The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-03-12
TEACHERS ON THE WARPATH
THE ITSELF DECISION MAY TROU-
BILE THE NEW BOARD OF
EDUCATION.
MISS AsHMEAD, THE WHIPPING
TEACHER, PREPARED FOR
A FIGHT.

The recent decision of Judge Wallace re-
storing A. J. Itsell to his position and
salary as vice-principal of the John SWEET
Grammar School, because he was not tried
on the charge of incompetency before the
full Board of Education, which passed
judgment, is giving the members of the
new board good deal of worry.
They don't know where they stand, and
it looks as though they would receive back
on their hands lot of teachers who have
been dropped in the past. 1t is taken as a
foregone conclusion that they will have to
restore to the rolls the several teachers dis
missed for incompetency by the last board,
but there is possibility that now there
will bob up teachers who have been dis
missed by still other boards. For many
years 1t has been the practice to try teach
ers on any charge before a committee the
board acting on the report of the trial
committee, and all teachers so tried stand
on the same legal plane as Mr.. Itsell.
All, or nearly all, the teachers dismissed
last year have either begun suits for res
toration or put their cases in the hands of
attorneys. The Board of Education will
now either appeal the Itsell case or restore
the dismissed teachers. In the latter case
the teachers may be tried and dismissed
according to the law as Judge Wallace in
terprets it.
off we find that this thing may run
back for years and bring forward lot of
teachers who have been dismissed in the
past we will probably appeal to the Su-
preme Court" said c. B. Stone, chairman
of the Classification Committee, yesterday.
eff we must restore these teachers, am in
favor of promptly retrying them before the
full board and dismissing them legally if
the charges are sustained I don't know
how the rest of the board feels about the
matter, except that many of the members
are inclined to be lenient with the teach
ers. / think they are too lenient, and I
believe that an incompetent teacher ought
to be dismissed. 1t is possible that Mr..
Itsell will be given a trial before the full
board now himself
So there is a possibility that the dis
missed and degraded teachers, who now
have the advantage in legal position, will
bring on an interesting and holly fought
batch of open trials before the full board,
and the trial of a teacher is always a hot
and bitter one.
Miss Ashmead, the South San Francisco
teacher who was tried by the Committee
on Rules few days ago for thrashing and
pinching children, is likely to bring about
another storm. The trial committee de-
layed its report pending the Itself decision.
1t was decided that Miss Ashmead might
be let off by transfer to the substitute
list from which she would in time go to
class in some other school. After the Wal
lace decision the board could not legally
order this done without another trial and
she was privately told that the matter
would be dropped if she would present her
| own written resignation and request this
transfer She said she would think it over,
and yesterday gave notice that the matter
was in the hands of Attorneys Henley and
Costello. That was notice of a fight Some
members of the board say that all she will
be apt to gain by fight will be a trial be-
fore the full board and dismissal altogether.