New-York tribune., 1915-11-25

really would have little to say, especial
ly where gag rule and clique rule have
taken the place of parliamentary rule.
"'Article V. All matters affecting
teachers or pupils. or the internal man
agement or affairs Of the school, must
first be submitted in writing to the
board Of directors for its action. No
action shall be taken by the associa-
tion thereon, nor shall there be any
discussion thereon at the meetings OF
the association, until a written report
has been received by the association
from the board of directors"
you see, the board of directors is
almighty in itself, and every action is
10 be first taken and decided before
the board of directors.
"On this first meeting night, when
objected to the board of directors being
elected, made a motion for a vote TO
be taken by all of the parents present,
which must have numbered close on TO
five hundred. Through the clique pres
ent, and their determination to force
through the constitution without TAX
ing a vote on il, more than half the
parents got up and left the school in
disgust. This was where they made a
great mistake. because In doing so they
left the situation at the mercy Of the
clique.
Parent Protests Against Association
Action on Gary Plan.
"The meetings Of these associations
have proved to me eonelusively that
the object of this board Of directors
was 10 eliminate the parents altogether
from any proceedings that are to be
carried on. All proceedings are held
ors, and only reports Of committees are
read at the meetings. This board Of
directors is made up principally OF
lawyers and real estate agents. At the
last two meetings the action Of this as
sociation in permitting the mouth
pieces Of the Board of Education tC at
tack the Gary system without giving
the opposite sideN ar opportunity to
come in and debate the question, |, as
a member of the Association. was de-
MED the floor on both occasions by this
prcjudiced chairman.
"On November II the Board of Edu-
cation had three other speakers 20
come and attack the Gary system, one
a commissioner and another the edi-
t,r of one of our daily papers.
"Why not be frank and admit the real
grievance the Board of Education mas
against the Gary system? 1t will do
away with graft in the building of new
schools for the next ten years. Pos
sbly you don't know how cleverly this
is done. The Board of Education
writes a specification that a certain
material be used. Under the city
charter, this material must be manu-
featured by two or more manufactur-
ers. If it is a patented article. the
patentee goes to two other manufact-
urers and agrees 10 let them anu
facture his patent on royalty. Then
they jump the price 1000 per cent
above the actual cost, and the mcteri-
ais which are not patented, the manu-
facturers get together the moment the
Board of Education specifies a CO tain
material, and jump the price 800 per
cent. The consequence Of this is that
the City of New York pays from 40 TO
IS per cent more for their school
buildings than they should. The
largest firms Of architects and engi-
neers in New York City will tell you
that the Board Of Education could hire
the best architects and the best engi-
neering firms in New York City and
pay them the highest commissions de-
manded, and still get their buildings
for over 33 per cent less than what
they now cost.
II cannot believe that this is fight
made against the Gary system by the
Board OF Education. I believe II to be
inspired by the manufacturers who are
paying for the advertising and for the
calling of mass meetings to attack the
Gary system, because they have every
thing to lose by the reduction in new
school buildings, and believe that
these corporations have placed irmly
inside Of the parents associations their
lawyers for the purpose of making
this fight against the Gary system.
Board of Education Never Fights for
Teachers.
again, through this field of adver-
Using IL would seem that many OF those