The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1900-10-07
THEIR RIGHTS LAPSED
School Teachers Will Sign the
New Contracts.
READY FOR NEXT YEAR
LIVELY MEETING YESTERDAY
III REVIEWING SITUATION.

Acting upon the advice of their coun-
sci, Attorney D. n. Straup. that legal
~ they had no recourse upon the board
of education to compel the adoption of
a form of contract of employment for
this years services that would remove
the Objectionable features in the new
contract, the public school teachers de-
cided at a meeting yesterday afternoon
TO submit 10 the inevitable. According
l. the contracts to be submitted by the
board for the teachers signatures this
week win be signed without formal
protest. trusting that next year the
board win consent to the adoption of
form OF contract that viii not array
all of the advantages against the
teachers
This action was decided upon at a
meeting Of the delegate teachers from
the several schools at the High school
building. and the decision viii be re-
ported at meeting of all of the $50
teachers to be held at the same place
wednesday afternoon, when it is pro-
posed to organize a teachers aSSocfa-
ton for mutual protection. With such
an association formed it is believed
that the interests of the pedagOgues
can be better subserved without detri-
ment to the welfare of the schools when.
the question of signing contracts comes
up for consideration next year.
PedagogUeS Compare Notes.
The discussions at yesterdays meet
ing were rather acrimonious at times.
Many of the teachers were not at all
backward in respectfully citing the ap-
parent Inconsistencies OF the school
board in prescribing one form of con-
tract for the principals and the depart
ment supervisors, guaranteeing nine
and a half months employment, and
another form for the grade teachers,
in which the term of employment ran
virtually from month to month only for
eight months, with a deduction of half
pay for periods covered by possible
closing of schools on account of con-
tagious disease epidemics. On this
point, however, it was conceded that
the board had confessed the discrimina-
ton, but deplored the lack of funds to
make as liberal contracts with its en-
ployees of the subordinate grade.
Very many of the teachers blamed
Clerk Moreton of the board for not
notifying them at the time of their
election, instead of waiting for nearly
I five months. of the proposed change in
form of contract from the form III
vogue for all the years preceding. Some
rather causric words were spoken
about the clerk for having sent them
| word that they had better sign the new
contracts or their salaries would be
! withheld, but he was not on hand to
defend himself, and il is probably well
for him that he was not there or the
school 'marms'' might have made it
decidedly interestin for him.
Correcting Public Opinion.
The assembled pedag ogues spoke the
sentiment of all of the teachers in the
corps. for frequent conferences have
been held during the past week at all
of the school buildings They eX-
pressed the regret that the@public had
formed an erroneous estimate of the
situation because the teachers side of
the case had not been properly pre-
scented at the time the board of educa-
ton made reply to the request for a
modified form of contract last Tuesday
evening. The teachers took exception
to the use OF the term going on a
strike Nothing of this sort has been
contemplated. but at one time IT was
proposed merely to maintain their legal
rights. Now, however, they are ad-
vised that they have slept too long on
their rights to have any standing in
court until next year at least.
What most has given the teachers
hope for better things in the way of
guaranty of salary next year is the
promise of the school board that with
more funds at its disposal the admitted
business of the teachers requests will
be granted This time the teachers
made a request fer more equita BILE
treatment, but next year it is hoped by
them to be in a position TO put the re-
quest in the form of a demand that can
be enforced in the courts if necessity
should require or dictate.