Address by Commissioner of Education Earl McGrath, Learning the "Three R's" of Citizenship

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LEARNING THE "THREE R's" OF CITIZENSHIP* Tonight I should like to talk with you for a bit about the anatomy of citisenship. Rather than attempt a detailed, pedantic analysis of the subject, studded with those footnotes without which we educators venture forth at our peril, I thought we might just reflect briefly on some of the fundamentals--the bones and blood and tissue which we, as citisens, ought to know about in order to function effectively. During the past year, my first as Commissioner of Education, I have had an opportunity to visit with people in almost every section of the country. I've talked with individuals from all walks of life about America's schools and the important educational questions which are of such deep concern to overyone. In these many conversations, I have noted with much gratification the steadily increasing interest in citisenship education. Farmers, laborers, professional people, businessmen--it makes little difference what groups one cites: the same general theme keeps recurring. More and more, we seem to be turning to the question of how our Nation can best train a citisenry with the poise, wisdom and maturity needed for the strenuous years ahead. Throughout the land, organisations such as this Congress of Parents and Teachers are studying, with spirit and dedication, the full meaning of citisenship in a democratic society. The word "citisen" is fast coming to have a newer, broader connotation and, in the face of pressure from totalitarian states, we are suddenly brought to realize that "there' no such thing as a part-time citisen. CAddress by Earl James MoGrath, U. S. Commissioner of Education, Federal Security Agency, Washington, D. C., before annual dinner meeting of D. C. Congress of Parents and Teachers, Mayflower Hotel, Washington, D. C. May 11, 1950.