Letter from U.S. Commissioner of Education Earl James McGrath to William F. Looney

LETTER Murch 1, 1952 Mr. William F. Looney President Boston Public Schools Teachers College of the City of Boston Huntington Avenue Boston 15, Massachusetts Dear Mr. Looney: May I join with the many friends of the Teachers College of the City of Boston in extendin: to you, your faculty, and your distinguished institution consratulations and yood wishes. Surely tnehundred years of effective service in educating teachers for the proud city of Boston merits sincore CO.1 ratulations. The challenge to teacher education in the years ahead as sureiy warrants our cood wishes. Probably at no time in lis. history has your college faced as profound problems as it does today. The many facets oi the question of what constitutes the best program for the education of teachers are more widely and vigorously debated today than ever before. Institu- tions like yours which operate in close association with the schools in which in the main the teachers serve have an unusual opportunity to test out the claims and counter claims with respect to each proposed procedure in the field of teaching. Furthernore, you have opportunity to discover the relative weights which should be given many factors which enter into the qualifications of the teacher. May I express, along with my good wishes, the hope that you will enter the second century with high aspirations: May you contribute not alone to the continued upbuilding of the schools of Boston and vicinity but also, through the leadership of your institution, to the improvement of teacher education throughout the country. Sincerely yours, Earl J. McGrath U. S. Commissioner of Education *By Earl Janes icCrath, U. S. Commissioner of Education, Federal Security Agency, Washington, D. C., upon the 100th anniversary of the Teachers College of the City of Boston as a teacher-training institution to be published in THE TORCH.