Hope of Educators Lies in Socialism
Hartmann, George W.
Hope of Educators Lies in Socialism B y George W. I l i l m — Sch<yt&if Education, Pennsylvania State College p l ? \Y people realize that more than a million persons in the United States are...
...If that were so...
...Finallly, all educational philosophers acknowledge that the establishment of desirable social attitudes is as significant a pedagogical objective as the imparting of information or the developrnent of specialized skill...
...over-weighted with the intelligentsia...
...Labor needs to be strong in almost every place to check the drive against wage rates...
...They will also have an opportunity to visit Unity nearby, the summer home of the International Ladies' Garment Workers...
...For $30 in subscriptions the eoatribution will be $12.50...
...A L L S O C I A L I S T S . They have back of them not only the good will o f their own people but of all the civilized people in the world who shudder at the prospect of the additional horrors fascism, militarism and capitalism promise to bring to suffering humanity...
...Andy Mellon must be several thousand times as talented as Einstein o r Diego Rivera...
...4. The extraction of square root and the conjugation of Latin verbs cannot be most effectively handled by undernourished youngsters...
...Bat it is also mildly disconcerting, for it lends some support to the charge that the Socialist movement is a head without a body, i-e...
...Nevertheless, the forces of pedagogical conservatism are on the defensive, and the wise Socialist worker will do weH to emphasize the following facts to his teacher friends: InsocuriTy of Teachers The average teacher's salary (taking the country as a whole) fa leas than the minimum wage set for unskilled labor in various NRA codes...
...Pittsburgh Jewish Branch Marks 32nd Anniversary P I T T S B U R G H . — The Jewish Branch, pioneer Socialist Party organization in Westers Petmtsylvania, will celebrate its NjsM anniversary with a tlinner "jsnday evening, April 6, at the Socialist Center, 1862 Center Ave...
...In a world that clamors for war like some crazy monster, for one to remain weak would be for one to invite annihilation without a struggle and nobody likes that...
...On Friday the entire student body will be taken by bus to beautiful Camp Tamiment, and there they will enjoy that idyllic vacation resort for workers...
...So each takes the position of being the one that must arm because the others do and, of a truth, all are in about the same dangerous boat...
...Secondly, there has recently been established a brilliant and effective periodical, The Social Frontier, whose editorial policy commits it to an endeavor to persuade the teachers of America to align themselves with the forces of collectivism...
...Versailles seems not only to have left things no better, but actually to have made some things a great deal worse...
...Teachers Copbwt Fascism The year 1935 is more favorable to such an endeavor than most past years have been...
...The Federal Office of Education estimates that three million children of school age are not receiving any schooling...
...Since the typical school teacher conies from a faintly of modest ' socio-economic status, she has had to contribute to the support of relatives temporarily or permanently deprived of the means of self-support...
...It is consequently c o r r e c t to hold that almost two million American •dolts are, or have b e e n , intimately sssociated with the operation of our educational plant...
...There will follow five days of intensive instruction, details of which will be made public later...
...It all seems very foolish and worse than that...
...It is estimated that each student will be able to cover all expenses, tuition as well as board, for between $20 and $25 for the week, including the Tamiment trip...
...New Leader Scholarships at Rand School Institute THHE second annual Rand School *- Institute, booked for the week from June 23rd to June 30th and which will give an opportunity to many out-of-town Socialists and trade unionists to become acquainted with N e w York and Camp Tamiment, is receiving the wholehearted and enthusiastic cooperation of The New Leader...
...THREE PREMIERS MEET I N H E R E was a little meeting * Tuesday in Copenhagen...
...Get the teachers to examine the respective platforms and see for themselves...
...Insecurity of tenure has been j emphasized by wholesale dismissals authorized by lay boards of education dominated by reactionary b u s i n e s s interests...
...watching turns to the right and turns to the left, we seera to be at a point Where the governmental path again turns back to the left, away from the previous swing toward conservatism...
...Union...
...or the Socialist teacher, who not only loves the Good, the True and {he Beautiful, but seeks 'fa mac* them realities for all the children of men...
...Nygaardsvold, Stauning and Hansson may not be able' to stop the mad dogs of war in a world gone mad, but the very fact that three men holding such offices are able to meet and work, animated by the same Sociaalfat ideals, is a hint of the line the whole world must take if it is to avoid disaster and chaos...
...In either case the Rand Aches...
...But there hasn't been very much refining of national nature or of ground to pieces at Versailles...
...The three premiers are Nygaardsvold of Norway, Hansson of Sweden, and Stauning of Denmark...
...But it would be more] heartening to the masses of the people if there were a solid pol...
...Today organized labor wields a more powerful influence in national affairs than ever...
...The New Leader, eager to aid in making the Institute a success and thus to contribute to sound Socialist education, makes the following offer: For new _ subscriptions to The New Leader'totaling $60 there will be a premium of $20 toward expenses of the student...
...For details address inquiries Afi ONCE to The New Leader, 7 East 15th Street, N. Y. C. Plan Bronze Tablet to Honor Victor L. Berger M I L W A U K E E . — There fa a move afoot to place a bronze tablet to Victor L. Berger on the site of the old publication and editorial office of the Social Democratic Herald one Went State Street, between 6th and 7th Streets...
...About that there is no mistake...
...Promotion in either rank or salary has practically ' ceased all along the line "for even the most competent and mature • individuals...
...the democratic teacher who admires Walter Pater's prose and yet remains silent when National Guardsmen shoot strikers trying to protest their standard Of living...
...However, out of all the turnings that 'have come up to this hour, labor's position is stronger than j ever and its convictions are written more firmly into governmental policy...
...The Census of 1930 listed 1,105,921 teachers, and while That number has undoubtedly declined during the last five years, it ratrst be supplemented by the recent graduates of normal schools and teachers...
...Who will be the truly Educated Man of the Future—the Republican teacher who knows hair "Ode to a Grecian Urn" by Mart ant yet tacitly approvesof atoea tens* meats...
...The existence of this large body of literate (if not always intelligent...
...Hope of Educators Lies in Socialism B y George W. I l i l m — Sch<yt&if Education, Pennsylvania State College p l ? \Y people realize that more than a million persons in the United States are engaged in the business of teaching...
...There has not been much change...
...But we are able to buila more battleships than ever before...
...Around the wqrld the war drums are rolling...
...Solidarity is a good word and it is not overworked...
...There doesn't seem to be any chance that war can b? avoided...
...icy that didn't bend first one way" and then the other...
...Political influence probably will NOT be used against wage "rates now, but economic influence, possessed by the same men who drained the nation prior t o 1929...
...While not actively endorsing the Socialist program or that of any other existing leftwing group, it is a powerful influence for good in combating the dangers of fascism and in preparing the ground for the coming of a planned economy of plenty...
...It is also probable that the relative number of advocates of Socialism increases as one goes 'up the educational ladder from elementary school to university...
...Change it a bit and 'ask the watchman what about the codes and N R A . A powerful cabal is organized to defeat NRA...
...Then mast also be at least a haif-mimon housewives -who taught for some years before marriage, and thousands of men w h o w e r e once teachers and have now s h i f t e d ' to other occupations...
...It is possible to be strong in one place, not so strong in another...
...When the students, gathered from every part of the country, come together in New York on June 23rd they will be greeted with a dinner and the all-important gettogether at which they will become acquainted with each other and their teachers...
...Sooner or later they will grow more commanding and then armies will go hammering toward each other...
...It seems very criminal...
...During the 32 year* of active service in the labor and Socialist movement, the Jewish Braaoh aai assisted in the organize*'• r. of the Workmen's Circle and the Jewwa trade unions, as well as in the organization of the English-speaking party branches...
...Those who want N B A to continue aren't very well organized fair the job* thinking, perhaps, that it isn't necessary...
...Labor has been a pretty good diplomat, too...
...It will affect the workers for the next decade...
...I f corporate wealth can now be set back on its haunches, it will be a victory worth writing down in the book...
...To ask this question is to answer it...
...The* heads of the governments of the three Scandinavian countries came together to discuss a common plan to the face of the German rearmament...
...will add free tuition...
...The Institute will follow the general lines of last year/s successful gathering' of young' workers in the movement, but it is promised that 1985 • will far surpass 1934 in content and arrangements...
...Socialism alone points the way to the salvation of civilization and of humanity...
...Perhaps even more important from the standpoint of the immediate predicament in which ed oca tors find themselves is the fact that neither Republican nor Democratic officials ever utter a word about these vital matters—only the Socialist proclaims the earnestness of these issues and the imperative need for their solution...
...2. War and the preparation for war involve a rejection of every cultural value which the race has slowly acquired...
...The Social Democratic Herald, predecessor to the daily Milwaukee Leader, was one of the greatest Socialist weeklies ever published in this country...
...will act pretty much as a unit...
...To a certain extent, there is something flattering about this fact, for it would seem to indicate that the better-trained educational workers arrive naturally at a Socialist position...
...Solidarity Is a Good Word And It's Not Overworked • y Chester M. Wright I N the Interesting game of...
...5. Reward fa not hi proportion to ability or services rendered...
...On the positive side, more and, more teachers are beginning to realize J 1. It is a farce to speak of democracy in education as long as one gifted lad is denied the benefits o f a training which his duller associates can purchase if their parents have the necessary cash...
...It probably will not come much into the open, but it is there and the dagger is unsheathed for dirty work in the dark...
...Mostly it seems that humanity staggers along, like a drunken man, escaping fatality by absurd antics which take it from under the wheels in the nick of time...
...3. Big Business implicitly rejects all the ideals which a genuinely m o d e r n educational system represents...
...It is all most interesting and also it is all dictated by what seem to be the necessities of pol-: jtics...
...If the big Wall Street gang is as strong as it thinks it fa, then organized effort will be surely and sorely needed among those who want N R A in a decent form, to prevent a recurrence .of jungle competition...
...It would be folly to assume that 'the bulk of teachers 'today ore sponsoring a pregroasiwi eatlonk on national affairs, and most of those who timidly rajs* a voice of protest against insufferable conditions have not advanced beyond the stage where they know that something is wrong bat are ignorant of the cause or the possible remedy...
...In the first place, the American Federation of Teachers (affiliated with the A. F. of L., and as integral a part of it as the United Mine Workers) has shown a steady and gratifying increase during the last decade...
...The answer to this charge, of course, fa to posh the work of enlightenment among the rank-and-file of classroom teachers...
...Until most teachers recognized the limitations of the old-line educational associations with their narrow social horizon, and established a more militant organization baaed upon the unity of all workers of hand and brain, it was futile to expect any strong Socialist leanings from the mass of the profession...
...The common phrase, "Tax the poor to sup- ! port the poor," acquires new meaning in this light...
...Rediscovering Socialism The significant thing about these conclusions is that they embody a re-discovery of old truths which were known to Socialists a generation or two ago...
...Indeed, The New Leader is cooperating to the extent of providing a large number of scholarships to out-of-town workers, who will come to New York for a week of study and pleasure...
...Now, what do you say about maintaining professional standards') Most teachers have suffered severe reductions in pay (which weren't very fancy in the first place) or nave undergone the humiliation of not being paid at all for months at a time...
...or toward business—you namd it...
...It is, a time for new membership and for fast thinking—fast, but clear...
...But the big money' boys are ganging up to attack wages just the same...
...It fa a time to build strongly...
...At least 100,000 teachers axe Unemployed, and this tact is held as a club over tHe ^hduis of tHose who seek "preferment," to use , the lingo of the go-getting ad- , ministrator...
...colleges who are legally qualified to teach (as shown by the possession of some kind of State Certificatej but who find themselves unemployed because of economic conditions...
...The three Scandinavian countries, with a total population of 12,557,000, do not bulk very big in the face of nations with huge populations, but they are probably the most literate, the most intelligent, the most genuinely peaceloving and the mbst constructive people in the world today...
...citizens, most of whom live without participation in the radical or labor movement, constitutes a distinct challenge to the Socialist forces of the country...
...Watchmap, what of the night— it's an old cry...
...Even the best scientific expert or most distinguished university professor now knows that fie . belongs to the category of "hired j men...
...What does this mean in terms of economic security, long one of the big arguments for entering a "steady" bat relatively ill-paid occupation...
...We have no way of knowing what proportion of teachers have already been won to the Socialist viewpoint, although it is probably safe to say that it fa aa large as, if not larger, than the ratio of Socialist sympathisers fn other fields, even including organized tabor...
...And so, all nations are rushing to gather strength...
...The location in question was knows as 614 State Street and consisted of a two-story frame building, with t cavernous basement, whajsi Jk hal his newspaper press, one of 1Biai old type...
Vol. 18 • April 1935 • No. 14
