Show BOPE OF THE NATION > l Common chool FOundation on Which it Rests INFLUENCE IS J INCALCULABLE i National Educational Association k Assembled j n its Thirtyninth An I nunl Meeting Issues its Declara j 1 tion of Principles TJrgos Congress t t Reorganize Bureau of Education Upon Broader Line Urges Extension Ex-tension of Our School System to I Cuba Porto Rico and Philippines 4 j Charleston S C July 13In accordance i accord-ance with the established custom and in order in better onforcethosebeJicfs and practices > which lend most power I fully to advance the cause of popular I education and n civilization based on i inlelllgent democracy the National Educational association assembled In ilsithlrtynlulh annual meeting makes i this declaration of principles I In the common school Is the highest 3iope ol the Nation In developing and I in training Intelligence In diffusing Information j I In-formation Its influence is incalculable I In last resort the common schodl rests nol upon statutory support but upon i the convictions and affections of the American people I seeks not to cast I the youth of the country in u cprnmon I 3nold but rather to affotd free play for individuality and for local npcd and aim while keeping steadily In I view the common purpose of educatlorn In this respect It conforms to our t i 31tical Ideas and to our political San I dzation which bind together selfgov II erning States In l nation wherein each locality must bear tho responsibility 1 for those things which most concern I kits welfare and its comfort A safe motto for the school as for the State is In essentials unity In nonessentials nonessen-tials liberty In all things charity UA democracy provides for theedu callon of all Us children To regard the common school as schools for tho unfortunate and the loss welltodo and to treat hem as such Is to strike a fatal blow at their efficIency and democratic Institutions It Is to buildup I build-up class distinctions whIch have no proper place on American soil The purpose of the American common school Is to attract and to instruct tho I rich as well as to provide for and to educate the poor Within l walls American cl liens are maae and no benefits person safely canlbe excluded from Its What has served life people of the United States 50 well should be prominently I promi-nently placed at the service of those who by the fortunes of war have 1e j come our wards The extension pi the American common schopf system to Cuba Porto Rico and the Philippines is an imperative necessity In order that knowledge may D generally diffused < fused therein and the foundations of social order and effective local self government laid on popular intelligence and morality Tho provisions of law for the civil government of Porto RIco Indicate that i Is the intention of the Congress of I the United States to Increase the responsibilities re-sponsibilities oC the Bureau of Educa lion We earnestly urge upon Congress the wisdom and advisability or reorganizing reor-ganizing the Bureau of Education upon broader lines erecting It Into an Important Im-portant department with the Department Depart-ment of Labor of providing a proper compensation for the Commissioner of Education and of so constituting the Department or EflucatlQii that while E4cU whie its invaluable function of collating and diffusing Information he In diffusig Informaton no wise impaired im-paired it may he equipped to exercise oversight over the educational system of Alaska and of the several islands now dependent upon us a well as to make some provision for the education of the children of thousands of chldren liousnds white people domiciled In the Indian Terri tory but who are without any educational educa-tional opportunities Whatever Such fch reorganization of the Bureau of Education Edu-cation and such extension o its func tions wo believe to be demanded by the highest Interests of the people of the United States and we respectfully but earnestly ask Congress to make provision pro-vision for such reorganization and ex tension at its next session The action BO strongly recommended will in no respect cpcct contravene tho principle that It is 1 ono of the recognized functions of the national Government to t encourage and to aid but not to control the educa iional Instrumentalities of the country Wo note with pride the rapid ex tension of provision for a separate secondary sec-ondary and higher education as well as for technical industrial and commercial commer-cial training National prosperity and our economic welfare In the years to come will depend In no small measure upon the trained skill of our people as well as upon their Inventiveness their persistence and their general In formation lr Every safeguard thrown about the profession of teaching and every provision pro-vision for Its proper compensation has our cordial approval Proper standards stand-ards both general and professional for entrance upon the work of Instruc tion security of tenure decent salaries and a systematic pension system are indispensable 1C the schools arc to at tract and to hold the service of the beat men and women In the United States and the Nation can afford to place Its children in the care of none but the bestWe We welcome the tendency on the part of colleges and scientific schools to cooperate Lu 1ormulallng and admInIstering ad-mInIstering tho requirements for admission ad-mission to their several courses of Instruction In-struction and we rejoice that this as sociatlon has constantly thrown Its in lluence In favor of this policy and has indicated how In our judgment It may lie best entered upon We see In this movement II most Important step to ward lightening the burdens which now Ighlenlnf rent upon so many secondary which and arc confident that only good re suIts will follow Its success ol The efficiency of a school system Is i be Judged by the character and tho Intellectual power of Us pupils and Dot by their ability to meet a nne I iechnical tests Tho place of the ot mal examination in education Is I dis tinctly subordinate of teaching and Us use as the sole test of teaching is un justifiable Wo renew our pledge to carry on tho work oC education Intrusted to us In a spirit which shall be not only nonsectarian non-sectarian and nonpolitical but which shall accord with the highest ideals of our national life and character With the effective support of public opinion and the press for the work of the schools higher and lower alike We shall enter upon tho new century with the high hope born of successful ozpc CpC rienco and of perfect confidence in American policies and institutions The declaration is signed by Nicholas Butler New York chairman Edwin A Alderman Louisiana Charles D Mclver North Carolina W W B Powell District of Columbia Alfred Baylies Illinois J A Forshay Altred I fornia James I Vanslckler Maryland I William n Harper Illinois Charle F Ewing Ohio Committee on Resolu tions |