Evening star., 1919-04-01

! such topics in the future if her superiors
in the school system so desired.
). On March 12 Miss Wood was
summoned by telephone to meet Mr.
Thurston and two members of the
the matter which was held March l.:
Before going Miss Wood inquired
through a friend whether it was to be
IN the nature of trial. and was
definitely Informed by Mr.. Thurston
| that it was not. but merely a friendly
conference. and that she therefore,
needed no counsel.
8. No charges were male at this
conference and no reference was made
to the letter of the parents. In view
of the statement in MIR. Thurston's
letter of March % promulgating her
punishment that the board members
feel that she made an exceedingly
slight effort at defense. and exhibited
only the slightest display of regret
IT is worth noting that 1t was not
made known to sier at the confer ence
that she was in any sense deferd!nS
hersef against charges. Miss Wood
has given us from memory the mat
terS inquired .ipout at this confer
ense. and it seems to rave resolved
itself into a series of questions from
the two board members present on
Miss Woods views on economies @Lu
ethics.
= The conference ended with the
expressed opinion of :he chairman of
the committee that 1t was tho con-
CluSion of the committee (who. how
ever. had not conferred during the
conferenCe) that an indiScretion mad
been committed by Miss Wood in dis
cussns these economic and social
subjects Miss Wood stated that she
would obey any direction given hef
that such subjects should NOT be us
cusSed and she and her principal. who
accompanied her. withdrew. under the
impression that the incident was
closed.
Not Informed of Report.
S. What the report to the board OF
this committee was neither Miss Nood
nor we are informed. though we IN
aured of the board by our letter OF
March %. which has been answered as
fully as the president of the board
deems it proper to answer us The
board considered the matter in secret
and voted Miss Woods suspension
with only one board member of the
committee present. Whether the board
had before it any information other
than that conveyed by the parents of
two of Miss Woods 12o pupils. neither
we nor Miss Wood are Informed.
q In the public press of the city
on March 90. 1919. were printed prom
inent articles, the effect of which was
to brand Miss Wood as unpatrotic.
thus injuring her professional and
personal reputation. This story was
accredited to school officials and pur-
ported to state the reason of her sus-
pension. 1t has not been corrected by
school officials.
Within Line of Duty.
10 Contrary to the press story. the
official notice of suspension to Miss
Wood states that the action taken by
the board was taken because of your
attempt to touch on and interpret GER
tain economic and social subjects In
which you were clearly an amateur
and In which you revealed indlscre-
tion and poor Judgment In assuming
to be anything else" That on the
contrary Miss Wood was strictly with
in the line of her duty in discussing
the subjects in question sufficiently
appears from the above summary of
facts. Furthermore. Miss Wood stat
ed in her letter of February Il. and
her principal in his letter of Febru-
airy q. to the superintendent. and 1t
that such discussion as was had OF
bolshevism in her current topics"
class was introduced by questions
from the pupils themselves.
IL The suspension without pay was
obviously a punishment. punish
neH- Is mot All dppIopi iCiiCos
to be applied for ineff1ciency and lack
of academic or pedagogic qualifica-
tions. The superintendent in his
letter of suspension. and the president
Of the board in his letter to us. stated
that it was imposed for disciplinary
justice and right, we submit that
Miss Wood should not have been pun
ished without first having been in
formed definitely of the precise of
fense with which she was charged
and then given a full and fair hear
upon her guilt. We submit also upon
the same grounds that the press
statement of her case should be cor
rected by the board.
Ask Action Be Rescinded.
u. Furthermore. we are advised :,
that under the organic act approved
June 20. 1908. a teacher may be sepa-
rated from her position and salary
only % for misconduct or dereiic-
ton of duty. after trial, in accordance
with section 10 of that act. or CO
for academic or pedagogic ineff1ciency.
and that rule 70 referred to by the
president of the board in his letter
to US is intended to provide only for
the temporary suspension of an en-
pIoye pending the next meeting of
the board of education in cases where
such ad interim action is necessary.
and has no application to the present
case.
We are, therefore, advised that
your action was not in accordance
with law.
We, therefore. ask that the board
rescind its action of March 10. 1919.
in Miss Woods case, and also cor
rect the injurious statements in the
public press concerning the reasons
for her suspension.
We ask further that We he given a
hearing before the board at a regu
lar public meeting. in order to make
plain our position in this matter and
with reference to the general status
of teachers. in the Washington pub
lie schools.
RuunING GAINS I'M MARCH.