Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1891-04-20
The Annual Sacrifice of Teachers.

AURORA Ten, April IS 1891.
| Editor OF the Gazette:
To several thousand teachers in Texas
| this is an intensely critical season OF the
| year. 1t is the annual election period the
| period in which teachers are held up TO the
| public gaze. criticised. elected ana spit upon.
| They are snapped like 50 many horses, one
| kicked out, another led in.
From the largest cities il Texas down TO
| the humblest rural district the alarm pre-
| walls. No one is exempt. all have fallen I'M
der the ban. public sentiment. that most
dreadful enemy, because You cant knock
| his teeth down his Internal throat Is busted
in weighing in the balances the aggregate
OF teachers, and the majority have fears
that they may be found wanting.
1t matters not how couScieutiouSiy the
teacher has acted-the more conscience ne
has put into his work, the simmer his
chances for permanency OF tenure; 1t IS the
unconSCiOnublc hustler whose chances are
best. The teacher ought 10 know how not
TO vote, what church to frequent, whom To
pat on the shoulder. how 10 dispense the
most advantageous charity. what children
to hold down severely, which 10 wink at
in short. he must know his failing and
rustic. These are the instincts Of the SUI
ceSsful q teacher.
l blame school trustees most for this IN
famous custom. Whenever the old wooden
ucuuttl IN DOtEltt lH4nhS MS Glllt'l IuItl ltil
is to chop on the last years teachers head
he is Il criminal and 4 fool But he must
let the world know that he IS in office, and
how under the sun can il be known unless
he shakes up things little
He knows Il few things when he can
think of them; he knows hawk from
handsaw, he does. And, besides, didn't
the teacher commit the fragrant error of
whipping Bill Jones son John, and ain I
Bill Jones 4 good deacon in our church and
au influential man in the ncighborhood!
PrepOsterOus The good Of the community
demands that we lift the Soft-haired rascal
OUT of his boots TO teach him lesson. The
lesson will do him good in the future.
In cities, as in country districts, the SUI
perintendentS, and principals must suffer
at the hands of these officials. Il ought TO
be scored into trustees that their highest
function is TO encourage. sustain and fight
for the teacher; to grind into powder
every opposing faction, 10 put their
heel upon every disgruntled, loud
mouthed, Pharisaical Old meddler
in the city or rural district and literally
mash him into unrecOgnizable pulp. To the
trustee who will do this here's my hand.
May the good Christ give YOU 4 presumption
to a reserved seat where the teachers all go.
You are a man in the right place, you broad,
liberal, high-minded, congress iOnal pos
sibilityi The contracted. COnceited human
owl, seeing things IN the darkness only,
who spends his official leisure in housing
for vermin that he may present a plausible
bill of indictment against the poor defense
less teacher in his district, ought 10 be
what the Colorado river IS below Austin.
You understand
| wish trustees and people were more
lenient. Not that | nave any personal III
tereSt at stake, whatever, but | wish they
would be more considcrare. Teachers are
,+r I l,1.1,.41 rAprI-
ers do not always meet public expectation
who does The fact IS, it is a cold-bloOded
topic in life and character. and is a burning
shame upon our civilization. | protest
against it in the name of hundreds of good
men and women whose hearts are bleeding
for 4 settled home. ] protest against it in
the name of humanity. in the name of God.
Are teachers dogs that they should thus
suffer- Can they not feel? / don't blame
good men for leaving the ranks of teaching.
They see lawyers, doctors, farmers, me
chanics, editors, merchants, congressman
and loafers with respectable homes, settled
down for life and in prosperous condition.
They grow tired of their shiftleSs, grace
less lives and simply throw up the sponge.
| repeat, don't blame them. We deserve
better consideration than we get at the
hands of the public in general and the
school authorities in particular.
There is something almost ludicrous in
the shifting, nomadic life of the teacher.
He seems TO be a descendant of the lost
tribe of the house of Israel. l shouldn't
blame him if he Should fall back upon the
custom of his forefathers and carry his
tent whithersoeyer he pitches. There Is
only one class exempt from this ralling
fire; that is the small game whose small
ness eludes the fne-tooth comb of official
inspection. The large ones all tumble.
They may dodge successfully for season,
but sooner or later their guilt will find
them out Their blood VIII tell.
The blacksmith thinks the teacher did
not whip enough; the deacon thinks he
whipped too much; the Doctors children
did not learn anything, and the lawyers
children We're crammed; the Methodists
object to him because he's a Campbellite,
the Baptists want him removed because he
does not pay the minister, and the Camp
bellites are not stuck on him because he's
too conservative; the Presbyterians fight
him on general principles. These factions
pour their differently colOred wines and
differently brewed poisonous decoctions
into one decanter, from which the already
half-intoxicated administrators of law be-
come howlingly insane. Their pious YER
dict is Away with him. The poor
teacher seeks new pastures. Another
horse is led into the old stall, and thus the
eternal annual swapping goes on. Respect