Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-07-27

Of the District Of Columbia ie hereb,
| vested In board of eduction.
The members Of the board of education
judges Of the District of Columbia
The board shall determine all ques
lions of general policy relating to the
schools. shall appoint the executive Of
fcers, hereinafter provided for, define
| their duties and direct expenditures AL
expenditures Of public funds for suct
| school purposes shall be made and &C
| counted for as now provided by law
/ under the direction and control Of the
| Commissioners OF the District of Colum
| bia-
| The board OF education shall annual
ly on the first day of October transmit tc
| the Commissioners Of the District Of Co
lunbia an estimate In detail Of the
| amount OF money required for the public
| schools for the ensuing year. and said
commissioners shall transmit the same ir
| their annual estimate of appropriations for
| the District of Columbia, with such re-
| proper
| The last paragraph has. perhaps. been
modified by additional legislation con-
tanned In sections and Of the appro-
priation bill for 1910. Does this state
ment destroy the essential independence
of the board of education established by
the organic act? Does it impair our
power and duty to direct expenditures
| Does 1t transfer to the Commissioners
the business of formulating the estimates
OF the school system? On the contrary,
the amendment leaves these fundamentals
distinctly unaltered.
| For the smooth working OF this
amendment the cooperation Of the board
Of Commissioners and the board of edu-
cation Is requisite. A reasonable per-
centage OF the total municipal expenses
for the fiscal year being determined for
the public schools, the formulation Of the
estimates in accord with that proportion
should, under the letter and spirit of
sense. be left to the board of education
and its professional corps.
The Law in the Case.
| "A reading Of tho excerpts from the
school law should, then. make clear to
the Commissioners what has always been
clear to the board OF education:
I'D That following the best American
practice and deeply impressed with the
slovenly inef1iciency Of the management
Of our local schools under the Commits
| sioners, Congress has made the present
board Of education Independent OF the
| municipal government by vesting the
control Of the public Schools not In the
board Of Commissioners. but in the board
OF education, which represents the inter-
ests of the permanent community.
| go That Congress has specifically en-
powered the board Of education to direct
expenditures leaving (a) the disbursing
Of the actual money and (b) the auditing
Of accounts, under the direction and con-
troll Of the Commissioners
| "(3) That Congress has enacted into
law, SO far as the annual estimates OF
the board Of education are concerned
that said Commissioners shall transmit
| the same in their annual estimate OF APP
propriations for the District Of Columbia,
with such recommendations as they may
deem proper
Commissioners Arraigned.
THE law Is 80 clear and explicit tina,
the board Of education may well be par
doned for assuming that the Commits.
| sioners would eventually gather its es-
| sential meaning. To transmit the esti
mates of the board OF education with
recommendations Is one thing. To tam.
per with those estimates as to dis.
| figure them, to destroy their symmetry
| and proportion, to convert the principles
/ of equity to all classes in the community
rich and poor, white and black-upor
which our estimates are always based
| into a sham and mockery. to substitute
your estimates for ours-to do this Is
| quite different. Is an Illegal thing. The
4
| selves been guilty of that discrimination
/ which next to dishonesty is the
| greatest evil that can creep into munich.
| pal administration
when the congressional committee lit
! orally threw out of court your ill-propOr.
| toned estimates because of their glaring
| injustice to the colored community, when
| Congress passed the appropriation bill for
| 1912 with "a per cent of the aggregate
| appropriation under the caption OF
l PTil nd de- ccie TO nnl
/ ored schools instead of the 14 or 10 pei
| cent actually proposed by the Commits
/ sioners, Congress administered a vel
| merited rebuke TO the dangerous habit
| which seems to have taken root in ouI
! municipal government-the habit of sub
/ shutting arbitrary Interference for the
! orderly processes of civil procedure.
! II hope 1t may be helpful to the Com
mfssioners for me to inquire whether ii
! is not notorious that, whereas about one
third of the officers, teachers and other
! employees of the board OF education are
selected from the coiored community, in
| the swarm of persons occupying clerical
positions or posts of greater responsibl lity
under the control of the Commissioners
not half a dozen are persons of color.
! Next to dishonesty the board of educa-
| ton would have you inscribe upon the
| facade of the municipal building in letters
! of gold, lest you forget, 'discri mination ia
the greatest evil that can creep into NUM-
cipal administration.
1.-The board of education seeks Justihca-
ton for its vigorous policies in the far
reaching improvement in the physical
| equipment and repair OF our schools. in
the more wholesome discipline and finer
professional spirit which pervades the
whole corps of teachers and supervisors,
in the larger and richer service of our
schools to the bodies and minds and
hearts of our thousands Of pupils, rich
and poor, white and black. The board
finds it's authority for its acts and poll
ces in a conservative Interpretation of
the letter and spirit OF the organic school
| law. which for the public good invests
it, and not the Commissioners, with the
| control of the public schools of the Dis
| trict of Columbia'-a law which, in the
| Judgment of eminent authority, endows
the board Of education with ampler pow
ers than 1t has yet exercised.
| Hampered by Commissioners.
| When the present board Of education
took charge Of the public schools in
1906 the schools were in need Of many
reforms. Today no citizen need be
ashamed of the schools Of Washington
| They take rank with the best In the
| country. But, instead Of helping the
| board of education in its prehensive
program of reform, the Commissioners
have hampered 1t by petty meddling and
| by criticism rs acidulous as 1t Is as
| siduous, as baseless as II ia petty, and
as Intellectual for any public good as II
is illnatured. With patience and loyalty
the members of the board of education
have devoted themselves, at no small