The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-06-01
TEACHERS OPPOSE THE MERIT SYSTEM Information on Its Working Out in City Educa-
 ton Work.
CLOAK FOR INJUSTICE
Abstract Principle Good but Practical Application
 is Bad.

As 1t is hinted that the board of ed- ucation is inclined to look with favor on the so-called merit system the fol- lowing article has been prepared by tho executive committee of the Teachers league to show their view of the sub iect:
 Inasmuch as many of the citiSAns of New Haven are uninformed as 10 the actual working of the so-called mesit- system among the teachers, and have Therefore been led to believe that the altitude assumed by the teachers league in opposing this system, was serious error it seems necessary to en- tighten the general public, and per- haps also the board of education, as to tho grounds son which the system should be opposed.
 It may be surprise to many people to learn that one of the chief grievances of the teachers grows out of the mon strous miscarriage of this system. If the bald and undisglised >eavoritisn which masquerades in the name of merit be not the chief grievance it is, at least the one which. adding itself to that of inadequate salaries, renders eAe latter still more intolerable.
 Few people, 1t seems, outside tho actual teaching force, are aware of tho extent to which injustice and abuse of official power have hidden themselves under the cloak of this fair name of merit" We hasten to add, however. that not all the injustice. nor all the abuse of official power has been due to conscious disregard of the right It Is system itself rather than the motive If those who have tried to apply 1t, with which the teachers quarrel
 No one. of course, desires that on strictly abstract principles of justice, a good teacher should be paid more than poor one. So should a good president of the United States. but t is not considered practicable to attempt a readjustment of the presidential sal ary to the varying abilities of the suc- ssS tsents TheN is z 'fSnit m the practicability of determining just what an individual teacher is worth. She will, with insignificant exceptions, level up to the demands of her Aposi- tion Let the position then, rather than the unascertainable merit of ASe teacher, determine the salary; and theifA let the appointments be made with a view to the positions. If one teacher may be worth $50 a year more than an- other, surely one may be worth 50 cents more than another. Where shall the line be drawn? It is obvious that it cannot be drawn on the basis of the teachers merit without introducing chaos into the whole salary system. No two soldiers are of equal fighting power, hence no two should, according to the merit system, receive the same pay, but the age-long experience of the world in the art of war has proved the wisdom of sinking these differences in order to secure the inestimable advant- ages of uniformity.
 The great body of startling facts which the investigations of the teach- CTS league have brought to light, only few of which have been made public, would seem to justify the claim that the so-called merit system stands con- demned by law of human nature as memorable as the law of gravitauon; the law that human being on compet- tive exhibition for his life, or for the means of subsistence, will in the pres ence of the judge who holds his destiny, necessarily exhibits himself as either better or worse than he really is. Whether a teacher will deceive her su- perior or superintendent in the one di- rection or the other will depend upon her temperament and the general struc- ture of her mind. Many of the very best teachers, those who are veritable geniuses in their profession, are so con- stituted that they are literally paral- yzed the moment their supervisor or su- perintendent steps into their room. Others. on the other hand, who are known by their colleagues to be indif- ferent and inefficient, and in every way unworthy as teachers are often stimu- the appearance of their supervisor lated in an unaccountabfe manner by If mixed with the gold of their minds there chances to be certain alloy of brass and above all, if they possess that priceless female art of smiling at the right time, with the proper pose of the head their masculine judges are often swept off their feet by whirl- wind of merit" and under hypnotice spell they report to the authorities these wonderful teachers whose salar- ies are forthwith advanced.
 Under such regime is it any wonder that our schools have become gangren- ous with envy and jealousy? Tn the New Haven high school, where this monstrous system has borne some of it's worst fruits, it is said to be no un- common thing to hear from those who take their wrongs seriously, such out bursts of indignation as the following: Tt is a burning shame that that teaeh- CT who has had less experience than I,
 (Continued on Sixth Paga1