Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-09-25
BY BEN McKELWAY.


It has been remarked that in Wash
ingtOn an orga niZation or a group of
particularly strong minded individuals
may so successfully agitate a uues.
ton that on the surface the agitation
appears 10 be the sentiment of the
city, and 50 remains unless there is
deeper digging. Deeper digging as
often uncovers the fact that a large
ma iority of the city's residents are
either uninterested or their views are
found to conflict with those of the
agitatOrs. And, bearing this in mind.
the Board of Education some time
ago decided that in future it would
conduct informal referenda on cues
tions in which the public is primarily
concerned and where the sentiment OF
the public will serve as guide to
the board. The most important uues.
ton on which the board is now await
ing public expression through the
City's business and civic bodies CON
Germs the policy of retaining married
teachers in the public school system.
During the Fall meetings the citizens
organizations have been asked to an
swer prepared questionnaires on the
subject. The board will found it's flu
ture policy on the result of the
referendum.
The most interesting phase of the
married teacher question is that it
does not constitute an educational
problem, nor does it affect the eff.
cheney of the teaching personnel. If
the teacher is inefficient, her status
as a married or single woman is not
considered. The board may bring
about her separation from the service
regardless. AS far as teaching eff
cheney is concerned, there is no line
of demarkation between the married
woman and the unmarried woman.
But there are two other elements in
volved. One is the economic consider
alton of filling positions by married
women, thereby denying them to a
large supply OF unmarried women.
Another is the social question, or
whether it ia to the best interest of
humanity to have a married woman,
who theoretically Is supposed to
devote her time to raising a fam
lily and supervising the home, di-
vide this time between the home
and the exacting demands of the
school. The agitation of the ques-
ton by those who insist that the
married woman should not fill teaching
positions is confined mainly to the
economic and social side. The Board
OF Education wants to find whether
these economic and social considera.
lions transcend in their Importance
the educational problem. and if so,
to adopt policy in accordance there
with.
The economic side of the matter
inv
purpose in Washington as institutions
supported by the taxpayers. There
is now a large supply of teaching
material turned out annually from the
normal schools. and the supply is
greatly in excess of the demand.
This is particularly true of the Miner
School, which graduates upward Of
40 students year, qualified to teach
in the elementary grades, and from
whom only % or 80 can be appointed.
There are, of course, teaching posi-
tons outside of the District which
may be filled and are filed by some
of these excess graduates. This raises
the question of whether the District
is to support its normal schools as
training institutions for the country
at large. or whether it is to restrict
the number of students at the normal
schools to those who can be used, upon
graduation, in the local schools. As
it is now, many of the young woma n
normal school graduates find them.
selves without hope of employment
in the District schools, one reason be-
ing that some 80 per cent of the
teaching personnel is made up of mar
ried women who. according to a gen
orally accepted rule, should be sup
ported by their husbands. Much of
the agitation for separation from the
service of married women is coming
from the relatives and friends of the
young cOlored women who graduate
annually from the Miner Normal
School and who are denied positions