Secondary Schools

As the medical and legal professions become overcrowded and opportunities in business decline, hope rises for American secondary education. For many years high-school teaching has been scorned, treated as a last resort, by the bulk of male college graduates. Except for a few earnest men who saw the great need of our secondary schools and like the country preacher were willing to give themselves to the humble labor the better students preferred University teaching or non-academic pursuits. Many able women took up teaching without reluctance and made notable contributions, but a preponderance of woman teachers has its disadvantages. Nothing could do more to elevate the standards of secondary education than an increase in the number of alert intelligent male teachers.

During the present depression hordes of good students have applied for high-school positions. If school boards were capable of selecting wisely, they might equip their institutions with young men who, though suffering from the defects of American university methods have the ability to raise the intellectual level of secondary teaching. But, unfortunately, pull or a "smooth line" are likely to determine the selection of applicants in many places, and the majority of male teachers will continue for a while to be lazy, dull, and conservative.

As our universities continue to manufacture diplomas by the thousands, however, the oversupply of university-trained workers is likely to become permanent and college graduates will have to reduce their aspirations accordingly. Men will no longer fall into high-school teaching, but will deliberately choose a course of study leading to much work. Competition for positions will inevitably raise standards, despite the blundering of those now in charge of secondary education. The Cornell Sun