social interests of
the community are both opposed to the current practice of "graduating"
boys from the public schools at the ages of 15 or 16 and then losing
sight of them. The fact that the large number who go into industrial
occupations will not or cannot remain in school beyond these ages does
not absolve the school system from further responsibility for their
educational future. There should not be a complete severance between
the boy and the school until he has reached a relatively mature age.
In other words, the school system should maintain, as long as
possible, such a relation with him as will help to round out his
education and lead him to continue it after reaching manhood.

It is the opinion of the Survey Staff that the only practicable
solution of this problem lies in the day continuation school, backed
by a compulsory law which will bring every boy and girl at work under
the age of 18 into school for a certain number of hours per week. Only
through a comprehensive plan that will reach large numbers of young
workers can the difficulties inherent in the administration of small
classes be overcome. The night schools have never been successful in
holding boys long enough to make more than a beginning in
trade-extension training. It is certain that growing boys should not
be expected to add two hours of study to their nine or 10 hours of
unaccustomed labor in the shop. Both individual and community
interests demand that this problem be taken up in such a way as to
obviate the sharp cleavage between the boy's school life and his
working life. From every point of view it is unwise to permit him to
lose all contact with the educational agencies of the city during his
first years at work.

The compulsory continuation school avoids the difficulties which are
responsible for the common failure of those schemes which depend for
their success on the initiative of individuals or the voluntary
cooeperation of employers and trade unions. One of its great advantages
is that the principle on which it is based makes for equal justice to
all. There can be no doubt that the decline of apprentice training in
the shops is due partly to the fact that employers find that much of
the time and money it costs goes toward providing a skilled labor
force for competitors who make no effort to train young workers. The
cooperation of employers on a comprehensive scale will be secured only
when the burden is equally shared.

THE TE