The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1900-12-29

night. changed his plans and gave short
address at this point.
President Patton, of Princeton Univer-
sity, made an address last night.
Miss Elizapeth 4. Allen, of Hoboken,
read to the State Teachers Assoc alton a
vigorous paper on the Teachers Con-
gress," in which she minced no words
and gave her opinions according to her
beliefs.
"a year ago." she said, 81 expressed
the opinion that the annual meeting of
the State Teachers Association should be
the teachers congress, the teachers
parliament, where might be freely dis
cussed all matters that concerns the in
terests of teachers and the schools.
I'm my opinion, the one Teachers AS
sociation of the State had, in these re-
spects. failed of it's duty and its privi-
lege. Its one yearly meeting was organ
lied chiefly as a school of pedagogy,
rather than with reference to questions
of vital moment to the teachers, the
schools, the children and the taxpayers
of our commonwealth.
Teachers consider that the meetings of
their own association. the only gathering
of the year in which teachers from all
parts of New Jersey come together,
should properly be devoted to other than
their peda gogical interests.
"A year ago much fear was expressed
lest controversial questions be introduced
in our meeting. 1 then expressed the
opinion, which I still hold and reiterate,
that the highest ambitions of our asso-
citation should be to be controversial 1t
should be the teachers congress, the
teachers parliament. the assembly where
the voice of the teacher shall be heard
regarding all matters concerning the
teachers and the schools. and where such
questions shall be fully considered and
debated.
.The recurrence at intervals of the
county examinations is a constant cloud
upon the spirit of many teachers. The ex-
animation of experienced and successful
teachers in the cities as prerequisite
to promotion or advance in salary IS
neither fair nor wise.
"The assertion is made in many quar-
tiers that examinations for promotion or
advance of salary are but shrewd de-
vices to make teachers subservient to
their school authorities.
to schools that teachers are not by law
assured of tenure of office during good
behaviour and competency. 1t is a viola
tion of the fundamental ideas of justice
that teacher should be removed or de-
graded except on specific charges, and af-
ter hearing at which the teacher
should have the right of representation
by counsel. Superintendents are secur-
ing for themselves tenure of office in
the shape of appointments of from five to
seven years. I fail to see that they are
making any effort to protect teachers
against unjust removals, transfers and
degradation in rank.
This association should lend it's unit
ed strength to establish by law mini
mum compensation of not less than $500
per year for public school teaching in the
State of New Jersey.
within the last few years new con-
ditions have arisen in education whose
moral and material effects are too mo-
mentous to- be ignored
IF we are pessimstic, it is because,
first, the new education was inaugurat-
ed in acts of injustice and cruelty Sec
ond. it has been carried on with tyranny
privileged class in the persons of SUI
perintendents and supervisors. Fourth,
it is tremendously expensive to the tax
payers. Fifth, it's tendency is toward
Capitalization, and national control in ed
ucational affairs. 1t is designed to re-
move the public school system from the
control of the people. Sixth, its imme-
diate results have been the degradation
of the teacher, and deterioration in the
teaching. Seventh, it must result in the
loss of American characteristics in our
future citizens.
The new education has been inaugur-
ated with acts of injustice. Under the
guise of reform men are put down, and
women put out. An injury to the hum
blest teacher in the State should be spe-
cifically resented by an official protest
from this association. We are said to
lack esprit du corps; we shall always
lack esprit du corps so long as we have
no professional ethics no standards of
courtesy and duty toward one another as
teachers, and feel no responsibility for
each others conduct and welfare
.'I do not question the ability of persons
to hold the positions secured too often
at the expense of right and justice, but
the men and women whose places their
coming usurped worked long and worth
lily; they mounted the ladder round by
round before they were adjudgedAfi fit for
the honorable places which their Success
sors attained by a single bound,' or into
which some of them were hoisted by
commercial or political boost.
I'm no other profession could such
usurpations occur. The fiedglings from
the law schools are not put into posi-
tion to say to the judges of the bench,
I am an uD-to-date and vastly superior
legal product than thou; step down, and
yield unto me thy hcnors and thy living
THE graduate in medicine must WIN his
laurels in sharp competition with the old
practitioner. There is no board to tell
the latter that he has outlived his USE
fulness' and would do well to anticipate
the action of the committee and voluntar-
lily resign
AannaIrsga NronsoaY