Evening star., 1920-05-27
VAN SCHAyCK SCORED,
: BY SENATOR HARRISON
In 3-Hour Speech He Con-
demns President of Board
of Education.
Senator Sherman t0pposes
His Conftrmationtas
Commissioner.


accept appointment as Superintendent
of the public schools of the Dissrie''
if the present board of education yum
dertakes TO disregard the report Vi
the Senate committee and removes
Supt Thurston. predicted Senator at
Harrison of Mississippi. addresS'hs
the Senate last night.
In a three-hdur speech before CAV
leries that were crowded by citizens
Of the District. long lines waitins /"
the corridors for admission sena'of
Harrison spoke in condemhatio"
DR.. John Van Schaick, jk. presApent VI
the board of educat1on an"
members of the board
He gave his reasons for approY 'ire
the report of the Senate seiect $500
committee made pubic !esle' uus
urging the abolition OF the poaru -,
education. He declared that If he hao
his way. the report would have CON
tanned a number of recommehoa'lo.S lo.
that were omitted only in order 70
bring about unanimous report VI
the committee.
Praises Mr.. Thurston.
Superintendent Ernest l.. Ihufs'on
was praised by the Mississippi SEN
ator for his work in the schools SEN
ator Harrison strongly urged his re-
tention as superintendent until new
board of education shall nave Deen
appointed and determined wneeneI !.
desired to keep Thnrston on as SUI
perintendent. :
the board will ignore the findings OF
the committee and. without the PAS
sage by Congress of a law at thIs
session. dismiss the present supeks.
intendent and elect another IN ms
stead" said Senator Harrison. Il can
not believe that such thing is pos
sible l cannot believe tnat- they
would have the audaeity to f1aunt in
the face of Congress and the people
of Washington such threatened ac-
ton.
.The people would not stand for it
and should not stand for it. and no
self-respecting educator fitted to hold
the position of superintendent or the
publjc schools of the District. would
exercise SO little judgment ana snow
so little common sense as 10 accept
the position if it should be tendered
to him.
Would Limit Union MemberskfP.
Among the recommendations that
Senator Harrison said he would have
inserted in the committee report on
schools if he had been able to obi
tain the consent of all the members
was q proposal that no school teacher
should be a member of union at
filiated with an outside union that
used the strike as a weapon
He denounced the action OF the
teachers union in. connection with
the suspension of Miss Alice Wood. a
Western High School teacher charged
with teaching bolshevfsm
DIR. Van; Sehaick- Called United.
Declaring that DR. Van Schaick was
utterly unified to be member OF
the board of education. and untitled
to be a District Commissioner. Sen
a tor Harrison said that an effort
wocld be made today to- have the
nomination of Van Schaick as Conf
missioner taken up in the Senate.
II shall vote for his re lection" said
Senator Harrison. although at the
outset of this inquiry would have
voted for him."
Senator Sherman. chairman of the
District committee. as well as of the
select committee on schools. an
nounced that he. too. was opposed
to Van Schaick's confirmation as
Commissioner, and that he would
seek an executive. session of the SeH-
ate at the earliest possible moment
to have the nomination disposed of.
.sought ControI Of vote:-
Referring to testimony taken by the
District committee when DIR. Van
Schaick's nomination was before it.
Senator King of Utah said that it
had been shown that DR.. Van Schaick
had tried to "debauch~ member of
the board and prevail upon him to
vote in the Bruce investigation as
Van Schaick desired.
Any man who has such a miscon-
ception' of his duty" said Senator
King. rs unfit to be "a member of the
oy-d N he q q
Of the District"
Il do not think that the senator
and / are very far apart on this mat
ter" replied Senator Harrison.
At the outset of his speech Senator
Harrison expressed the opinion that
the salaries Spaide the school teachers
in the District were entirely inade-
quate.
plumbers are demanding SO day,
and in Chicago are asking automo-
biles to carry them to and from their
Jobs" he said, but the salaries of the
teaching, fraternity have not in
creased as have the wages of other
workers. In the committee report it
! is recommended that the salaries be-
increased in accordance with the re-
4 classification, which has been sub
| mitted to Congress. l regretted to
i see the sundry civil bill pass the Sen
i ate so rapidly today, for i wanted to
get some increases in it for the
| teachers. ! understand. however. that
4 1t does carry some.
Appointment, Of Teachers.
The present policy of appointing
teachers to permanent jobs does not
seem good one to me-" he contin-
| ued. Some Of the committee members
thought of recommending that the
appointments be made for one year
| Under the present law it is almost
| impossible to get rid of an inef1cien'
I or Objectionable teacher"
nfthis connection Senator Harrison
( spoke Of the case Of Miss Wood an6
the unions. He said that he had op.
posed the Myers amendment to the
Legislative bill proposing that fed.
eral employees should not be allowed
to belong to unions aff11iated will
outside 'orga nizations using the strike
but that he drew the line at schoO
teachers.
1 The committee. said Senator Harri
son. had found some splendid schoo
buildings in Washington and Others
antiquated. overcrowded and with
out proper Fairgrounds. He urge(
that playground space be provided a
Dunbar and Armstrong schools par
l ticularly.
When I came to Washington first
q country fellow, l was opposed Il
extension of Fairgrounds" said Sena
WINGED that in a.city like Washington
they are essential for thes chill
dren. and that it is a short-sightet
policy of Congress not to make ade
quate provision for them.''
Cause OF Condition. UnknSSvn.
Senator Harrison saidathat the mem
bers of the committee had known tha
q deplorable' condition had existed IL
the public school. system here, blu
that they did not know the cause.
There is no doubt in the minds o
the committee now" he went on, "th
depIora BILE condition is due to tn