ed by the
Convention of American Instructors:[517]

_Resolved_, that the deaf youth of our land unquestionably deserve,
and are lawfully entitled to, the same educational care and aid as
their more fortunate brothers and sisters; and that this education,
the constitutional duty of the state, should be accorded them as a
matter of right, not of charity, standing in the law, as it is in
fact, a part of the common school system.

The second is a resolution adopted by the National Association of the
Deaf:[518]

_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 administrat