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Show IliiTovE I flR EDUCATION AcgjjgatioH of' Best I TeacherSo iMeasons Why Vacancies Are m Not Filled Entirely With Mormons. rPto:e About Merits and Qualifications $tk ych lead to Promotion in ', Ij Salt Lake. m CHAPTER 11. &1 Tn dridne from the supcrlntondcncy of fc7 public schools of Salt Lake City a BrVn of tbo experience and ability of Kuk Cooper, the- ecclesiastical influence Ifltithe School board Inflicted a serloiiB ln-SK-on the pupils But this was not the tm-'w cvil result of tho now policy. Kb the fate of Mr. Cooper tho Gentile Wititirs read a warning of their own iKiitlaV They had given to their work Uit that was in them. Thoy had iljcipJ forirard with praiseworthy ambl-(to3 ambl-(to3 to promotions, increased salaries. '4WPffM3t positions and the recognition IGmcI their cervices by a grateful community. Wftty iound that with a Mormon board. M'tte Et deiirstJo places would bo held .Ib'trtrt for-to use the words of Mr. ?fclfjj0Tit"a Mormon, and not a half-way jJ:rxon. either" W mth such a dismal prospect ahead it is tKfKt f trance that tho most capable of tho Getflj teaching corps accepted positions E,h olher cities. Tho facts are given In At ftret report mado by Superintendent $Wilens?n to tho board, In which ho tttm f Bst Instructors Quit if "While schools were in session a num-$k; num-$k; ol teachers took adantago of the 'dies requiring two weeks" notlilcatlon ,Tud terdered their resignations Among 'ittea were some of our best instructors. H'l It seemed for a lime that tho ffl-fduxr ffl-fduxr of the work In the bujldlngs where Sites teachers had labored wo,uld bo serl &cslr lapalred." & Mr Chrlstenscn went on to stigmatize Sthwt teachers as "deserters." placing tho jbhme upon the individuals Instead of $:;oa the policy which forced them to J'ut'c elMwhere the future that was denied tjliia In Sa't Lake It was well for Mr. MCWjttnsen and well for the schools that w lie remaining Gentile teachers did not fifcrtae the effect of this suicidal policy. uHiJ they realized at that time that firsts of doubtful competency wore to lit brought In from outside towns and IjTl'cd as rapidly as tho board thought jiinJltnt, to the best positions, over the Iboda of older and better qualified In-RKrectorj In-RKrectorj the desertions" would have pJbKorw an exodus and tho schools might alwe been closed in consequence. Board Points With Pride. :j The vacancies were filled partly with GCtatlle teachers unacquainted with the HWcollir methods of Mormon school iibcardi. And It Is because of the cmploy-5H;t cmploy-5H;t of these teachers that the board is m- "pointing with pride" to Its fairness ju-i absolute freedom from sectarian bias IjOoaW they not, had they been so dl3-jpscd, dl3-jpscd, have employed Mormons in the phcis of the "deserters?" i ( There were two reasons why the board t!:td so many Gentiles, one being Its A $?31!ite "lacl: of religious prejudice." Ather, and a better reason, was that It Impossible to obtain Mormon leach- if. came up to tho comparatively Ik "ucat'onal standard required from I 'r j ao'dlnS a- bishop's "recommend." hwA teachers wcro scarce, and even poor f ijtthers were not plentiful. K3 ' New Rule Required. - iikSarruitendcnt Chrlstcnsen observes in I 'lwrt heretofore quoted. J SJt rrow escape from ccrious intcr-.JtpUoa intcr-.JtpUoa reminds us forcibly of tho need ;'?. f.npa enforcement of tho now rules. t&llxT wcept in case of sickness, permit " t0 "s'Pn while Bchoola aro in " J,:1,1. tho clo8C of the Eccoud term tJlcn notlce 1U8t b served not I ovcmber preceding." I i wMT. 5 "commendation from tho Su-I Su-I S? L d:Pt Is Prlma facl evidence that " ti?iurt,h tcachers was painfully 1 I'.vE'Hc'1- ?a(1 lhero bcc" a- consldcra- 4 S 4 faly Kod teachers, elthei t ti t n0ri.,Gc;nt11 elng employment. fcXl kfly that so much concern j) a nno teen shown over resignations, fj , aormon Teachers Handicapped. f iSSiM k0nl n.B t0 the Mormon teachers. t vl voli Vn,J,ust 10 sa' that the Mor- 5 .SJ P" i0ks aro not every bit .-us 'itadsV .u prparlnP themselves for t ?S m.S.0 Gcn,l"c3. The Inefficiency IttnunHl ,R ue lo tno handicaps i35 hal VvhPrnlby wclcslaatlclsxn. The Ji Hawion it Li 9u of secular 9 few : &i.Ui de'a" the founding of 4 ' ml'n L,tah a"d ln 'ts own 5 TSwu'rir TnihcoloP' tu most import-'J import-'J veStfac ltnlMeponiicnt th0USht nnd hcI-i? hcI-i? eni tfefi 'n V'cre 3t,no1 tho mo- V fepaa 0f ,rcam ln conflict with the ut In thl t w', Tcvolatlons and signs k iiBS theology classes. ! cate SeLnthen' u?al the Mormon ts IncrMMn-1"5 t0, modern methods? uS,D,?ronc,cniPy of Mormon 1 lr anll 2SriyuttUr,butab,c to tho nU! f in61 iteft, and carrled on by tho MthoodouidVnt ,!y8lcm that tho S messing to irormon Teachers. L WMormnn0!1!?01 5y0tCm mean3 If fctans thai th? xnr tnan t0 th0 Gentile. &Te a Chanel "0 Mormon ntudents .may j ftkt they canCe J,n8r C(1U'P thcrasM i febn and uMthm.. " i nany SatQ the ' Bu1U. a . Positions on their own ! Fftk ItaltaVi"! to,th0 old sectarian ? gct lf-devclopment and . I VUSfUteaB.VCrJ' 8maU by ihW,1 the teachers it i Mr Chruin!!0 . ard at tho beginning it I fci GStIuns5R(? "Ministration wero ' f? Wl; all W- m trutn ls that tho 4 ' SSS' ElKl ly:?l.Mormon teachers: it r S5cln and oVertnr nw teachers were 'tro Slormons. 1 numbcr n"V" S -ith yasUaPected Talents. -13 I' DtL0re.aa or th hhL 80 Impressed j iftfXMy d6Co? chot0 hoard, tho board WJbt hFvcr Ttti10!8 that no one s3v Mel' of affi ted tbm of possess- hZ- ItcmariiTf?1 ray Borxno as prln-W prln-W lh whlchVh; ndce1d' wa "ho slA'sss1 prod,Bies fr- dlSKn2r lat,nt u n Jm jStaLS?1 offr a shin S8 Xronl wh'ch flK Vanlr. ?iinln,n5 example to tho K o wttcr were GonUlcs, and. having wasted their time In ' studying noi-mal work, could not bo expected to havo the qualifications of those who had Improved their opportunities by preaching the everlasting gospel to overy living creature. What could a teacher know about mathematics, for instance, who had never learned to subtract one-tenth one-tenth from an annual 3alary? A Glaring1 Instance. One of the- most glaring of tho numerous numer-ous Instances of religious bias ls tho case of John H. Coomhs, now principal of tho Lafayette school The Lafayette Is tho school de luxe of Salt Lake. It ls the largest and finest building in tho city. It ls the school to which visitors aro taken and is pointed out as tho model school of tho "West Naturally the Board of Education wanted such an Institution to ho under tho control of a model principal. Therefore There-fore It selected John II Coombs for tho position. To be sure Mr. Coomb3 had only taught ln Payson and Pleasant Grove, Utah county, before coming to Salt Lake and had done nothing as principal prin-cipal ol the Lincoln school to distinguish himself. But was not Payson the home of Superintendent Chrlstenscn? "Was Mr. Coombs not learned In the doctrine and covenants? Had ho not frequently borne testimony that Joseph Smith was a truo prophet of God? He possessed ln a high degree tho "merits and qualifications" quali-fications" on which the School board bases its Judgment ln the selection of principals. Prostige of Payson. Payson's renown as the Incubator of educational prodigies is further illustrated illus-trated by tho notable progress of Principal Prin-cipal Dryden Coombrt of the Uintah school. He, too, camo to Salt Lake with thu prestige of a few months' experience as teacher at the Utah Athena. He went to work In 1501 as teacher at the Hamilton. Hamil-ton. Tho board speedily found an opening open-ing for him as principal of tho Uintah. In the opinion of tho devout this ls altogether alto-gether too humble; a position for a man of Dryden Coomb's attainments. He has been on a mission! "What a wrong to a man who has been on a mission to mako him principal of a little three-teacher flchool llko the Uintah' But there ls no doubt that the board will make reparation repara-tion If It gets the chance. The Uintah school Is tho portal through which the graduates of the mission Held rlso to tho greatest glories. Comfort for Coomhs. Let Principal Coombs look up the history his-tory of his predecessors In tho Uintah and cheer up. He will find that Brother H. B. Folsom, now principal of the great Washington school, began his glorious glo-rious accent from tho Uintah, rising rap-Idly rap-Idly to the Fremont, and then to tho Washington. Then there ls Brother David Nelson, who began ln 1S5S as a teacher In tho Lincoln, was made principal prin-cipal of the Uintah, was promoted to the Fremont and then given the Jackson. What "Wallace Lacked. In making Eomc of theso promotions tho board not only Ignored tho rightful claims of tho oldest and ablest Gentile teachers, but. In one instance, discriminated discrim-inated against a good Mormon educator. "W. S. Wallace, principal of tho Union school, had taught under Supt Cooper in the Franklin. He was a good church member and he- had reason to think that ho would be appointed as principal of the Lafayette on tho completion of the new building. But he was turned down In favor of Brother Coombs. Whllo Mr. Wallace had eight years' experience a3 a teacher and Mr. Coombs had but ne. Mr Wallace was lacking ln some pf tho superior "qualifications" especially desired de-sired by tho board, such as a rcsldcnco at Payson and a bale of tithing office receipts. re-ceipts. (To be continued.) |