The Grip of Tradition on the Schools

Abstract

T HOUGH we are a trifle tight on advancing teachers' salaries in periods like the present, we Americans are abundantly sold on education. We are offering high-school training free of charge to every future citizen and are on the verge of adding two college years on top of this--still at public expense. We are pushing toward a well-rounded general education for all our people. The big idea is original with us, in defiance of European precedent. There are, however, signs of a wavering faith-as if education has not been gauged in keeping with its value. Mothers in faded dress and drab surroundings still deny themselves necessities, and fathers live at a subsistence level, so that their children may have a better start in life than mom and dad. The base of the