_Whereas_, the privilege of an education is the birthright of every American child ...; and _Whereas_, the deaf child ... has the same inalienable right to the same education as his more fortunate hearing brother; and _Whereas_, ... the [modern] movement ... [is] giving schools for the deaf their proper place as part of the public school system of the country; and _Whereas_, ... eighty-one per cent [of the deaf are] gainfully employed of those who have had schooling, thus indicating the value of education ...; therefore be it _Resolved_, ... that education of the deaf on the part of the state is simply fulfillment of its duty as a matter of right and justice, not sympathetic charity and benevolence to the deaf; ... that schools for the deaf should not be known and regarded, nor classified, as benevolent or charitable institutions, ... [but] as strictly educational institutions, a part of the common school system ... [and not with such associations as] tend to foster a spirit of dependence in the pupils and mark them as the objects of charity of the state.... CONCLUSIONS IN RESPECT TO THE CHARITY CONNECTION OF SCHOOLS FOR THE DEAF Certain inferences or conclusions may now be reached regarding our question as to whether schools for the deaf may be regarded and classified as charitable. 1. In America the schools have been regarded both as educational and charitable, but there is an increasing tendency to consider them as purely educational. At present about half of the states hold them entirely or in the main as educational. 2. The state boards or public authorities that regard the schools as charitable are in no wise prompted by any desire to discriminate against the deaf, or to deny that they are less capable or worthy of education than others. The question is held to be mainly one of administration. 3. Inasmuch as board and a home are provided in the institutions, and in some cases clothing and transportation also, the charitable element is present, and in point of fact the schools must be regarded _ad hoc_ as charitable. 4. This charitable feature, however, plays a slight and almost negligible part in the work of the schools, being in fact only incidental, and the educational aims take precedence over all else. 5. Because of the associations involved in the charity connection, which are not shared in by the regular schools, and because of the little to suggest charity in the after lives of the deaf, the schools for the deaf have reason to protest against the connection. As education is the one purpose of the schools, and as their operations are conducted solely to this end, they are entitled to an educational classification. 6. That the schools for the deaf should thus be held and treated, to the farthest possible extent, as purely educational, is demanded both by justice and by the regard for the proper effect on the deaf and on the public. FOOTNOTES: