Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1896-04-27
TEACHERS PLACE.
Danger Of Misapprehension as
to the Existing c Controversy.
THAT PROPOSED INVESTIGATION

supt. Ament Alone to Require It Tho In
structors Have Done Their Part and Ask
No More Of the Board-An Imprsctics
bic Scheme.
Whether innocently or not, the
Union persists in lending iteelf to q
plan which does not offer the proper
mode of procedure in the existing
school controversy. The director
Who is acknowledged to be back OF
the Unions position is cunning. but
not so much SO but that his purpose
can be discerned. The plan which
DIR. Kinyon proposes does not give
assurance Of satisfactory solution
Of the difficulty and hence is not
practical, and when the Union saws
that any Of the teachers opposed to
Mr.. Ament are disposed to regard
the proposition for an examination
according to the plan proposed, with
favor. it misrepreseuts the facts.
The assertion, too, that 1.-THE right
to be heard is one that the boa I'd
should cheerfully concede" is a very
clever piece Of artifice and would b.
appreciated il the teachers we're
seeking any right to be heard. But
they are not. They were discour-
aged the only time they asked to
be heard, and finding that they
had been deceived and ig-
nored the teachers adopted resolu-
tons giving to the president of the
board. whom they knew wss their
friend. and through him to the pub
lie. a statement of their case. By
this statement they are asking
nothing moro of the board. They
are seeking no privilege to be heard
further. The appeal to be heard, II
1T is to be made. should come from
the superintendent, as The ARGUS
has repeatedly asserted. Let him
ask in the propsr way the privilege
OF defending himself and the teach
ers will then, if asked to BY the
board, emphasize their case, the sub
stance Of which was set forth in the
resolutions. The impression which
the Union as the m outhpiece of DR..
kinyon is seeking to convey. that the
teachers are asking anything of the
board is erroneous and unjust. The
teachers know what to expect from
the board.
What Good Would Como Of 1t.
The plan suggested by DR.. Kinyon
and ihe Union is that the board frat
meet and reconsider the action in
reappointing Supt. Ament and that
the teachers between certain
hours next Saturday file their
charges and that the board then again
act on the question OF retaining the
superintendent. The status of the
matter is simply this. il the board
regards the resolutions Of the teach
ers as of sufficient Importance to re-
consider its action as regards the
reappointment OF the superin-
tendent, why go any further
than to reconsider the voter Does
DR.. Kinyon think that after an in
vestigation il the board should con-
slider tho charges insufficient to
alter its course and should then re-
appoint the superintendent, it would
have any effect in removing the pres
ent unfortunate situation, either in
the minds OF the teachers or the pub
lie? As a matter OF fact the teachers
do not expect the present board to
do otherwise than sustain the super
intendent, neither does the public.
Past appeals on the part of the teach
efs and petitions from the public
have been treated with a deaf ear.
The board Of education knew when
it deiantly reappointed the superin-
tendent how the teaehers felt. II it
regards the exigeacies sufficient to
warrant reconsideration of the
vote. the very circumstances that
warrant such course are sufficient
to sustain il. Certainly the board,
If II is disposed to act with absolute
fairness in the premises, can demand
no stronger evidence than the reso-
buttons Of so teachers, the sentiment
OF the public in the community and
ths record OF the superintendent in
other places where he has been.
The Plan Of DIR. Kinyos.
The plan of DR.. Kinyon strikes
The ARGUS as purely an attempt to
whitewash. No action on the part of
the board which does not involve the
reverse OF its course at the last meet
ing will suffice to settle the present
controversy. ANY move that would
eventuate in the reappointment of
Supt. Ament would bring the situa-
ton right back to where it is now.
The duty Of the board is to arrange
for change in the superin endency;
thst is the long and short OF it. II
The present board does not, another
board TO be composed after the June
election will. and nothing short OF
such proceeding will serve. To be
elunt-no subterfuges 60. Aside
from the indelicacy of DR.. Kinyon's
position. when it is considered that
Mrs. Hamilton at the meeting of the
board the night Mr.. Ament was re.
chosen, stated that she had investi-
gated the charges against the super
and found them due to
misrepresentation or deliberate false
hoods. it does not seem right to ex-
pect the teachers to individ-
ually 60 before a board which is
prejudiced against them.