The Wrangell sentinel., 1940-09-13

Following Is the article
 which Mrs. Harrais described
 in her penciled notation as my
 interpretation in which five
 of seven of those present con-
 our-haVe not heard yet from
 other two" Apparently she re-
 fers to the Territorial Board of
 Education:
 That a serious misunderstanding has arisen over the recent action of the Territorial Board of Education, at Anchorage, adopting a resolution urging the employment of graduates of the University of Alaska as teachers in Territorial schools, Is evidenced by the many adverse comments by Alaska newspapers.
 One candidate for. the Territorial legislature is already planning a death blow to the measure. and oth- CT legislative candidates have also made vigorous protests. without first aequainting themselves with the resolution of the Board.
 In view of the fact that there has been no statement issued by H. L. Faulkner, President of the Territorial Board of Education, ex- blaming the resolution and the in- tent of the members of the board when they acted unanimously in favor of it's passage, the Valdez Miner sought, and was granted, the right to print an explanatory let ter, written by one of the Board members who was present at the Anchorage session.
 The letter follows in part:
 There seems to be some misun- derstanding as to the interpreta ton of the resolution passed by the Ter ritorial Board of Education at it's recent meeting in Anchorage, re employment of graduates of the Un- iYersity of Alaska as teachers in our Territorial schools.
 The local school board always has been, and still is, sole judge of the qualifications of a teacher to fill any given position. A qualified teacher is not necessarily qualified to fill any vacancy that may arise. The Territorial Board fixes the standards for the general certifica- tion of teachers; the local school board is the court of last resort as to the qualifications of the can- didate to fill any particular posi- tion.
 The Territorial Board has no desire to interfere with the prerog- atives of the local school boards. What we would like them to do is to, at least, consider the qualifications of the graduates of our Univer- sity before filling entirely the ros- ter of their teaching force from Outside.
 Also, the Board deplores the re- gulation of most city schools not to employ a teacher with less thar two years experience. Where shall our graduates get that two years experience? Either Outside, which is almost impossible, or in some far-away rural school out of reach of all supervision and assistance. That is too hard on the rural schools. It would be far better for Alaska in general for each city school to absorb at least one in-ex- perienced teacher a year. With the help of experienced teachers above and below her in the grades, with the supervision of Superintendent or principal and in some instances special supervisors, she cannot go far wrong. A frontier country is not developed by building up it's towns alone. They do not produce new wealth; they merely turn over what has already been produced by those who have pioneered in rural territory. We all owe such pioneers experienced teachers for their lit- tie schools. x
 ''The resolution merely asks that