of Governor Herbert R. O'Conor 407

job to be done and positive action with vigor and dispatch is the order of the
day. There can and must not be any yielding to a sense of futility in the face
of such a challenge! I have the utmost faith in the reserve power and ability
of the teaching profession to measure up to the task which is ours today and
in the days to come.

We must face realistically, and we hope constructively, some of the prob-
lems and the possibilities in the field of professional education for adminis-
trators and for teachers which are implicit in the task that has been set up and
lies ahead for American education. Basic to such a discussion are certain
assumptions:

1. The policies agreed upon through the National Education Association
dealt with long-range objectives.

2. That implicit in the proposals are some fundamental changes in the
content, organization and administration of American education. This is al-
most a redirection of our program of education.

3. Every member of a school staff should somehow relate himself, indi-
vidually and personally, to these efforts by involving himself or herself in some
form of participation.

If we can accept these assumptions as valid, it seems clear that as we move
forward in frontal attack upon our objectives, it will be discovered that there
are many real opportunities and challenges presented in the field of peda-
gogical activity for the defense of our American Democracy.

What does all this mean to the individuals engaged in any capacity deal-
ing with schools?

Primarily, they must re-examine and clarify their philosophy of adminis-
tration. For in any effort to strengthen the quality of civic life in democratic
America there is no place for methods which do not maintain the form and
spirit of democracy in the administration and supervision of our school system.

It seems also obvious that with the opportunity to participate in policy-
making goes a responsibility which teachers must recognize. They must realize
that their tasks entail more than just teaching classes. If this democratic
process is to achieve the maximum benefits through education, teachers every-
where must be encouraged and helped to expand materially the range and
depth of their present knowledge and interests.

The work of education in this day allows for no task to be entrusted to
feeble hands and faltering spirits. A straight course must be plotted for the
main objectives; and we must not be unmindful of the demands for more vital
opportunities for youth to adjust itself more happily and effectively through
training and guidance to the world of work; here again we must be ready to
face facts and modify our theories and our practices.

As our teachers have always been held in high regard in the. minds of the
parents, the teachers must realistically carry out their relationships with the
community and the lay public in thought and action.

In America the concept of the school and the teacher has always embraced
the thought of being an integral part of the community's life and the doors