National Republican., 1882-12-29
THE TRIALS OF TEACHERS.
The Suspension of Several School Maams Dis
cussod by the Board,
The Committees Action susteincd and
Their Report Adopted.

further consider the report of the committee
on teachers upon the results of the examina
tious held December 10 and 80. There were
present President Birney, Messrs. Loveioy,
Clark, Baum, Warner, Wormley, Brooks, and
johnson, and Secretary c. b. Rhcem. The
board was called to order at 7:30 o'clock by
Mr.. Trustee Brooks, at the request of Presi
dent Birney, who stated the purpose of the
meeting Gen Birney nominated Miss Susie X.
Merrick in place of Miss +. Hooper for teacher
in the second division, third grade; confirmed.
Gen. Birney then took the floor and made
AN EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
in regard to his remarks at the previous meet
ing and then yielded to Mr.. Clark, who pre-
sented the following:
Ordered, That the notices of dismissal of teach
ers recently issued by the committee. on teachers
are revoked in the eases Of Misses Ball, Bigelow,
Chadwick, and Longellow.
This was objected to, and ruled out of order
by the chair. Some question then arose as to
the debate, and the chair ruled that the ten
minute rule should be observed. Gen. Birncy
said that the proposition of Mr.. Clark would
be entirely agreeable to him as a substitute,
and that upon its adoption he would be pre-
pared TO vote for the adoption Of the commit
tees report so amended.
Mr.. Lovojoy held that the proposed amend
ment was in contravention of the rules and
would work an injustice to those teachers
who had complied strictly with the rules.
Mr.. johnson called for the regular order.
Some discussion followed and the chair de-
cidcd that Mr.. Clarks proposition was in the
nature of a change of the rules, and would
require two-thirds vote for its adoption and
lie over one month.
Gen. Birney appealed from this decision,
and Mr.. johnson moved to lay the appeal on
the table.
Mr.. Lovetoy explained that portion of the
committees report that was in dispute and
rule 16 of the board bearing upon their action
was read at length. Proceeding Mr.. Lovejoy
stated the reasons that had caused his COM
mittec to notify the teachers in question that
their term as teachers had expired, and that
their services were no longer required.
General Birney said the explanation was an
ingenious one, but the action of the committee
was o practical dismissal of these teachers;
that it was in fact simply the opinion of the
committee and liable to be erroneous; that,
under his own opinion the dismissal was un-
warranted, and, so far as it concerned his
division, he should disregard it. He regarded
the report as u grave assumption of the
authority of the power of the board. No
trustee possessed the right to act as the COM
mittec had presumed to do. The rule he had
looked for vainly; it did not exist on paper,
but appeared to have a being only in the
imagination of the committee.
Mr. LOvejOy interrupted and said he was
ready to add to the gentleman's store of
knowledge, and offered TO read the rule. Gen.
Birney held that the order offered by Mr..
Clark was not i'll etiecta change of rule, and
quoted at length from the rules until Mr..
Warner raised the point that the speakers
ten minutes were up. Mr. Warner said that
several interpretations had been put upon the
rules, and that with due respect to the
speaker, he knew less about them than when
the discussion began.
Several members of the board stated that
if the order offered by Mr.. Clark was adopted
it was
MOVE TO ESTABLISH A SYSTEM OF FA-
VORlTIsSI,
and they would claim the right to be granted
the same privilege for certain teachers of their
own divisions. Mr.. Warner proceeded in ex-
planatiOn of the peculiar position in which
the ladies were placed, and held that the
board was superior to any rule or committee
it had created. He thought the board should
not infiict a hardship upon the ladies i'll ques-
ton. Mr.. Lovejoy replied and said that there
were two sides to the question that while the
teacher might suffer under an enforcement
! of the rules, ii would be Il much greater hard
ship to allow the sixty children who are in
any one of the public schools to be taught by
a person whose ignorance would perhaps serve
! to deprive them of the benefits of a proper
education, and perhaps turn their lives into
warped channels. He held that ii was an
absurdity for persons who present themselves
| to follow the calling of educating the chill
dren in the public schools to put in the plea
of ignorance of text books when the subjects
covered by these text books are universal /;
that the proficiency of teachers can only be
determined by examination, and refusal of
| the teachers who are appointed temporarily to
appear for examination can only be construed
by the committee ON teachers to be confession
of ignorance.
He warmly defended the system of exam
nations required to permit a person to be-
come a teacher in the public schools. The
safety and welfare of the schools necessi-
tatcd that the board should stand by the rules
and defend children of the district from
IGNORANT AND INCOMPETENT TEACHERS.
AS the rules now stood, trustee could not
secure the continuance of his dearest friend
as a teacher unless he was found by an ex-
animation to be competent to teach. Any
attempt to make an exception in the case of
| these ladies, as was desired by Gen. Birney,
would break down the bulwarks that sur
round the public schools, and open the door
for gross abuses, fayOritism, and in the end
destroy the schools.
Gen. Birney again took the floor, and said
no one could go beyond him in insisting upon
securing competent teachers. He detailed at
length the conditions surrounding the ladies
in question, which, with no intention on
their part Of deiying the board, had COM
PEELED them to stay away from the eXamina-
tion. As matters now stood, should the board
sustain the action of the committee, the re-
suit would be to deprive him of thoroughly
trained teachers upon simple technicality.
Mr.. johnson urged that the public schools
/ of the district were not charitable institu-
tiOns, and while the rule might work harshly,
| his oath as trustee would prevent him from
allowing his sympathies TO influence him to
favor any violation of the rule to make OK
ceptiOns for any one.
A vote was then taken upon the appeal, and
the decision Of the chair was sustained by Il
vote of to l. The question chen REQUIRED
upon the adoption of the report Of the COM
mittce, and the vote stood ayes, no one vOt-
ing in the negative.
General Bimcy then requested that Mr.,
JNnney, supervising principal of the fifth
division, be requested TO aid in the superyis-
ion of the second division, and that Miss
Rowe be instructed to assist him. Referred to
committee on teachers, with power to act,
Mr., LovejOy then requested that the com
mittee on teachers be empowered TO confer
with the district commissioners in regard to
/ getting from the United States
ARMS FOR THE USE or THE HIGH SCHOOL
BATTALION,
and also for the detail of an officer of the army
/ rs an instructor; adopted.
| In the case of Miss Chadwick one of the
teachers dropped for failure to appear ut the
/ examination the chair ruled that the pre-
sentation of physicians certificate that she
was ncapacitated by sickness from doing so
would be accepted as valid excuse.
! The board then adjourned until its next
regular meeting
The following is the
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON TEACHERS