In a smokey room on the second floor of Rindge Technical High School, a battle is being waged that has consumed the interest of the City of Cambridge, and, if a Harvard Dean has his way, will eventually concern the state legislature.

Judson T. Shaplin '42; Associate Dean of the School of Education, and a colleague, Mrs. George W. Ogden, Jr., are fighting the five other members of the city's School Committee in their efforts to appoint and promote 17 teachers to vacant or newly-created posts in the school system. Shaplin claims that the appointments were made illegally, without the advice of the Superintendent of Schools, without merit examinations, and without considering the teachers' qualifications.

These appointments, which earned for the majority of the Committee the enmity of many civic-minded citizens, were made at a special meeting on last December 11 called ostensibly to consider the budget. The Superintendent of Schools, John M. Tobin, was ill on that evening and could not attend the session, as he is legally required to do. Acting as chairman of the Committee, Mayor Edward J. Sullivan seized upon this opportunity to move for suspension of the rules, which require the examination of merit qualifications and the approval of the Superintendent of Schools. The opposition of Shaplin and Mrs. Ogden was ignored.

Shaplin Protests

Mayor Sullivan, who at that time enjoyed considerable popularity in the city, began the notorious meeting by placing a nomination for assistant superintendent of schools. Shaplin and Mrs. Ogden countered with two nominations of their own in an effort to demonstrate the calibre of men who would be appointed if the regular rules were followed. These nominations, Shaplin admits, were a "maneuver," and he and Mrs. Ogden were summarily outvoted. After each of the 17 nominations, however. Shaplin read into the minutes: "I have raised an objection that the election of any officers of the School Department is not legal this evening in the absence of the Superintendent of Schools and without the recommendation of the Superintendent of Schools."

The Committee thundered on, filling previously existing vacancies and those which were created by the evening's nominations. The Mayor then moved the creation of new positions of junior hockey coach, Director of Public Relations for Athletics, and a second Assistant Director of Athletics, all of which, Shaplin claimed, were "strictly unnecessary."

Shaplin points out that the Committee had never discussed whether it wanted junior athletics, or competitive sports below the high school level, although the majority had tacitly approved the policy by appointing junior hockey coaches. It is true that sub-masters, responsible for playground supervision and vague paper work, had formerly been employed by the Committee, but even these had been dropped several years ago. Sub-masters were considered necessary 50 years ago when the school enrollment far exceeded its present size, and were accordingly discontinued when the number of students decreased. Now the principals need secretaries to attend to increased paperwork, and even assistant superintendents are not really necessary, according to Shaplin. The City of Newton, for instance, has a population of 15,000 and employs only one assistant, while Cambridge has a smaller population of 10,000 and employs two assistants.

Public Reaction

Although such considerations did not bother the majority of the committee, large segments of the population were disturbed at what they considered purely political appointments. Letters of protest poured into the Committee office from parents, from Parent-Teacher Associations, and even from teachers' and masters' associations. Sample letters read: "We disapprove... of this open, callous disregard of the best interests of our school children;" "You are destroying the confidence of parents, teachers, children, and masters;" "You have broken a sacred trust placed in you by citizens."

A letter was distributed to children at the Peabody School as part of a monthly PTA newsletter urging parents to attend the next meeting of the School Committee, and reviewing the events of the December 11 meeting. The letter was duly approved for distribution by the principal of the school, who now faces definite disciplinary action and possible removal from office as a result of his allowing the letter to be circulated. On December 18, at a committee meeting hearing of the appointments, Mayor Sullivan queried all parents who spoke on their knowledge of the Peabody letter, and as one parent later expressed the general feeling, "They're making a big, mysterious deal of this because they have no other leg to stand on."

It was at the same meeting that Sullivan made deep inroads on his popularity in the city. The number of people attending was so great that the committee had to move from its regular meeting room into the Rindge Auditorium, which seats 1,500 and was three-quarters filled by disapproving parents. The audience gave an ovation to the first protesting speaker, upon which the Mayor angrily banged his gravel and threatened to clear the auditorium. Later, when the regular meeting had begun, Shaplin and Mrs. Ogden attempted to forestall consideration of the budget, which included salaries for the new appointees. Repeatedly the two raised points of order, challenged rulings of the chair, and insisted on roll calls. At one point, the Mayor, losing his composure, yelled "I'm gonna run this meeting the way I want to," while the audience smiled at him, remained in their seats and booed and hissed some more. By this time, Sullivan furiously demanded that the auditorium be cleared, but the audience refused to move.

13,000 Signatures

While the Committee did not forget this unpleasantness on the part of Cambridge parents, it was soon given a great deal more unpleasantness. Five civic organizations formed a "Citizens Committee Against Political School Appointments," which decided to circulate a petition for a city-wide referendum asking repeal of the appointments. At the same time, a group of taxpayers secured a temporary injunction against the Committee, which forbade it to notify the appointees or to appropriate any funds toward their salaries. The injunction is still in force and will be until a trial is held to determine whether the injunction should be permanent. The injunction had an ill-affect on two schools, since two appointments were for hockey coaches for high schools which had games the next weekend. Mayor Sullivan and his brother, John, however, opportunely stepped in and agreed to act as coaches. The two were smilingly pictured in Boston papers as they awkwardly fondled hockey sticks, although it was considered a good omen by the opposition that the Sullivan Brothers lost their games.

While committee members were playing political hockey, 800 Cambridge parents were trudging through the snow gathering signatures for the referendum. The petition-carriers encountered little opposition; as one woman said, "People really were waiting to sign." The petition required 6,600 signatures, and, when the circulation time was up, the group found they had gathered over 13,000, of which 11,023 were ruled valid by the elections committee.

At first, the City Clerk refused to accept the petitions, claiming that they were improperly bound, but the petitioners secured the aid of the Cambridge Printing Office, in the basement of City Hall. The binding party was crashed by Sullivan, however, who criticized the printers for aiding the petitioners. While there, Sullivan charged that some of the signatures were forged, an accusation which he made at the next two meetings of the Committee.