The Washington herald., 1913-03-18
By FRANCES sHAFFER.

To my mind, it is big question that
the New York Board of Education has
been called upon to settle-Shan the ne
cessities and the obligations of mother
hood on the part of the teacher De
reckoned adequate reason Tor an ex-
tended leave of absence?
Presumably, after considerable dehoera-
tion, the board has recorded a decided
mo- in answer. And before one says
that the board is right or wrong In the
way II met the issue, one must look well
at the two sides of the question.
In the board. there were the few who
argued that the mere fact of motherhood
itself was ample compensation for full
years leave of absence, since the teacher
would bring to her work deeper SYM
pathies, and broader understanding of the
heart and the mind OF child. II the
board deemed it right and a manifest
advantage to grant leave of absence to
teachers for the purpose Of travel and
study, why not for the helpful expert
ence of motherhood, the widest field of
all for child-study?
They declared it was not just to a
teacher whose work was admittedly of
high rank to deny her the right Of
motherhood, at the same time the right
to resume her school duties after the
period of her greatest need to the child
But the many were on hand to as
sert Indt, Dy very
and teaching must remain at variance.
First Confederation.
They declared that the one child in her
home would be supreme in her heart. and
that the many under her care in the
schoolroom would suffer in consequence,
for a call from the one would come first.
and the rest would fit in where they
might. They said that the long break in
the continuity of teaching was not fair
to the school. for with a new hand at
the helm the pupils were bound to suf-
fer, and that in n school the practical
must prevail before sentiment was al
lowed to creep in. For the good of the
pupils was the first thing to consider.
And is it not true that the board faced
a big question?
1t seems scarcely fair to draw so many
lines for women teachers-when they wed
they are unwelcome: when they become
mothers they are less acceptable, and
even when they are widowed they are not
wanted in some cities. IF they are good
teachers. a school board cannot Justly
afford to ask too many questions. mar
ried. single, widowed. and the like, be-
cause their concern is to secure efficient
service, nothing more.
And one suspects that their action
was prompted. rather by fear of the
future than by an actual condition de-
trimental to the good of the school. They
were afraid, one fancies. that the one
case would stand as precedent and
that in the years to come there would
he many another request for long leave
of absence. And so they took the posi-
ton of making an arbitrary stand against
the combination, teaching and mother
hood.
The influence of the action of the board
in New York is apt to reach further
ho n sing fitN md hn hor rASh 4
or one of them-rests in the fact that
many times a woman who is a wife and
mother continues her work because she
must. rather than because she wills il
so. And it seems unjust TO refuse her the
right.
Is II Fair:
Looking at it from a personal angle |
from the standpoint of what we like best, |
some of us would say that the board !
right. We would declare that when !
the woman married. she made her choice, !
and that matrimony and wage-earning |
, Ould not satisfactorily go hand in hand. |
We would say. too. that one or the |
other must suffer in consequence of the |
divided time and the divided efforts: that |
the little one at home lost something |
not easily replaced when the mother was |
ont in the would of remunerative work |
and that the school was not given the |
full attentiaOn that WAS its right
But the point is here-is il fair for /
the board to determine the matter of |
her duty 70 the child? And as to the |
effect the school. would il not be |
we'll to wait q bit. to try it out. and then
make rules? Because there are times
when it would be very unjust and work
great hardship to woman teacher
10 say that her position must be the
price OF motherhood. And there are also
times when the school would be d great !
loser.
a. d, ,,o,t+,- ,F f,,. A. ;.,.- :. -.