Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-05-10
GRATz TO PRESENT
RESIGNATION TODAY
Has Been Member Of Board Of
Education for 81 Years-Bee-
ber and Lane to Quit
MEETING THIS AFTERNOON

s;nor Gretz. president and for fifty
"a veors member Of the Board Of
rarcotion. will formally announce hi,
.,,;,rotion from that body at meet
i,s of the board this afternoon.
pimper Beebcr. another veteran
or,her of the board. has stated his
rssisnoticn will follow in about week
and David II. Lane has said on severa
,ccosious he will not remain long after
Mr.. Gratz.
The resignation Of Mr.. Gratz will
,e,ve the office of president Of the
hoard omen. While william Rowen
v;r. president Of the board, would nat
rrslly become its head, it Is by nc
means certain the post will be filed
without contest.
Several Mentioned
Several members of the body have
hsen mentioned at various times to head
L, Most prominent among them are
Wr. Rowen, Joseph W. Catharine
whose progressive stand in the last year
b,ourbt DR.. Broome to the system as
snperintendcnt, and Thomas s. Boyle.
II Is possible this matter may be
fought at today's meeting, or 1t may
b. taken up later when new members
have been appointed.
With the death of Charles II. Ed =
mund, the board Of judges has at least
three, and possibly four, vacancies to
All at the meeting in June. Civic, bust =
ness and women's organizations have
already become active in presenting
choices to the judges.
Mr.. Gratis, who came Of an old Phila =
delphia family, was graduated from the
University Of Pennsylvania while In his
teens. He then studied law and was
admitted to the bar. Before he was
twenty. zone he was elected to the Legis-
ature, where he servd a single term.
Before he was thirty he was appointed
On assistant city solicitor. and in 1859
was appointed member of the Board Of
Education.
Active In Developing System
He was active in pushing the devel-
opment Of higher schools in the city,
the number having increased from one
when he entered the system, to ten at
the present time. He was o factor In
the establishment of the teachers re-
trpment fund in 1906
Mr.. Gratz has always been an active
and aggressive member. He was head
Of a number of influential committees
His activity earned for him titles Of
autocrat and czar and he was the storm
center at various times of many bitter
factiona quarrels.
He is now president of the Board of
Revision Of Taxes. He is a member of
the hOnrd of trustees of Jefferson Hos
pital. vice president of the board Of
trustees of the Free Library of Phila-
delphia, n member of the board of con-
troll of the Commercial Museum and a
member Of the Historical Society of
Pennsylvania.
A strict basis .. qualifications was
announced as the guiding principle in
recommending promotions of teachers
and administrative heads in the school
system by Superintendent Broome. at a
meeting of the joint committee on high
er and normal schools of the Board of
Education yesterday.
With the higher salaries TO be paid
teachers by the passage in the Legis
lature of the Fincgan schedule, must
come higher teacher qualifications, he
said. He suggested establishment of
definite statement of standards for
junior high school teachers and gave
warning to prospective candidates for
these posts that these standards when
established must be rigidly met.
DR.. Broomc also announced that in
filling posts Of heads Of departments,
prncipalships and other higher posts,
outside study and experience would be
dominating factors.