Waterbury evening Democrat., 1905-04-19
TEACHERS PENSION DILL
Lengthy and lnierssns Discussion Held II Hartford Yesterday Many Teachers There

YeSterQoy t1Any 2 The hnal hearing upon the bill to, pensipn and retain the school. teachers. principals and superintendent, took place yesterday before the legislative coInmittee on cities and boroughs, and 1t was a lively and intqreAting one. For tho bill thers wSrs City Attorney Kel- logg Representatives Blakeslee and Marsh, Commissioners of Hducation Chapman and Larkin, Senator Peck. Superintendent Of Schools Tinker and Principals Condon, Cairns. Cass, Bohan and Agnes Fitzpatrick. Against 1t were Senator Phelan and Commis- siOner of Education Lawlor. The forces for the bill were directed by At torney Kellogg and they were cross examined by senator Phelan. Several times the inquiry came near to heinz very personal.
 Attorney Kellogg said he went over the bill minutely and said the training school, though to be abolished next June, may be revived, The tenure of o1lce feature is of more importance than the pension feature of the bill, for he did not think 1t right that the teachers should feel insecure in their positions atd be at the mercy of . board of education which for political expediency might consider it proper to turn the schools upside down.
 Senator Phelan: "Mr Kellogg, hays you ever known of any danger of thu superintendent being removed, or, hl ! fact, of any teachers having been dis missed?''
 MT Kellogg: "Yes, two or three teachers. Miss Chamberlain and Miss McComber, for instance, were re. moved" .
 Senator Phelan held these positions were abolished because they were not necessary, to which Mir Kellogg re- piled that that may have been the !, boards way to get rid of the teachers. He said that three-hfths of the teachers are either democrats or daughters of democrats and that generally the dem ocratic party is in power in the schools
 Senator Phelan: ;iissMr Kellogg, lo you know what MT Tinker's politicu arey' .9
 MT Kellogg said he did not, but he thought he waS a democrat Senator Phelan held that Mr Kellogg knew quite the contrary. H at
 The ballot taken by the teachers ol the bill was eight to one for it, Nil Kellogg resumed.
 Senator Phelan said the teachers knew nothing about the tenure ot ofiice feature when they took the vote in fact, the bill they voted on was alto gether different from the one before the committee.
 Mir Kellogg maintained the ballo was as secret as could be, and sait that if ever discrepancy happened fl the pension fund the city would b, obliged to make it good. Mfr Kellogg held that the teachers will be com pelled to pay only about 1 per cent O their salaries, an average of $6. Sen ator Phelan claimed that the teacher would be compelled to pay far mor' than $6. Here a controversy arose be tween him and Mir Kellogg, and Sen ator Chatfeld of the committee sa,t he would be obliged to rap for order i the gentlemen did not confine them selves to the question.
 Resuming, Mir Kellogg said tha hitherto the teachers were paid none, that they were not entitled to. that 1 ]. for time they wefleaout AaI osii other :" wlse That money. -tthdef the pbil would go to the pension fund. Tn sources of income to the fund wer gone over by Mir Larkin, whom M Kellogg told the committee was supel intendent of one of the largest cor cerns in Waterbury, employing abou 5000 men. The bill was solely Ws terbury bill. None outside of Water bury would be compelled to pay on cent toward the fund, and people c Waterbury knew better than 300 c 400 outside of the city what they wan These 300 or 400 people living all ove the state may have sent letters to tn committee, but they did not know whs the people of Watesbury want. Her MT Kellogg eulogised Mss Croft an said that 1t would not be fair to pc, nit such . teacher as she has been 1 spend the closing years of her lif without some reward from the cit where she has taught 90 long.
 Commissioner Larkin then addresse the board. He said that the sole ol feet of the bill was to take care ( the teachers in. their latter years ( life.
 The chairman. Please tell us wh the teachers of Waterbury should | pensioned more than any other on cialf' s. s'...-,.
 Commissioner LArkin: "Thelr pa is not large; the average being $5OU { %. They have to lay something asid but 1t is impossible to do 50 out that sum. There are several teacher now in the schools who would be r tired if the board of education saw an way to do 1t with justice to the teac CTS"
 The chairman: "They have been e ucated by the city and by the stat and many of them after completir their education were immediately giv. positions in the schools. Is that n soT'
 Commissioner Larkin said it W. not. and that out of waterburys 2 teachers only sixteen voted against u bill. There were rumors of coercid and one thing and another, but the