The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-06-22
HE SCHOOL SITUATION.


 the most patient examination of the facts is demanded. If that line of thought and action leads the Journal and Courier to the conclusion that the board of education, as at present or ganized, has demonstrated It's inabil- ity to longer continue in control of the public schools of the city with the popular sympathy 1t should have to produce the best results, on the one hand, and that, on the other hand, the teachers deserve too much of this com munity to be placed in false position by the official exaggeration of their zeal, our reasoning will speak for It. self
 First let us speak of the teachers, for it Is the justice of their cause which has appealed to us with increasing en- thusiasm. It may be fairly admitted that they have presented their case with directness of speech and emphasis of Intent. It is quite possible that when they come to look back upon their campaign they will themselves conclude that in some respects they were more aggressive than they need ed to have been. Grant even that they have in a measure lost the support of people who are in favor of paying them a suitable wage but who resent their manner of making their griev- ances public. Concede that there is some reason in the objection that their appeal to the Board of Finance is in defiance of the provisions of the char ter and that whether the Board of Ed ucation has decided wisely or not in refusing to adopt their schedules their standing before the Board of Finance is doubtful. All of these things may be true-we do not say they are-and they may together constitute a ground for critictsing them for overzealous- ness and for a misconception of the rules of orderly controversy, but they are not sufficiently serious to justify anyone In the Judgment that they should be rebuked on that account and by withholding sympathy from them taught their places.
 It has been our observation in life that when men and women are stim- ulated by the fires of necessity and have grievance which can be direct ly traced to inefficient administration on the part of their employers, they do things with spirit and energy, per- haps with excessive spirit and energy. There would have been no Teachers league to begin with had the cause for It's organiza tion not been contribut- ed by the inactive Board of Education. There would have been no examina- tfon of the general school situation in cities corresponding in size and wealth with the city of New Haven had there been an intimation that the Board of Education had set itself the task with the view of itself estimating more intelligently the wage worth of the school teachers There would have been no independent wage schedule submitted by the Teachers league had tho teachers of the city been led to be- lieve that the school commissioners we're interested in that phase of their duty. No matter from what point of view the present crisis is approached, 1t is Immediately met by provoca- tiun contributed by the board itself. It may not excuse and possibly does not excuse what some look upon as the in- temperate methods of the teachers but il does clearly establish the fact that as between the cornbatants--the teach- CTS and their employers-the former and support. It Is because the Journal and Courier is determined, so far as it can prove its influence that the teachers shall not have their overzeal- ousness deliberately misconstrued by the Board of Education or by critics who Judge alone from their behavior and know practically nothing of the facts involved, that it speaks with complete candor now. The teachers, of New Haven deserve altogether too much from parents and taxpayers to be weakened DOW in popular favor simply because trey have been human enough tU play the game of resistance with cossibly tea much heat and ardor.
 Nor is there the slightest excuse for the Board of Education showing it's teeth to the teachers because the neg lected and abandoned teachers made the error in judgment of showing theirs, assuming that they have done so. The attitude of the Board of Ed ucation, acting upon the advice of the committee on schools, as disclosed in the letter sent in reply to the condi- tional acceptance by teacher of a xeappointment and in the vote passed