For politicians, educators are an easy target.
Plenty of Americans followed their advice. It is impossible to trace all the individual actions, but some organizations kept records of their private attempts to investigate and punish teachers. The Daughters of the American Revolution, for instance, openly encouraged each of its members to “constitute herself a committee of one to oppose by every means within her power the infiltration of communistic teachers in our schools.
In 1950, New York City suspended eight teachers, then, in 1951, fired eight more. The investigations deprived the district of some of its best teachers. To give just one example, in 1952 teacher Mildred Flacks had been teaching for 19 years. Her annual evaluation by her principal included the usual glowing praise.
The effect was felt not only in New York City. In 1949, a national survey conducted by the National Education Association to assess the climate of classroom teaching found that potential teachers were being scared away from the job, in part because of the relentless, unpredictable political inquisition. The 1949 survey concluded that the resulting “shortage of teachers” constituted a “national crisis in education.
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