OCR Text |
Show TEACHERS TO HOLD MEETMI1W Will Gather to Consider Contracts Presented to , Them by Board. , ! INDIGNATION IS GREAT Not Known Yet What Action Ac-tion Will Be Taken in the Matter. Teachers of Salt Ijake will hold a meeting meet-ing at 10 o'clock .Saturday forenoon to consider the new contracts presented them for signature by the board of education.1 edu-cation.1 The new contracts give the board the option of shortening the next school j year by four weeks. i The teachers and the public were un-i un-i aware that the hoard had any such a cut , in contemplation and were astounded 1 when they learned that such a provision ; was in the contracts. The teachers did not receive the contracts until Wednesday Wednes-day afternoon. They found in them not only the provision giving the board the ! privilege of reducing the. term of em-! em-! ployment by one month, but also the statement that failure on the part of any teacher to sign and return the contract : hy June 7 would be considered a declination. declina-tion. Many Are Indignant. Many of the teachers were highly indignant in-dignant at this action of the board. It developed that the board had considered In secret session the advisability of proposing pro-posing a. cut of four weeks in the school term and had such a provision inserted in the contracts without making public i the action. The teachers are taking the position that before the board decided to make any 1 proposal to cut the school year it should make public a statement of the estimated esti-mated revenues and expenses of the school system for the coming year. They think that the board is entirely unfair in delaying the announcement of its action until after practically every city in the United States had employed Its teachers, thereby leaving the teachers no option hut to sign the unsatisfactory contracts or to go without employment in their profession. Determine Upon Action. When the teachers received their contracts con-tracts Wednesday a movement was begun be-gun to have a meeting of the teachers called to consider the advisability of protesting pro-testing to the board against its action. Several petitions were circulated In the various schools, and scores of teachers signed them. These petitions asked the officers of the Salt Lake Teachers' association asso-ciation to call a general meeting to discuss dis-cuss the contracts offered by the board. Acting on these petitions, the officers yesterday called the meeting for tomorrow tomor-row forenoon at the Lafayette school. What action will be taken by the teachers is problematical. Some have suggested that the teachers withhold their signatures from the new contracts until after they have petitioned the board of education for a hearing in the matter. Another Suggestion. Others have made the suggestion that the teachers strike out the clause giving the board' the right to close schools a month earlier and then sign the contracts. con-tracts. The feeling of disapproval of the board's action is practically unanimous on the part of the teachers and it is shared by a great portion of the patrons of the schools. Superintendent P. H. Christ en-sen en-sen has characterized the board's action as unfortunate and unnecessary and he will probably second any protest which the teachers may make to the board. |