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From The Militant, Vol. XII No. 12, 22 March 1948, p. 4.
Transcribed & marked up by Einde O’ Callaghan for the Encyclopaedia of Trotskyism On-Line (ETOL).
Readin’, ’Ritin’ and ’Rithmetic are the much-talked-about and much-sung-about three R’s. To hear American politicians talk – especially in election years – one would be led to believe that every American child had an equal opportunity to master not only the three R’s but also any other subject in which he was interested. The facts, of course, are quite the opposite.
In their recent study, Unfinished Business in American Education, Professors John Norton and Eugene Lawler point out that:
These tragic conditions exist because the capitalist politicians are not willing to spend enough money for the education of the country’s children. Only three billion dollars a year is appropriated by all public agencies – state, federal and city – for the operation of the schools in 1948. But 23 billion dollars will be spent for militarism in the United States this year (over 62% of the total budget).
And the proposal is now being made that another 3 to 5 billion be added to the military budget each year in order to finance Universal Military Training! In the January issue of Economic Outlook, the CIO Educational Department tells working class parents just what this 3 billion could buy for the school children of the United States. It would be possible to:
And there would still be millions left over!
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Last updated: 2 October 2020