Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-12-23

been made save n line from the secretary
stating that the protests had been referred
to the counsel of the board.
1T has been claimed that these teachers
are not in the service because they have
not been reappointed by the present board
of education. If they were not In the
service. why did the board dismiss them
for the good of the service? Evidently the
board understands the law Just as DO,
and the published opinion of Its counsel
Mr.. Mcnamara, is to the same e1ect, Tor
gone out of Its way to utter a deliberate
libel upon the fair fame OF these accom-
plished Instructors.
ut is a most serious thing the former
senator continued, unnecessarily but de-
liberately to defame them. To discharge
them for the good OF the service with which
they have been connected honoraoly Tor
from ten to twenty years would be to dis
To do 1t without charges and a fair trial
can be nothing but defamation. There Is
too much involved for the matter to rest
as II is
Right of Employees.
Now that Justice Anderson has made it
clear that formal charges and an impartial
trial are the right of every officer and
teacher connected with the school system
before dismissal and consequent disgrace
can be inflicted I cannot believe that the
board will hesitate to perform its plain
duty ana feinState tneSe three teachers,
my clients, in their old positions, and thus
remove the stain they have inflicted upon
their good names.
Il hope that the Greene bill, SO called, with
the preparation of which / had no connec-
ton. but with the general purposes and
scope of which l sympathize, will be made
the basis of a thorough investigation and
will result in the enactment of statute
which will place the teachers of this Dis
trict under the protection of the substantial
features of the civil service law, and es-
pecally will provide against their abrupt
removal from their positions without fair
trails before the board, with the right OF
appeal to the courts in all cases which in
volve character. constancy and compensa-
ton.
Should Be Paid.
Il think, too" Mr. Blair said, that a
board of education should be paid for its
services. If it works for nothing it will be
apt to feel that it deserves consideration
and in a certain way relief from response
bility on that account. When We pay public
servants feel that We have right to
60 for them If necessary, and while most
members of the board. constituted as this
one is must be giving their services from
the highest and most honorable motives,
on the other hand there is danger that
some may be aetuated by ignoble ends
This community can afford to pay for
all that it receives, and IT is sad thlng
that in this great city-the capital of the
nation-its 300. 900 population have no more
practical control over the education OF their
own children than they would have under
the most despotc government on earth. II
il was not for the power OF the press TO
voice public sentiment, and SO reach the
country at large. the most enlightened pub
lie opinion would have very little effect.
IF there IS any one thing more than an
other which constitutes sacred right and
duty. il is the development and education
of its onw childhood by the local commu-