factor in preparing our people for that quick and right understanding of the real meaning of this world con- flict, and in making possible that hearty concord of thought and action which placed the material and human resources of the Re- public on the side of righteousness, humanity and civilization. With peculiar satisfaction the Association points to the fact that 750,00C teachers and twenty-two million pupils have supported loyally every plan and purpose of President Wilson and Congress in their master- ful leadership in honorable warfare for a just cause and a decisive victory. War Crisis Shows Need for Readjustment While this Association believes that the war crisis has disclosed to the nation, as no other event has, the strength and worth of the American school system, it does not fail to recognize that the emer- gencies and demands of war have laid bare certain weaknesses and shortcomings in the scope and character of public education that now call for readjustment and reorganization. Association Commends Commission The Association commends its Commission on the National Emer- gency in Education for the broad and comprehensive study of these needed readjustments. Americanizing the Adult Population The high percentage of adult illiteracy and the lack of under- standing of the real meaning of our nation and the principles of its government, constitute a menace to national unity and national safety. This Association therefore recommends that the government 5 shall share with the states the responsibility of providing the funds, the organization, the administration, and the supervision necessary for Americanizing and making literate the adult population of the entire country. A National Policy of Encouragement The most alarming shortcoming in our system disclosed by the war is the unequal educational opportunities offered by the different states to the children of school age within those states. As long as a single state in the Union fails to provide its youth with the means of attaining certain minimum, nation-wide standards of health, intel- ligence, citizenship and character, our national life and unity are endangered. This Association, therefore, urges that the govern- ment shail immediately adopt the policy of encouraging all the states to establish uniform, minimum standards of health service, training for citizenship, and preparation and compensation of teachers, thru financial aid distributed to the states enforcing these standards, the amount to which any state is entitled to be determined on a sim- ple basis. Nothing in this national policy of encouragement to the several states shall be permitted in any way to weaken the local re- sponsibility or initiative or to subtract from the power of the state to organize, administer, and supervise the schools of that state. Association Authorizes Field Secretary The Association commends the thorogoing study made by the Committee on Salaries, Tenure, and Pensions, and recommends its report for the careful consideration and use of teachers, school boards, taxpayers, and lawmakers. In order to collect full informa- tion concerning the present state of public education, to enlighten public opinion, and to aid in securing appropriate local, state and national school support, the Association authorizes the executive committee to secure the full time, for a term of not less than three years, of an educator of recognized ability and experience, and to provide for the organization, correspondence, travel, publication, and other expenses of his office, a total sum including salaries, of at least ten thousand dollars a year. Insure Teachers Living and Saving Wage To the end that schools may be kept open and that the children of the Republic may have competent teachers, we declare it to be the « ’ ——————— patriotic duty of taxpayers and lawmakers to provide sufficient reve- nues to insure a living and a saving wage to the teachers of the country. Federal Child Labor Law The Association urges the immediate enactment by Congress of a Federal Child Labor Law which will not only meet the objection found by the Supreme Court in the one declared unconstitutional, but which will extend protection to a greater number of the children _ of the United States. Socialized Schools for Efficient Democracy The schools of a modern, efficient democracy must necessarily be socialized schools. They must train for the whole life of all the people. To achieve this result, the Association recommends that larger opportunities be provided for activity which will develop initiative and resourcefulness of children, thus fitting them to meet the demands of our democracy. College Military Units Approved This Association approves heartily the action of President Wilsor and the Secretary of War in offering a plan whereby young men above eighteen years of age may enlist in the army and continue their college courses in such institutions as have at least one hun- dred students ready and eligible to form a military unit. Women to Train Girls for Civic and Social Life The present emergency demands the careful consideration of the problem of training the girls of America for efficient and intelligent participation in the civic and social life of our local communities, of the state, and of the nation. The Association urges, therefore, that in city, county, and state school systems, women with skill in leader- ship be placed in charge of that part of our school work which has the direct responsibility of training the women of tomorrow to as- sume the new obligations of civic and social life. Training for Citizenship Demanded The Association demands the teaching of patriotism by every teacher from the kindergarten to the university, and the employment of only those teachers who are loyal to our national ideals. It urges 7 that all teachers as soldiers of the common good take the oath of allegiance. The Association further demands that all instruction in the schools of the nation be conducted in the English language. Committee on Public Information The Association commends the action of President Wilson in making the publcity of the best work of our public schools a part of the work of the Committee on Public Information, and expresses its appreciation of the President’s support of the movement to mobilize the boys and girls of America for food production. Commends Junior Red Cross The Association particularly commends the patriotic service of the Junior Red Cross with the understanding that it conform to the standards, motives, and aims of the American Red Cross. Education of Enlisted Men The Association favors the making of liberal provisions by both State and Nation for the giving of special assistance, opportunity, and encouragement to the men in the service of the country to ob- tain the advantages of education that were omitted by the necessity of the great crisis. States Urged to Adopt Prohibition Amendment The Association urges the adoption by the states of the amend- ment for the prohibition of the sale and manufacture of intoxicating beverages. Suffrage Amendment Approved The Association favors the granting of the ballot to the woman- hood of America, and urges the Senate of the United States to pass at the present session the separate suffrage amendment to our Fed- eral Constitution. Favors Establishment of a National University The Association favors the establishment of a national university, the creation of a national department of education under the direc- tion of a secretary of education, and the protection of teachers in all departments of education from unwarranted dismissal by employing bodies. * Food Administration to Prepare Conservation Program The Association recommends that the United States Food Admin- istration prepare in a form suitable for use in elementary schools, and particularly in the upper grades, lessons and materials supple- mentary to existing courses, which will promote the program of food conservation. It is further recommended that the food admin- istration call to its assistance representative school authorities fa- miliar with the capacities of children of the different grades, to con- stitute an advisory council for the Food Administration in the prep- aration of material designed for school use. Health and Physical Training Realizing that good health and a good physique constitute the foundation for all life-work, physical, mental and spiritual, the As- sociation urges that boards of education make health and physica\ training a major subject, with equal rating with all other school subjects, and that adequate facilities, including teachers, play field, and apparatus, be provided; and further, that care be exercised to secure those teachers best adapted to the training of boys and girls. The Association instructs the Commission on the Emergency in Education and such other committees as may have under considera- tion the problems of health and physical education to inquire con- cerning the work that is now being done and the methods which may have proved most acceptable in the field of sex education. Dual System of Schools Condemned The Association favors amending the Smith-Hughes Act to pre- vent the possibility of establishing a dual system of schools in any state. Conscription for Selective Service In the emergency that now exists, the Association urges that all the manhood and womanhood of the United States be conscripted for selective service. N. E. A. Officers Commended The members of the Association commend the presett adminis- tration of the National Education Association for the excéient pro- gram presented, and for the constructive character of the work which the Association is doing. Patriotic Spirit of Congress The Association wishes to express its appreciation of the National Congress for the patriotic spirit shown in the hour of crisis in its subordination of partisanship to statesmanship in national legislation. Entire Confidence in President Realizing the tremendous task suddenly imposed upon our Govy- ernment in changing from the pursuits of peace to those of war, and appreciating the marvelous achievements in creating an army, in mobilizing all the economic forces of the nation, and especially in transporting an immense army across an ocean beset by unusual dan- gers, while supplying our Allies with food and war material, the As- sociation expresses its confidence in the national administration, and especially its confidence in the ability, clearness of vision, and leader- ship of the Commander-in-Chief of our Army and Navy, President Woodrow Wilson. COMMITTEE ON RESOLUTIONS John F. Keating, Supt. City Schools, Pueblo, Col- orado Francis G. Blair, State Supt. Public Instruction, Springfield, Ill. David B. Johnson, President Winthrop Normal and Industrial Institute, Rock Hill, S. C. Marion LeRoy Burton, President University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minn. Charles R. Frazier, Supt. City Schools, Everett, Washington H. H. Seerley, President State Normal College, Cedar Falls, Iowa Robert E. Vinson, President University of Texas, Austin, Texas Katherine Sisson McLean, Dean of Women, Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, Ohio Ada Van Stone Harris, Director Elementary Practice Teachers, Pittsburgh, Penn. Alice Florer, Assistant State Superintendent Pub- lic Instruction, Lincoln, Nebraska 10 The National Education Association OF THE UNITED STATES THE ENLISTMENT OF THE PROFESSION Why Every Teacher and Every Person Connected with the Schools Should Enlist as a Member of the National Educa- tion Association and havea Part in the Important War Serv- ice Work which the Association, thru its Regular Organiza- tion and the Emergency Commission, is Planning and Doing. WASHINGTON, SEPTEMBER, 1918 The N. E. A. Commission on the Emergeney in Education Committee on the Enlistment of the Profession WHY EDUCATORS SHOULD ENLIST IN THE NATIONAL EDUCATiON ASSOCIATION An organization including a large majority of the school people of the country will be of the greatest service to the cause of Educa- tion and to the members of the Teaching Profession. There are many professional and personal reasons why one should enlist now in this great educational organization. Professional Reasons Thru such an agency it will be possible: 1. To develop among school people a stronger, if possible, a uni- versal, consciousness of the dignity of the profession and of the ob- ligations which rest upon its members; to make clear and generally understood and accepted the standards of professional qualifications, efficiency, and conduct which should be maintained by teachers, 2. To establish a recognized and effective channel thru -which the consensus of educational opinion upon important educational matters may be exprest. The school people of the country are enti- tled to recognition as experts on all educational questions. 3. To supply the public with correct and reliable information on subjects related to schools and education. Authentic and disinter- ested information is needed by the public. Too often unwise action by public bodies and unwise or injurious legislation result from inac- curate or incomplete information, 4. To promote geueral recognition of the significance of our en- trance into the Great War and to propose plans for supplying thru the schools to the children and their families correct information as to the causes of the war, the ideals upon which we act, and the con- ditions upon which we can consent to make peace. 5. To counsel together and with the national government as to the service which the schools can reasonably and most profitably be askt to undertake. Swarms of war activities stand at the school- room door and knock. The National Education Association Emer- 12 - ee ia oe ein ee Se EEEenenes SY gency Commission has already given substantial help in reducing the number, and to determine which should be excluded and which ad- mitted and encouraged. 6. To counsel with the national and state authorities as to how to deal most speedily and effectively with the great mass of adult illit- erates and the thousands of immigrants who need to learn the lan- guage of the country and get an understanding and appreciation of its institutions and ideals. 7. To make clear to the general public in a way that shall bring results, the need of more money to support public education. This is not chiefly a question of better pay for teachers. It involves, also, better school houses and equipment, more adequate playgrounds, longer school terms, a larger proportion of children in school instead of in the factories and fields, more and better normal schools to pro- vide trained teachers, special schools or classes for special groups of children, and more attention to health education and to vocational training. 8. To convince the people of the nation and their representatives at Washington that the Federal Government must cooperate with the states to a much greater extent in the financial support of public education. 9. To have the counsel and support of the greatest possible num- ber of the members of the profession, in the vitally important work of re-apprehending and re-stating our national ideals and aims in public education as these have been shown to need readjustment. 10. To have the counsel and support of the largest possible mem- bership in the re-statement of our national program of education and the plans for carrying out that program in the light of the necessi- ties which the war has revealed to us. Personal Reasons Thru a great national organization of educators, it will be possi- ble: 1. To provide, thru the discussions at meetings and thru publica- tions, a means of keeping the greatest possible number of members of the profession well informed and up to date in matters pertaining to their profession. 2. To make general among the members of the profession that feeling of pride and satisfaction which comes from solidarity and 13 the knowledge that all are standing together in a spirit of mutual in- terest and mutual helpfulness. 3. To promote the complete understanding and cooperation which is so desirable between the three elements in the human ma- chinery of the school—the official board or employers, the adminis- trative and supervisory staff, and the teachers who deal directly with the children. 4. To bring about, thru cooperation and proper organization, such increase in the pay of teachers and such improvement in the conditions surrounding their work, as shall make it possible for them to remain in the profession and to live in a manner befitting their calling. 5. To permit the N. E. A. to employ a permanent staff adequate to attend to its routine business, to prepare and issue its publications, to assume some responsibility for influencing public opinion upon educational matters, to take an intelligent and effective interest in educational legislation, national, state, and local, and to promote the interests of the members both professionally and financially. The Association now has a Secretary, who attends to its routine business. The Association has also authorized the employment of a Field Secretary to gather and prepare important information and to act as friend and counselor in national or state legislative matters, or in cases where the services of the Association are sought in salary adjustments or in the solution of other important educational ques- tions. For the effective carrying out of the work of the Association, its officers, the Emergency Commission, and the various committees, increast revenues are necessary. Increast revenues come from en- larged membership. With an enlarged membership and increast revenues, the Association will be in a position to render more effective service to every member and to promote that education which is the sure foundation of our democracy. — Signed by the Committee on the Enlistment of the Profession 14 Volt Ess Thr Ret Rey PRICE LIST Volume of Proceedings for any year 1874 to 1918____._-----..--------------~~- --$2.50 Essential Place of Religion in Education___-_-________ sini eat iti ticle as 30 ih enncienencine onsen canis aia Nalin itt te donee. delntniataneniniidinnainthids 25 Report Committee on Grammatical Nomenclature_____---_---------------------- 25 Report Committee on Administrative Legislation_____-....-__-----_.------------- 05 SE ee a ee a eI See 05 Educational Platform, Declaration of Principles at Pittsburgh Convention________ .05 Report of the Committee on Teachers’ Salaries, in Press, ready by October 15- EE EA ee nT ET Te Te Ce 1.00 Complete price list of publications sent on application. Many superintendents of city schools and many presidents of normal schools are ordering Commission Series Number One at $4.50 a hundred, to be placed in the hands of each teacher and faculty member for study and discussion at teachers and faculty meetings. County Superintendents are ordering for their teachers. Normal schools and teachers’ colleges are ordering for their classes in education. The problems of re- adjustment in education will be seriously considered by practically all the teachers of the country during the present school year. Members will receive notice as each number of the Commission Series comes from the press. The price of each number will be five cents. — ty The Enlistment of the Profession The National Education Association at the Pittsburgh meeting not adopted the important program of the N. E. A. Commission, but took actien definitely pledging the support of the teachers of each state in a successful driye for 100,000 new members and for carrying out the entire program of the Com- mission : France and her Colonies now enrol 110,000 teachers in a great national asse- ciation. In the same proportion, the United States should enrol at least 140,00 teachers in the National Education Association. America’s teachers must stand together for America’s children. Increast salaries for teachers, and a better program of progressive education to meet America’s needs, are certain to result if the teachers of America stand back of the Commission on the Emergency in Education and the Program fer Readjustment During and After the War. At least 100,000 teachers should en- list at once. This army can be raised if, in proportion to the total number ef teachers, each state should furnish its quota of recruits as follows: Alabama Nebraska Arizona Nevada . Arkansas New Hampshire California New jersty.._....___--.~. aiail Colorado New Mexico__--.-.--_-___ me Connecticut Delaware North Dakota....._..._.___ pe District of Columbia Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island_--._________ = South Carolina South Dakota. ......_______ ia Tennessee ~-.----__-______ ae: Kentucky ; ies cbitnstmeniasigiisteninancnteciatiocesti me Louisiana Se am Maine Massachusetts Sea aa Michigan 360 West Virginia Minnesota RI iiaiataienitincatnstntentstiicnttla si Mississippi SE wl Missouri —_—_ Montana 0) _-101,014 Each new active or associate member will be enroled as a volunteer in the enlistment of the profession. Charts will be sent out November 1, January 1, and March 1, showing the progress made in each state towards securing the sired quota of new members. It is a mark of distinction to reach 75 per cent of the teachers of a school in this enlistment of the profession. Jt is certainly an honor to go over the top with 100 per cent of the teaching force.