Secondary education in the United States has always been infected with the so-called "democratic spirit," in both its good and its bad aspects. Although concern for the common man led America to institute one of the first universal public school systems in the world, quantity has unusually gotten the best of quality in the public concern.

Mediocrity in Democracy

The very democratic theory which first attached the words "public" and "universal" to education has proven to be education's most ruthless opponent at the other end of the scales of values: democracy in education has come to mean mediocrity.

Two strong prejudices seem to have set themselves deep in American attitudes towards education: First, demands for equal rights often fail to recognize unequal talents--many complain that to select certain gifted students for special instruction violates the democratic principle. Secondly, American emphasis on material success measured in terms of financial profit scorns the academic world as largely useless, except in its strictly vocational manifestations.

Slow Realization

However, it is also true that this has been the case throughout American history, and yet it has not been until the last few years that the implications and results of such attitudes have been noticed.

During the past 175 years the United States has taken the originality of Europe and, with its resources and practical ability, transformed it into the standard of living and the physical strength which make it the wealthiest nation in the world. But now, for the first time, America is confronted with a challenge to an intellectual battle which is perhaps a battle for survival.

The fact that science is the particular area in which the battle is being fought should not obscure the fact that the battle is an intellectual one. Nor should an aversion to the "crass materialism" of science be allowed to make people believe that a return to interests in things spiritual or in the humane letters will solve the problem.

The fact is that the only reason for this concern with improving American education has come out of a threat to our survival. Without this, the problem of increased intellectual activity for its own sake would not be a very pressing problem, nor would anything else, for that matter.

Educators have been pointing out the weaknesses in the American system for years, and no one ever paid much attention, indeed there were no particularly obvious reasons for them to do so. Only recently have the reasons been supplied.

The Sputniks' Jolt

The launching of the Russian earth satellites was a spectacular demonstration of the successes of an educational system which differs drastically from our own, and it jolted, at least temporarily, the American people into recognition of the truth that lay behind the criticism of the past.

Immediate reaction to the surprise Soviet advance was a typically American one--to spend more money. Enthusiasm for educational subsidies, however, gauged by Congressional action, is flagging. Moreover, a "crash program" in science or mathematics is not the answer. Dr. Henry T. Heald, president of the Ford Foundation, asserts that "scientists cannot be made overnight with any amount of money. They must be produced by the American school system."

Surprised at Culture

This is equally true of any other academic field, and there are certainly fields other than science in which America's anti-intellectual tendencies stand her in bad stead. A European quoted recently in Newsweek, said that he was genuinely surprised whenever he came across an American who could discuss modern art intelligently or indeed who could do anything more than tell him how wonderful things were in the United States.