Читать книгу The Goslings: A Study of the American Schools онлайн

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“No politics in the schools!” runs the formula; which means, quite simply, that no one must oppose the Black Hand. The rumor was spread that the “teachers’ board” was pledged to oust Mrs. Dorsey; and so for every teacher the issue was one of “loyalty to the chief.” Many were intimidated—I know one teacher who was told by her principal that if she gave out literature for the “teachers’ ticket” she would be summoned before the grand jury! Others were bought with promises of promotion—the system is honeycombed with intrigue of that sort. The principals’ clubs went boldly into politics, cheered on by the “Times” and the “Express.” One school director, a pet of Mrs. Dorsey, used the school time and the school’s long distance telephone for a whole day calling the Masons in the school system to a meeting at which they were told how to vote.

I have before me a letter from a school principal telling me how a certain political woman came to him, offering him, in exchange for his support in the gang, a written promise of a high school principalship. This offer was turned down and the principal wrote his wife, who owns a dairy: “Keep the cows. We may need them.”