Address By Commissioner Of Education Earl McGrath Before the Meeting of the National Education Association, Democracy's Road To Freedom
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OCR Page 1 of 10DEMOCRACY'S ROAD TO FREEDOM *
by
Earl J. McGrath, U. S. Commissioner of Education
Federal Security Agency
It is a privilege to meet with the representatives of such a
large segment of the teaching profession. These meetings sponsored by
the National Education Association perform a valuable service to the
profession and to the public at large. For teachers they provide an
opportunity to discuss their common problems, and to formulate and
publicize views concerning education. They also permit the examination
of public issues related to the work of the schools. Recent public
interest in American education makes this 1949 meeting par ticularly
timely.
Two conflicting philosophies of government and of life are now
competing for the allegiance of the peoples of the world. One of these
is totalitarianism. It finds current expression in the Communistic
states of Russia and her satellites. The other is democracy. The job
of educators is to lead Americans to reject totalitarianism and to do it
by embracing democracy. In defeating Communism, however, we must beware
lest we adopt some of its most objectionable methods.
Totalitarianism submerges the individual in the welfare of the
state. Democracy uses the state to advance the welfare of the individual.
Both totalitarian and democratic governments have been called "welfare
states"; but they are as far apart as the poles. Where democracy pro-
Before the Annual Meeting of the National Education Association, Boston,
Mass., July 7, 1949; appeared in part in School Management, Sept. 1949,
.
and in the National Education Association Journal, September, 1949.
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