Your vote and how to use it

by Gertrude Foster Brown

The president of the University of the State of New York is elected by the Regents. He is also the State Commissioner of Education, and as such is the head of the State Department of Education which supervises the free public schools and normal schools of the State and apportions the State school funds.

The National Commissioner of Education is at the head of the National Bureau of Education in Washington. The work of this bureau is largely to collect and publish information about educational conditions and progress in the United States.

Agricultural Help: There are four free agricultural schools besides the State College of Agriculture in Ithaca. Much assistance is given by the government to the agricultural needs of the State. Special courses are provided at many colleges for the various departments of agricultural work. Short courses are arranged for those who can only attend a few weeks, and at times in the year when farm work is slack.

Farmers’ Institutes are organized, at which experts discuss the best way of doing the varied work of the farm, especially how to increase production and to make the farm more profitable.

Vocational Training:[5] If the public school is going to prepare young people for their work in the world, some guidance in the selection of an occupation, and some practical training in a trade or profession, must be included in their school work.

The great majority of children leave school at an early age to go to work. Without specialized training they have little chance for advancement, but fill the ranks of untrained labor, to the great loss of the world and their own disadvantage.

State Scholarships: Each of the 150 Assembly districts of the State has five free scholarships valued at $400 each. The scholarships are awarded by the Commissioner of Education and the holder may attend any college in the State, and receive $100 for each of the four years he or she attends.

Domestic Training: The majority of girls, even though they are wage-earners for a time, sooner or later marry, and have children and a household to take care of. In the olden days, when the home was a workshop, girls were taught cooking at home; they learned to care for babies through taking care of the little ones in the family. Now they often leave school to go to the factory, and only leave the factory when they marry. They have no knowledge of cooking, housekeeping, or the care of children. Unless domestic economy of the most practical kind is taught in the school-room, there is no way they can be prepared for the important business of housekeeper and mother. If every girl were taught to cook and were trained in the proper care of an infant, it would add immeasurably to the sum total of the comfort and health of family life. It would be an advantage to every boy, likewise, if he were taught to use his hands in carpentering or other manual work. Whatever comes in later life, hands that have been trained to be useful are a great asset to any man or woman.

Schools as Community Centers: Education does not stop at any age. Public free lectures, mothers’ meetings, and the use of schools for community recreation are helping to make the school-house 100 per cent. efficient as an educational center. The school plant that is closed when school is not in session is an extravagance which no community can afford.

The demand for the use of the school-house for political meetings, and as polling-places at election-time, is growing. Outside of New York City school-buildings may only be so used by special permission of the voters. Since one of the purposes of education is to train people in citizenship, the use of the school-house as the center of everything that pertains to the people’s part in government seems legitimate.