The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1893-04-09
SAN FRANcIscO-I CAN'T scRUB THESE scRArcHEs orr!

! therefore deservedly punished, he at once
J defantly vows TO look up the record If the
! teacher.
When Jennie. for some negligence on her
! part is made to do pensncP, she spitefullY
| PROMISES to find out how her teacher got
| her appointment.
And all that the teachers can do is to suf-
| fer all this indlgniiy until the present in
vestigation is over and matters once more
| are allowed to take their usual course.
Every effort is being made on the part of
| the officers in the empl0y of the Grand
| Jury 10 locate at least one positive case of
| bribery out OF the many which are sup
| posed TO have occurred.
| So far thew have, however, been entirely
! unsuccessful, and rs one Of them said in
! talking of the matter yesterday, there is but
| very little chance for establishing bona
| fide case. "These things are done in a
| roundabout way, and to find q man against
| whom you can prove that he took or gave
| money for a position in the school or any
| other public department is ike finding a
| needle in the proverbal haystack." said the
officer, aud he knew what he was talking
| about.
70 learn something more of the manner
| In which positions in the School Depart
ment are secured, CALL reporter yester-
day interviewed James q. Kennedy. the
| principal OF the Franklin Grammar School.
who is about as well posted on all matters
| pertaining 10 the department as any one in
| this city.
Mr. Kennedy held the office of Chief
Inspector of Schools. since abolished by the
| Supreme Court, under Superintendent An
derson.
His duties as inspector were to visit
schools and observe the qualifications Of
teachers, correct their methods when neces-
sary and 10 report all cases of hopeless
| inc0mDeteney to the school board.
81 have served through many administra-
lions in one capacity or another" said Mr..
Kennedy, land perhaps you are tight in
| considering me an authority on these mat
tiers, but although l have heard many
| rumOrs of places in the department having
been sold never could find positive proof
| that such was the case"
Selecting a comfortable chair Mr. Kenne-
| dy leaned back and In an easy way gave his
| view on the subject about rs follows:
There are always lot of incompetent
teachers receiving appointments aud, of
| course, it is influence that does it.
"What kind of influence brings il about
| does not matter. Ii may be politics, II may
be money.
IN any case it is deplorabe to have
| these people made teachers IN preference to
| others mere capable.
I'VE have any number OF teachers who
have second-grade diplomas only and are
only graduates from grammar school,
| This is all wrong. teacher to be COM
| petent should be the p0ssessor of certif-
| cate from university or from one OF the
normal schools. If this rule were strictly
| adhered TO it would not matter very much
how they got their appointments, because
| In any case the department would have only
| efficient teachers in its employ.
But besides the educational qualification
| there Is another point l would like to men,
| ton, which is equally important mean
the physical and moral strength q man or
woman must possess to become q success
full teacher:
"a member of the Board Of Education
VINO is confronted by two applicants. one
| buxOm, strong and healthy, and the other
thin. weak and sickly in appearance, will
! often give the former the preference, think
| ing that she had better natural quaiifica-
| lions than the latter
IN this they often err, because the
woman weak IN frame may be much stronger
| in character, determination and will power
! than her buX0m sister.
Speaking, however. Of the incompetents
| In the department found when | was in
| spector That they had the strongest pulI.
The less teacher knew the more influ-
ence she seemed 10 have, aud whenever |
preferred charges against any OF them ]
| found | stirred up yeritable political hor-
| nets uest.
''As an example [ may cite to you n case
OF teacher now dead who, after many trt-
| ais, was found by myself and by the Super-
intendent afterward utterly incompeteni
| I'VE preferred charges against her and
| she promptly hired lawyer to defend her,
| when the case came to q hearing told
the board that the lady's class had been so
hopolessly neglected during her manage
ment that by her removal alone could mat
| tiers be regulated
ITO my astonishment the teachers at
| tOrney arose and freely admitted that the
class had been vary badly conducted and
that he was fully satisfied l had testified
| quite truly.
| But Immediately afterward he turned
| loose such torrent of abuse against the
| principal Of that school, whom he accused
Of having refused assistance 10 his client.
that the board became convinced that the
principal and not the incompetent teacher
| was 10 blame.
80 we lost our case and the lady retained
her place in the department until She died. F."
Principal Kennedy when brought back
| once more 10 the subject of whether places
in the School Department can be bought for
money or not, again stated that he had
| heard very often that such is the case hni
that lie had never heard Of any particular
| incident of that kind.
| There Is however, one case which is heinz
| frequently mentioned as q queer exam ME Of
| how School Directors distribute their pa tron.
| age.