Statement by United States Commissioner of Education Earl James McGrath

STATEMENT * The time has arrived wnen we can no longer neglect to utilize the vast resources inherent in the large group of uneducated adults found in our population. It is in the interest of their own individual well-being, as well as in the interest of the national welfare that we cultivate the unused talents of these citizens. A majority of them have bota the capacity and willingness to learn. We cannot achieve the goal of equality of opportunity to which our democracy subscrives so long as this group is forgotten educationally. A crusade to wipe out the blot of illiteracy from our Nation will have a salutary effect on our entire educational enterprise. It will not only give a trenendous impetus to our efforts to enforce our compulsory school attendance laws, but will also helo to increase financial support .of education. Such a crusade will improve our educational naterials and methods generally, as well as provide millions with the tools of communi- cation which are the means of develoo in more effective and fruitful citizens in all walks of life. The Office of Education with the assistance of the .Carnegie Corporation of New York and other a encies and organizations hás been working at this problem for some time. Through cooperative effort, we have rgained considerable experience in the preparation of teachers and leaders, and in the development of instructional materials. As an indi- cation of our continuing interest in the problem and its solution, we are presenting these reprints of SCHOOL LIFE articles. *By Earl James licorath, U. S. Commissioner of Education, Federal Security Agency, Lashington, D. C., on May 20, 1952, to accompany reprints of article on literacy education.