The Washington times., 1919-04-12

HER CASE Be
RECONSIDERED
Miss Wood, in Letter to EduCa-
ton Board, Tries to Clarity
Misunderstanding.

DECLARING that she never has de-
Fsndsd BOlshevism and questioning
statements made by the Board Of Edu-
esston in its formal refusal TO fur
'ehar consider her case, Miss Alice
wood. suspended teacher. sent letter
N the board today, asking the school
authorities to reconsider their maj
Tbe letter was written by Miss
WooA following q conference with
Paul Z. Lesh, attorney for the teach-
ers, and is the final overture Tor an
understanding between the board ana
the teachers before the case Is taken
70 the courts next week.
Mr.. Ieth told The Times today that
An the event the board remains nFIn
in lts decision, mandamus proceeolngs
viii be hled in the District Supreme
Court early in the week.
Mss wees Letter.
Mas woods letter follows:
@The following statement oy the
Board OF Educaiton occurs IN their
Tenlv 20 the High school Teachers
Union published April 9:
sWhen this order was communl-
Gated by the superintendent TO Miss
WOOD she acknowledged its receipt
and stated that, following the IN
structions contained in Il, she Wouio
remain out Of class until the folioW-
ing Thursday, and that upon her re-
turn she would scrupulously obey the
requests OF the board. and this line
OF conduct she has admirably pursued
in all OF her communications with
the board.
miss Wood made no protest, no
request for q formal hearing and no
appeal, and, 50 far as the board IL ad-
vised, acted in all respects In ac-
cOrdanee with her statement made TO
the superintendent and above re-
fsrrsd. The action Of the board thus
seams 20 have been accepted by Miss
Wood and questioned only by others
HIn my acknowledgement OF Super
intendent Thurston's letter Of March
%, I stated that I would follow
instructions OF the board, and would
scrupulousIy zobey the request OF the
board contained in that letter
Rsquest never Granted.
The action OF the board was aC-
cepted BY me IN the sense that obey
the orders OF the board and the sc-
perintendent, as Is certainly my duty
a. a teacher The statement Of my
willingness 70 obey any ruling OF the
board in this matter was, however,
FIRST made to my principal upon the
receipt Of the complaint OF the two
parents in February, before was
ever punished At all.
"On the morning after the board
suspended me, and before notice OF IL
had been communicated 70 me.
went 70 the school to teach, as usual,
bat was ordered by telephone to leave
my classes. During the week Of sus-
pension I received the formal order
and made the formal acknoWledg-
msnt to which you refer.
when, on the day after the board
suspended me, read the headlines t.
the daily press branding me as un-
patriotic, with q school official given
as the authority, and when. the days
went by and no correction was made
by the Board Of Education. q correc-
tion which mere humanity would have
prompted, were the case one OF even
q household servant and not a
TEACHER Of twelve years service and
untaruished record. felt that III
dividuaI protest was useless. The
only request I personally did make,
that for q statement giving the re-
port Of the committee Of the board
which I had met, has never been
granted.
Action SIIIegaL"
CQuEAQGIGu LAlE o[AAOh lAlGE dlg
cruel and unjust, and 1 asked the
High School Teachers Union to act
in the matter.
ssInasmuch as the protest Of the
High School Teachers Union seems
not TO have been understood by you
as action on my behalf, I respectfully
ask that the action of the board in
suspendfng me be rescinded, that m =
service for the month Of March be
certified In usual course to the dis
bursing officer. and that the stigma on
my record as teacher be removed.
MY knowledge of the specific
grounds Of your action is, OF course,
derived only from the superintend-
ent's letter suspending me, which
states IL was because OF your at
tempt to touch on and interpret Ger
tain economic and social subjects in
which you were clearly an amateur,
and in which you revealed indiscre-
ton and poor judgment in assuming
10 be anything else As bearing upon
this, hope you will consider the fol-
lowing statement.
"In following the course, OF study
pFescribed in English classes I had
permitted the discussion OF the sub
tect of Bolshevism, brought up by q
pupil. and UP to that time never ex-
Guided by any order or suggestion. 1
knew that such discussion was ap-
pPoved by some parents, and did not
then know that objection was made
By any.
Did Not Defend Reds.
at gave definitions Of BolsheVism,
and anarchy, and soviet. Following
the approved practice in any such
class discussion, I referred the stu
dents to certain articles in magazines,
Current Opinion for February, the
New Republic, and the Dial, the first
two named being in the files Of the
sehooI libraries. We discussed the
,situation In Russia / never defend
ed Bolshevism, and q perusal OF the
articles in the magazines referred TO
will prove that they did not defend
BoIshevism-
"As TO propriety OF my discussion
Of economic and social questions. the
fact that ! had a major course in
economies and sociology in college is
beside the mark. for the specific di-