Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1885-09-05
CITY AND DISTRICT.
ssTne Normal school. >,

"The Normal school"
To the Editor of THE EVENING STAR:
In last Saturdays issue OF your paper, under
the above heading, Taxpayer makes an as
sault upon the public school teachers who
come from other places than Washington. He
SAYS OF them: "a few are worth employing, bu,
the great majority are rorse than scorttiess'
This Is the language of abuse which has hereto
fore been reserved for employment against
trustees whom certain persons desire to drive
from the board. IL IL now directed against q
large class of meritorious teachers who have
won their places by passing severe eSamina
leading teachers in the High school; all
the supervising principals: all. except one
OF the teachers Of the eighth grade white schools
and large number of those in the lower
grades They have won their places by merit
and have, each and all, been admitted by the
unanimous vote of the board OF trustees. on the
favorable report of the committee on teachers
They now stand at the head OF every school
building except one in the first division (Mr
Lovejoy, trusteel, and OF most OF those In the
second tMr. Birney, trusteel. II those gentle
men agree in nothing else, they do I'm testifying
To the excellent qualifications of the teachers
from the states Is 10 not a shameless thing To
say OF these persons that they are in ''great ma.
jority worse than trorthIessf"
Nor do they come here because they are "fail.
ures At home The attractions of the national
capital and the comparatively high salaries we
pay would bring to our schools the very best
teaching talent In the United states. Nor are
they broken in health" Among the twenty
odd graduates of Dartmouth who have taught
here not one was or Is an invalid. If strong
tug-ofwar team is wanted, 1t can be made up of
such men as Fairbrother, Clark Pease, Paul,
Gould, Cram, kimball, Patterson, Moore, gum
by, Angel, Lane, and other imported teach
ers-some broad-shouldered. and all sinewy.
active men. Go 70, Mr.. Taxpayer, your caluin-
mics are stupid.
Your correspondent reports that the recent
action of the board in appointing five teachers
who are not graduates OF the local school, IS
'cosrtrary to Ld,o custom and far dedtng Ihese
are strong words; are they true? contrary 10
what law, prays Where Is the DrOhibltIOn? In
1867 Congress enacted mo person shall be ap-
pointed As policeman who has not an honorable
discharge as L. >. soldier or sailor. This was
plain. Ii was easy to say as much about teach
ers-no person shall be appointed to- any vacant
school shall be unemployed. Taxpayer
legislature had said this or something
Normal graduates should shave preference
in all cases of appointments of teachers; that
il, other qualifications being equal.they should
be appointed. The phrase is equivalent to
shave favorable consideration" when used by
the President to a place-hunter, which is by no
payer were correct in his Interpretation, the
trustees would have no discretion, but will-ye,
will-ye would have tn appoint Normal gradu-
ate in every case of vacancy: This Is too alb
surd to bear argument 1t might place a -sweet
girl graduate" OF nineteen, in charge of the
High school as principal, or of an eighth grade
Now. for the "custom,, which Taxpayer says
"heretofore has been UNMARRIED" He means
Lu6t tDc sppOin LiDentS naue at the itSt I1tct-
fng Of the board to fill vacancies in the higher
grades three of them for the seventh, fifth and
fourthl. were without precedent An ignorant
stats ment! If he had said that, by the long
established rules of the board, Normal gradu-
atet have no preference as such for the eighth
grade appointments but must appear at the, the
as other candidates; that the instances
in which they have been appointed TO
eme snd thas .ses have
received an original appointment to any grade
above the fourth, and only one in the fourth, he
would have hit the truth. 1t is possible there
may be one or two exceptions; but none occur
to me now. This practice is not a "custOm;
but eleven years continuance OF it is enough to
settle the Interpretation placed upon the law
by the superintendent and the board. These
officials have used their judgment as to the
have placed them where they were competent
To teach; they have never conceded Tax
payers doctrine Of legal obligation to fill all
vacancies with graduates without regard to
The law 10 establish the Normal school was a
local one for W ashingtOn city. passed In 1873.
1t did not apply to Georgetown or the county.
The school was to consist of advanced pupils
In the city schools; IL was to be taught by one
teacher only at 81 500 salary, and the grad
yates were 10 teach in Washington. All these
provisions have been Outgrown. At present
the students are none of them from the
graded city schools. but are all graduates of the
employed at aggregate salaries of about 81, $780,
and the graduates teach in Georgetown, the
Does Taxpayer wish to go back to original con-
ditions, pick out the students from the lower
grades in Washington, drop one of the teach
ers, and exclude Georgetown and the county
from the benefit of the Normal school? This is
the point to which his logic will lead him. The
true doctrine is, that the Normal has grown
from q local into District school; and the
board, In managing IL, Is acting under the
ample powers granted 1t in repeated acts Of Con-
teachers within the appropriation and to de-
eide what schools shall be opened, whether
night or normal, and how teachers shall be
AS TO "fair dealing" the Normal students get
for nothing liberal education at the High
school and professional one at the Normal.
This last has not been very good. perhaps, but
certainly not bad enough 10 entitle them to
office for life. whether competent or not When
they graduate they are under no obligation to
teach in this District, but may go elsewhere or
marry. The District is equally free, but it will
always prefer to employ them If they are good
ON one point only concur in TAXPAYERS
views. The Normal school should be strength
ened and improved. Its graduates have not
trict only one of them having ever been called
elsewhere to teach, so far as / have heard. None
OF them have been appointed TO the High school,
and only two have passed the examination for
the eighth grade Let Us face the facts honestly
without seif-glorifcatiOn. Then let the board
go 10 work and build up what has been q little
training school for the first and second grades
into . true Normal, fit to compare with the great
normal schools In the states. The nations capt.
tai should have the best In this great work hold
up the hands of Superintendent Powell. With
the increasing efficiency of the High school,
the normal pupils will be better prepared than
ever before for professional work, aid we shall
be able 70 increase their number and select
from the graduates excellent teachers for our
public schools But all depends on the choice
of . principal now and of assistants hereafter
The best professional talent in the country
should be secured III possible Next to the SUI
perintendent, the principal OF the Normal
school is the most important member of the
oficial corps of the public schools.
COSMOPOLITAN.
Taxpayer and the Normal School
To the Editor Of The EVENING STAR:
Sir-I think Taxpayer rather overshot the
mark in his remarks about the Normal school
in your issue OF the Goth. He says the law pro-
vides that the graduates Of that school shall
trouble him 10 find any td,0 on the subject,
other than q rule resolution Of the school
board. Besides where does he find any law for
the establishment OF such a school? There are
taxpayers who question the justice ofestablsh-
ing a school al the public expense, to qualify a
very small portion OF the public for particular
business. The only ground on which 1t can be
Justified at all, and the ground On which the
la4e superintendent justified IL, was the absence
or want OF competent teachers for our schools,
and the difficulty of procuring them otherwise.
On that ground 10 can be justified as . necessity
for the public good, and on no other.
AZ the same time think IL will trouble Tax
payer, or any other man, 10 show any valid rea-
son Why my daughter, IL equally well qualified
l. not lust as much entitled To an appointment
As IL q graduate vi the Normal school Her edu-
cation cost the public less than that OF the
other. and, hence, a. n simple matter of Justice
II would seem that she should have the prefer.