Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1909-05-20
TEACHERS WILL FIGHT
FOR THEIR POSITIONS.

A joint meeting ofsthe Executive and
I Legislative Committees of the New Jer
sey State Teachers Association was
held at Hotel Albert, New York City
last Saturday to consider what action
should be taken to protect the inter
ests of those members of the Asso-
citation whose positions may be in ieo-
pardy before the Tenure Of Service
Act takes effect on September first,
next
Reports were submitted showing
that teachers who would soon, by rea-
son of length of service, be eligible to
retirement on pension had already
been dropped" or asked tc resign,
and that certain boards of education
had taken steps to ternlinale the SER
vice of their entire corps of teachers
in June while, according TO newspaper
reports, plan of Statewide ex-
aminations of teachers was contem-
plated by the State Boarl of Ednca-
tion.
1t was pointed out that the Tenure
OF Service Act does no: guarantee a
teacher a position for life, as has been
enormously published bnt only during
efficiency and good behavior" !" and
that no teacher may lie dismissed or
reduced in salary '.excepE for ine,Ii-
cheney, incapacity, conduct unbecom-
ing teacher or other just cause, and
after written charge of tile cause or
causes have been preferred against
him or her signed by the person or
persons making the same, and fled
with the secretary or clerk of the
board of education having charge of
the school in which the service is be-
ing rendered, and after the charge
shall have been examined into and
found true in fact by said board of
education, upon reasonable notice to
the person charged, who may be repre-
sented by counsel at the hearing.
AS the provisions of the Tenure Of
Service Act in no way abridge the
powers Of the boards of education ex-
cept that it requires just cause to be
shown for dismissal or reduction in
salary, and as the threatened action
of certain boards of education would
seem to have in view a moral evasion
of the law SO soon to become effective,
and as lawyers have advised that mena
hership in the Retirement Fund. and
the Thirty-five Years sHalf-pay PEN
sion Act, give such teachers a vested
interest In their positions, it was unan
imousIy resolved that, to the full ex-
tent of its power, financial and other
wise, the Association would defend
such of its members as might be dis
missed or threatened with dismissal
unless such dismissal or threatened
dismissal were in accordance with the
just and reasonable procedure pre-
| scribed by the said Tenure of Service
Act.
Funds were appropriated, and the
President of the Association was au-
thorized and directed to retain Joseph
P. Tumulty, of Jersey City, as Counsel
to the Association, and to retain Mich
ael Dunn, of Paterson, and at least
three other lawyers in various parts
of the State for the aforesaid defence.
A letter was received from Hon. Ed
ward Thomas Moore, of Passaic, offer.
ing his services. A special meeting
of the Association was ordered for one
o'clock p. M, Saturday, May 29th. at
Elks' Hall, York and Henderson Sts.,
Jersey City. This is the first special
meeting called since the Association
was organized in 1853.
It was the sense of the meeting that
competent teachers should not resign
dl the request OF their board OF edu-
cation as such designations are often
asked to relieve the board OF the odium
of making an unjust dismissal, and be-
cause such resignation would be re-
garded as confession of ineficiency,
or worse, and would embarrass the
State Teachers Association in it's pro-
posed defensive campaign Threaten
ed teachers should place the whole
responsibility on their board of edu-
cation.
Public school teachers are reminded
that among inalienable rights guar
anteed to its citizens by the Constitu-
tion of the State of New Jersey, are
those of acquiring, possessing and
protecting property, and of pursuing
and obtaining safety and happiness" !"
The public school teachers entire
property is, usually, his or her reputa-
tion as teacher, and boards of educa-
tiontion have no moral right, possibly
no legal right, to deprive a teacher of
such property except for adequate,
proved cause.