Omaha daily bee., 1902-10-20
MERIT SYSTEM IN SCHOOLS
south Omaha Points ms
Moral I'm manner Most
Plain.

tune time to call attention TO the absence
Of the merit system in administering South
omaha's school affairs and to point to the
fact that this lack is responsible very
largely for the impositions practiced on
teachers. for the g~rievous injury inflicted
on pupils and for the trials and tempta-
lions to which school board Members are
subjected.
Inaugurate a merit system, allow IL TO
work naturally, insist on the elimination in
appointments Of all baneful influences,
political, financial and sentimental. and
the positions now parceled out by the
manipulations of ignorant and vicious ON
Gals will be sought after and filled by
men and women of ability who scorn to
ask or accept a favor of a professional
politician and who, by securing positions
through their own intrinsic worth, will be
thereby strengthened in retaining them.
Let aspirants for the position Of teacher be
convinced that two qualities-ability and
good character-and only two, are abso-
lutely essential to their success; that re-
lationshlp with oficlals Is not requisite;
that the possession OF useful knowledge is
more important than the number Of votes
they and their friends can control, and the
energy now wasted by them in trotting
after ward heelers and in ''persuading"
school board ~oficials may be much moro
probably employed in equlpping them for
their future work. The teachers who pos
/ sess ability, who have studied for the pro-
fession, who thoroughly know their busi-
ness and who secure appointment through
their own efforts. will enjoy an independ-
epee invaluable to them In their labors In
school as we'll as in their dealings with
o~f1cials, will possess a confidence which
comes only with knowledge and skill and
will be conscious OF q strength OF soul
never met with among incapables.
Let the merit system operate and the
standard OF eficiency in teachers will be
raised, the necessity OF work and study will
be forced upon them, the incentive to work
will remain after appointment and the
direct benenciaries OF their thorough train
ing will be the pupils intrusted to their
care.
The charge has been made in open meet
ing by a member Of the present school
board In our city that teachers are on the
payroll who are not competent, and while
this assertion would have come from him
with much better grace before their ap-
pointment than at present, it serves to
show that our present system is at fault.
that no matter how vigilant reform
leaguers may be. that after they have
dumped In the waste basket almost all APP
plications bearing undesirable and SUCCESS
tive names. unaccompanied by the proper
credentials, still abuses will creep in which
work a detriment to the children and that
II is only through anger or accident those
abuses are discovered.
With competent teachers the labors OF
the pupils would be lessened, their studies
more intelligently directed, their progress
In those studies made more rapid, their
school term shortened, the day Of gradua-
ton brought nearer. and a saving Of valu-
able time thereby secured to the pupils
and a saving of dollars and cents to their
parents.
At last, though not least, the merit sys-
tenn in school matters would bring untold
blessings to the member of our school
boards. II 1t found them v~irtuous, IL would
prevent them becoming vicious. II It found
them already tainted. 1t would most as
suredly retard their moral decay and by
removing the opportunity for indulgence
would probably effect a complete cure in
time, and, after their terms of office had
expired, return them to the community
good, law-abiding citizens. It would make
very dificult. II It did not entirely OBJ
struct the way to the penitentiary, an in
stitution which many officials of these days
make a persistent effort to reach. 1t
| Woulu undoubtedly ICIuoNOa many OF the
strong temptations by which they are as
sailed and to which, unfortunately, they
so often and so easily and so unanimously
succumb. In fine. the merit system would
prove beneficial to the community as q
whole.
That 1t IL not in operation here is evt-
dence that we are not alive to It's impor-
lance and worth. Its value has been dem
onstrated by the United States government.
by several Of the state governments, and
by many Of the large cities Of the country.
The spirit Of reform is In the air. We
must come to It. We may find 1t dif1cult
to get out of the beaten path. We may
find It difficult to root our old and per-
nicious habits, and harder still to sup
plant them with new and improved ones.
but in this dificulty once surmounted, lies
the guarantee Of reward. We have so long
paid our political debts out OF other re-
sources that it is hard for US to realize
now there should be no such debt incurred,
that they are immoral and should be re-
pudiated. We have so leng regarded public
once as a private snap" that 1t will be
hard to convince us that 1t Is or should
be a public trust But the prize is worth
the effort.
II we look at this merit plan from a
purely selfish standpoint and try and APP
p~reciate the saving It will effect in temper
and taxes, we will earnestly work for II.
and working earnestly for It, we will get
II. Respectfully, NJ. ]. @.