CHAPTER II

Relative Merit of Private and Public Agencies for

Americanization

The original design in making education a public service in this country, supported by taxation of all the people, was, and the present purpose should be, that the public schools would prepare citizens for the duties and obligations they owe to their fellows as participators in the conduct of government. This purpose must be the first function of all public teaching; never secondary or incidental. As the task of so-called Americanization is the making of good citizens, it is clear that its purpose squares with that of the principal function of the public school, and that, theoretically at least, Americanization should be the work of the public school so far as actual, formal education enters into it. It has been a general policy in respect to education in the United States to place chief responsibility upon the various states and upon the cities, towns, counties and school districts in the states. More over, in the field of public education, it has been the policy to relate the general education system in its administration and conduct as closely to popular control as possible. The effect of this policy has been to link public education very strongly to local educational needs. The education of minors and minors of employment age through the medium of free public schools and various part-time and extension classes is on the whole very thoroughly organized throughout the several states. The legislature of each state has the power to provide for the educational programs of that state, and although there are minor differences, the system is, generally speaking, fairly uniform in this field.

The most prevalent system provides for the annual election by the qualified electors of the state of first, a superintendent or commissioner of public education, and second, a state board of education, some of whose members are usually appointed by the governor or elected by the state legislature. To the superintendent and the state board of education are entrusted all matters pertaining to, first, the establishment and maintenance of free public schools and other public educational institutions throughout the counties and districts of the state; second, the authorization and licensing of properly qualified superintendents, principals and teachers; third, the prescription of courses of study and the standardization of text books; and fourth, the submission of the

annual budget of school expenses covered by general taxation. The election of local district trustees or boards usually takes place annually.

The survey made by this Committee indicates that the public school has been the most powerful unifying force for nationalism and loyalty in this state and throughout the United States. Most Americanization agencies agree that the great responsibility for undertaking such work rests upon the public school and that the success of the work rests largely upon the teacher.

The situation in New Hampshire is not unique. There the responsibility for Americanization is put squarely on the schools. The State Deputy Commissioner of Education is the State Director of Americanization, and each city superintendent of schools is local Americanization Director. The State Deputy Commissioner arouses interest in the work, organizes it and harmonizes it. The local authorities carry the work on and report upon it. It is a policy of the State Deputy Commissioner to so organize each local Americanization committee that they will include a representative of each race and each organization in the community, so that there will be no conflict of effort and so that he is in touch with all activities.

New York State is perhaps the foremost in the field of adult immigrant education. Here, too, chief responsibility is placed upon and accepted by the public educational agencies of the Commonwealth, both local and state. Work carried on by private organizations often fails to gain the confidence of the foreign-born. It is likely to be looked upon as charity. If it is a church or a settlement house it is considered a philanthropic institution and sometimes the efforts of the workers of these organizations are resented as a form of interference. The appeal made by a public movement is likely to arouse less suspicion and immediately estab lishes in the foreigner's mind the idea that the government can help him, if he is given to understand that the public educational agency is a part of the government and that the teacher is a representative of the government. If a foreigner accepts the training of a public school he is likely to appreciate the fact that the government has aided him and hence to recognize his obligation to support that government.

The public library is an institution which can cooperate with the public school in its work of Americanization. As an example of what can be done through careful study of the local immigrant

groups and their needs, we would refer to the work of Mrs. Eleanor Ledbetter, of the Cleveland Public Library. The public library is characteristically an American institution. Here the foreigner feels more welcome even than in the school room, where he may resent the more advanced standing of a pupil younger than himself or where he may encounter members of other nationalities who may have prejudices against him. The foreign language newspaper can do much toward Americanizing its readers if its policy is sympathetic with American principles, but in the last analysis we must look to the public schools to furnish citizenship training through education.

Chambers of commerce throughout the country have done much to support the work of local school boards, especially in the establishment and maintenance of factory classes. In this their work has been coordinated to some extent by the United States Chamber of Commerce.

We should like to acknowledge here the worthy efforts of the Young Men's Christian Association, whose workers in most cases have high ideals of loyal citizenship and Americanism. From careful and wide observation of the work of this organization in Americanization we are convinced that its first concern is the making of good citizens. In all cases coming to our attention the Young Men's Christian Association is working in accord with the public educational activities, if not in actual cooperation with them, and much of this work is designed to fill in gaps where public educational facilities have not as yet been established. The Young Men's Christian Association has recommended to this Committee that the state cooperate with private agencies and furnish them with equipment and supplies, but our investigation has revealed that most private organizations engaged in Americanization are not so efficient as the Young Men's Christian Association nor so much in accord with the aims of our public educational systems. Much of the work of other private organizations does not prove to be just what it is labelled. Much of it is theoretical and on paper only, and represents plans for what should be done rather than a report of actual operations. While much work is done by women's clubs to Americanize alien women in their homes, all reports received by the committee indicate that the most successful agency here, as in other fields of Americanization, is the public school. In small communities, however, where the foreign problem is large in proportion to the educational facilities, and

where there is no provision for home teaching, women's clubs and other private enterprises can be and are of inestimable value and help if they cooperate with the public school authorities.

Just as the success of public efforts in Americanization depends upon the soundness of the teacher, so the failure of private enterprises to really Americanize, where such failure exists, is due in large measure to the incompetency of the worker and especially to his over-sentimental attitude toward the foreigner. With possibly the best intentions in the world, a large number of social workers seem to be following the principle of one of the prominent so-called Americanizers, which may be summed up in the formula, "Don't try to Americanize the foreigner; let him foreignize the Americans."

A distinct advantage to be gained by placing the work of of Americanization and citizenship training entirely in the hands. of the public school authorities is that such a procedure will permit the standardizing of courses, so that a foreigner changing from one school to another in his community, or moving to another part of the state, or even to a remote part of the country, would be able to continue his studies in accordance with the same methods and without serious set-back. The Berlitz School of Languages has standarized courses so that a student may begin his study of any language in any large city of the world and at any time transfer to another large city and continue just where he left off. Such a system of standardization would seem to be the one solution of the problem of educating the itinerant laborer, who is found to some extent in New York State but more especially in the Middle and Far West. It is obvious that in the interests of economy and efficiency if for no other reasons, all efforts in Americanization should come through one source. The purpose for which our public schools are established, as well as the experience of most of our able educators, lead to the conclusion that this one source should be the public school system, headed by the state department of education. In New York State the responsibility should rest upon the state department of education. On the other hand, the committee would view with satisfaction the assumption on the part of the Federal Government of responsibility in the Americanization movement, to the extent that it should coordinate the work of the various states and aid them financially, as provided in the Kenyon bill. This is particularly true for the reason that the See Section III, subdivision 2, chapter I.

admission of immigrants into this country is fixed and determined by Federal legislation, which has resulted in the past in imposing upon the State of New York an educational burden far beyond its capacity to support. The committee believes that the various States should coordinate the local Americanization work within their respective boundaries, and the local school boards should coordinate all work within their communities.

The necessity for placing the responsibility for citizenship training primarily upon the state has been forcibly brought to the attention of this Committee through its consideration of the programs of education carried on at the present time in certain radical schools.

The chapter dealing with subversive teaching in certain schools (appearing on page 1444 of this report) shows that there are in this State organized schools which have for their purpose the teaching of the doctrine that organized government should be overthrown by force, violence or the use of the general strike and industrial action. This doctrine is in violation of the criminal laws of the State of New York. These schools, therefore, are engaged in the making of criminals; and students who advocate the doctrines which are there taught them are subject to criminal prosecution by the state. The Committee is convinced that the state owes a greater duty to its citizens to protect them from criminal teachings than to punish the criminals after they have been made in this manner, with the passive approval of the state. It is more important to preserve the loyalty of citizens. than to punish the disloyal after they have been subjected to subversive teaching.

Schools engaged in teaching the doctrine of criminal anarchy in one form or another entice into their courses young men and women who are potentially good citizens, who are ignorant of the consequence of the teaching they receive, and who are in many cases innocent of any desire to engage in revolutionary activities. In the interests of these students, the Committee considered what methods should be adopted for their protection.

An examination of the criminal laws of the state and of criminal procedure has convinced the Committee that they do not afford adequate protection to the citizens. If a revolutionary school is incorporated, it may be indicted, tried, and convicted for the crime of criminal anarchy and punished with a substantial fine, but during the entire process, it may continue its subversive