The Goslings: A Study of the American SchoolsSinclair, Upton
History
The Goslings: A Study of the American Schools
Sinclair, Upton
Education -- United States
Dr. Moore’s blunder was that at Christmas time he sent out an order to
the principals of schools to be guarded in their proceedings so as not
to give offense to any class of people. This was a routine notice, its
significance being that Jewish children should not be compelled to take
part in religious ceremonials obnoxious to their faith. But Otis saw in
it his opportunity; Superintendent Moore was attacking the Christian
religion and undermining the basis of all morality! Should such a man
remain superintendent of the educational system of a Christian
community? The “Times” printed literally pages of attacks upon this
basis, interviews with clergymen and parents, and reports of sermons
denouncing Dr. Moore, who was thus forced to move on to Yale University.
Next came John H. Francis, and he had a wonderful idea. He was going to
have junior high schools all over the city, and the youngsters were to
have stenography and typewriting and bookkeeping and manual
training—perfect little clerks and shop foremen turned out in two or
three years! Francis was a man with a passion for education, a wonderful
platform orator; he got his junior high schools, and the fame of them
spread all over the United States. But they cost a pile of money, and
they didn’t perform the wonders which the business men had hoped for;
instead, they got the youngsters interested in music and art and
dramatics and debating—and got them organized, so that you couldn’t take
these things away from them without a riot! So the Black Hand lost all
their enthusiasm for Superintendent Francis, and they tried on him their
favorite device of the detective agency and the woman scandal. Recall my
statement that the big private detective agencies form an important part
of the educational system of the United States!
The president of the board, who was elected to oust Superintendent
Francis, was Judge Walter Bordwell, before whom Clarence Darrow was
tried. Bordwell was a flabby and repulsive looking man, with the manners
of an Irish section-boss; he was a relative of Chandler, and a pet of
the “Times.” In 1918, shortly after ousting Francis, Bordwell became the
“Times’” candidate for governor; and, as part of his campaign, an
assistant superintendent of schools sent a letter to teachers asking
them to vote for the Judge. The name of this assistant is Mrs. Susan
Dorsey, and I ask you to remember her, because a little later we shall
find her rewarded for her fidelity by being made superintendent of
schools; we shall find the teachers of Los Angeles presuming to go into
politics in the interest of the schools—and Mrs. Dorsey insisting that
politics must be rigidly excluded from the system!
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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