Republican farmer., 1920-02-20
STATE STATUTE GIVES
 BOARD OF EDUCATION RIGHT ID FIX PAY
Board of Apportionment Goes Outside It's Pro- vince in Cutting Pro- posed Salary of Super intendent Increase for Teachers on SIid- ing Scale.

Politicians and city officials admitted this morning that petty politics, supported by bitter antagonism were writ ten all over the action of the Board of Apportionment in re- using to increase the salary of Supt- Slawson from S5,0O0 to $6,0OO at yesterdays sitting of
 he board. And strangely the board went outside of it's prov lnce to accomplish the act.
 According to state statutes 141,- 145,233 the law prescribes that the Board of Education can hire a. su- per1ntendent of schools, outline his
 duties and fix his salary.
 The Sullivan case which attracted Wlde publicity several years ago was similar to MT. S1awson's case. In
 mat case it was shown that state
 statutes take precedent over the &C.,
 t1on of any city board of education.
 At the meeting of the sub-con1.
 n1ittees of the Board of Apportion-
 ment and the Board of Education the educational heads have been con- stantly reminded that their demand for increased remuneration was jus.
 tlhable and would be granted. Evi- dently the board was familiar with other cities such as New Haven i where the school superintendent salary has been raised from s4.50O to $6,00O, in Waterbury from s4 800 to S5,SO0, in Springfield, Mass, from $5,o0O to $5,SOO and Worcester, Mass, from $4,5oO to s6,oO0.
 The board took one step further and decided that the increase for the
 teachers would be placed upon a slid ing scale instead of the 25 per cent. straight advance urged by the mayor | on Nov. 10th of last year. This move l ment is not regarded as one to oppose the mayor: but simply to cripple the ! school system and ebmbarrass Supt l SlaWson and the members of the Board of Education. If the teachers get the increase proposed by the mayor $214,000 will have to be ap- propriated instead of the S185,0OO of-
 fered by the Board of Apportionment i Mayor Wilson appeared before the I Board of Education last November l and urged that the teachers be given
 a 25 per cent. advance to take effect l HI IJ-U- LII ILLS request the iIldyOA ! said that this increase would not in- | c1ude the superintendent, his assist
 ant, janitors or clerks. As a further i move of embarrassing MT. Siawson i the mayor pointed out that he was | considering redistricting the city be- 1 fore the program for new schools was l necessary.
 It is no hidden fact that Supt. | SIawson and other heads of the 1 school department have long been a l thorn in the side of the adninistra- | lion. The straightforward, business | methods of the department and the l unwillingness to be subservient to a l vicious political clique laid the foun- dation for the campaign to oust them 1 from office. One member of the
 Board of Education told a Times re- porter this morning that the mayor 1 and his counSellors had tried to l throw the light of publicity on the de- pertinent by underhanded methods,
 but that within 8 short time the light
 would be reverted and some of ths
 bungling financial and political
 methods emphasized by Alderman John A. Cornell in the last municipal,
 campaign would become public own ership.