work cannot be obtained in the amount of time now devoted to this
subject. It should be made possible for a girl who expects to make a
living with her needle to elect a thoroughly practical course in
sewing in which the aim is to prepare for wage earning rather than
merely to teach the girl how to make and mend her own garments. As
proficiency in trade sewing requires first of all ample opportunity
for practice, provision should be made for extending the time now
given to sewing for those girls who wish to become needle workers.
This can easily be done through the system of electives now in use.
The establishment of classes in power machine operating during the
junior high school period appears to be impracticable, due to the
immaturity of the girls and the small number who could profit by such
instruction.

A discussion of the present sewing courses in the public schools will
be found in Chapters XIV and XV, which summarize the special reports
on the Garment Trades and Dressmaking and Millinery. In the present
chapter the consideration of these occupations is limited to an
examination of the administrative questions connected with training
for the sewing trades.


SPECIALIZED TRAINING FOR THE SEWING TRADES

The compulsory attendance law requires all girls to attend school
until they are 16 years old. This forces a considerable number into
the high schools for one or two years before they go to work. As a
rule the type of girl who is likely to enter the needle trades selects
the technical high school course, not because she has any idea of
finishing it, but because she believes it offers a less tiresome way