State in need of educational advantages of which they have heretofore been deprived. It is to be noted that in many if not most of the states in which the most progressive steps have been taken in extensions of educational privileges among adults, such work is regularly organized in the division of educational extension within the several states and under the direct supervision and direction of the various state boards of education, boards of commissioners, and regularly constituted state educational authorities. This Committee is of the opinion that in order to promote, develop and conserve the general educational interests of the State, the Department of Education should take suitable steps toward extending whatever service it can, particularly among the educationally unprivileged groups of the State which are reported to be calling for educational assistance and guidance. 2. LOCAL BOARDS OF EDUCATION In the last analysis much of the actual responsibility for the work of citizenship training and Americanization rests upon the local school board. While the survey of this Committee has shown that a great deal is being done by the various state departments of education this work is largely a matter of planning, organizing, stimulating, coordinating and sometimes financing. The local school boards in most cases are the really effective agencies in carrying on the work. We have been in direct communication with the superintendents of schools of most of the large industrial centers throughout the country.* We find that almost without exception. they seek the cooperation of such local organizations as the Y. M. C. A., Chamber of Commerce, leading industries, churches, women's club, etc., to encourage attendance upon the night schools. by adult foreign-born who need instruction in the English language and general training for citizenship. In many centers there is a move to encourage naturalization, but in all these local activities, as in other fields which we have investigated, there is no report of an attempt to meet radical influences directly with education. The brunt of the problem of immigrant education rests upon New York State. New York City is the port of entry for the bulk of our immigration, and by far the largest percentage stay there. New York is therefore called upon to shoulder a responsibility which is not local and which is not altogether a State problem, but See Addendum, Part 2. is in a great measure national. The New York City Board of Education must be credited with having evolved as efficient machinery as its funds would permit to cope with the immigrant education problem. It has, however, been seriously hampered by lack of funds and it appeals to the State for additional help. present State appropriation is totally inadequate. The If the reader will refer to the racial maps of New York City which accompany this report he will note that the problem is general and that efforts in education cannot be concentrated geographically. Even if immigration should cease at this time and no additional burden should be added, it would be necessary to greatly increase the present appropriations if the needs of the community were to be adequately met. The City of New York has approximately thirty evening High schools, 70 evening schools and 70 annexes. In these evening schools there are 10,000* foreign-born adults, and about 1,000* additional in the extension classes of the day school. This is a mere drop in the bucket compared with the total work of immigrant education which must be done. The Department of Education of New York City estimates that they could take care of from one thousand to four thousand in each school building if they had the funds for heating and lighting and for the payment of teachers. Inasmuch as the whole State can benefit by an intelligent Americanized citizenship in the City of New York, and inasmuch as not only the State but the nation may suffer from seditious activities arising in New York City due in large measure to the lack of Americanization efforts, this Committee urges liberality on the part of the State in the matter of appropriation of funds to New York City and other large industrial centers of the State, for immigrant education work. Among other local school boards of New York State who are attempting Americanization work through the public schools, we mention the following: Albany, Amsterdam, Binghamton, Buffalo, Cohoes, Cortland, Depew, Dunkirk, Elmira, Geneva, Glens Falls, Gloversville, Ithaca, Lancaster, Lockport, Mt. Vernon, New Rochelle, Newburgh, Niagara Falls, Oneonta, Oswego, Peekskill, Poughkeepsie, Rochester, Schenectady, Solvay, Syracuse, Troy, Utica, Watertown, White Plains and Yonkers. Many of the school boards cooperate with local industries and other private organizations. The program of Rochester is well worth noting. * Enrollment for the fall of 1920 shows a substantial increase. The local board of education cooperated with the industries in its vicinity with the result that classes were established in the leading factories, many men were enrolled and many were trained for naturalization. Rochester has a Cooperative Americanization Committee to coordinate all Americanization activities. Included on the Committee are the foreign language churches and societies, foreign language press, Central Trades and Labor Council, social settlements, Monroe County Home Defense committee on aliens and on instruction, Board of Education, Naturalization Court, Federal Employment Bureau, Public Libraries, Housekeeping Center, Council of Jewish Women, several stores and hotels, and fifty industrial plants employing non-English-speaking employees. Outside of New York State we would especially call attention. to the local Americanization programs of Bridgeport, Hartford and Waterbury, Connecticut; Fall River, Boston, Lawrence and New Bedford, Massachusetts; Grand Rapids, Michigan; Newark and Paterson, New Jersey; Portland, Oregon, and Erie, Pittsburgh, Reading and Scranton, Pennsylvania.* 3. PRIVATE ENTERPRISES a. CITIZENSHIP TRAINING THROUGH INDUSTRY In making a survey of educational facilities throughout the country the Committee was volunteered very little information from educational sources as to work being done through factory classes. It might therefore be assumed that the Commissioners of Education with whom we corresponded did not know of activities through industries, or that they did not consider it an important feature of Americanization work. In any case, the state departments of education, except in a few cases, apparently do not cooperate with the industries to a sufficient extent to make it a prominent factor in the minds of the commissioners when discussing the subject of Americanization. Our own survey, however, leads us to believe that much important work is being done in and by the factories, sometimes at their own expense and sometimes sharing the expense with the employees and with such local and private organizations, as chambers of commerce, Y. M. C. A., etc. The Immigration Committee of the United States Chamber of Commerce in 1918 presented to chambers of commerce and industries standardized plans and suggestions for the organization of war Americanization work, which resulted in widespread *See Addendum, Part 2. |