William McAndrew

Early life, family, and education

McAndrew was born on August 20, 1863, in Ypsilanti, Michigan. McAndrew's father, William McAndrew, was a furniture maker, and his mother, Helen Walker McAndrew , was an obstetrician, and the first female physician in Michigan. He studied at Michigan State Normal School before entering the University of Michigan, where he graduated as a member of Phi Beta Kappa in 1886 with a Bachelor of Arts from the university's literary department.

In 1888, McAndrew moved to Chicago and became one of the first five teachers at the new Hyde Park High School. He was promoted as the school's principal the following year. McAndrew's tenure as principal would end in June 1891, when he was fired for insubordination. His firing was due to his refusing to certify a fraudulent diploma that falsely declared that a book publisher's son had successfully completed a course of study in botany that he had actually failed. Superintendent George Howland had ordered McAndrew to certify this diploma, arguing that the course was not a prerequisite for college. While serving as a principal in Brooklyn, McAndrew was connected with the Brooklyn Institute (including serving atenure as a president of its Department of Geography) and was an active member of the Brooklyn Teachers Association. He also served as president of the School Masters' Association of New York. By 1912, the school had approximately 8,000 pupils. In late 1914, McAndrew was described by the Journal of Education as having established himself as, "one of New York's best known public school men".

Declining the position of Detroit superintendent In 1912, McAndrew was recommended as a prospective candidate for the position of Superintendent of Detroit Public Schools, with former president of the University of Michigan James Burrill Angell supporting his candidacy. However, McAndrew declined the position. At the meeting where the Detroit Board of Education had voted to select McAndrew, they also voted to keep the superintendent's annual salary at the $6,000 that Martindale had been earning. This salary, seen as relatively low for McAndrew, was seen as one of the obstacles to Detroit securing his acceptance of the position. Discord within the Detroit schools was also seen as a deterrence to McAndrew.

In late July, McAndrew tentatively accepted the Detroit superintendent position, conditioning his acceptance on the Detroit Board of Education applying a merit system to protect against political influence on appointments and promotions. The Detroit Board of Education agreed to adopt this change. However, by August 2, 1912, McAndrew had informed the board that he changed his mind about accepting the position.

Associate Superintendent of Schools of New York City On October 28, 1914, McAndrew was promoted to one of eight seats on the Board of Associate Superintendents of the New York City Board of Education. President of the board Thomas W. Churchill supported McAndrew for the position. During the selection process, most of the eleven other candidates submitted their own applications for the job, but McAndrew had not personally sought the office himself. After ten rounds of balloting, McAndrew was elected, defeating Brooklyn District Superintendent Charles W. Lyon, who had been the front-runner. Candidate !! Round 1 !! Round 2 !! Round 3 !! Round 4 !! Round 5 !! Round 6 !! Round 7 !! Round 8 !! Round 9 !! Round 10

McAndrew served on the board until he assumed his role in Chicago in January 1924.

During this time McAndrew built up his reputation as a powerful writer and orator on topics related to education, McAndrew became a well-known author, McAndrew also served on the advisory board of The School Review an academic journal dedicated to the subject of secondary education published by the University of Chicago.

McAndrew generally avoided politics. However, this did not stop him from being entangled in political battles. By the end of his tenure, McAndrew had come into conflict with the Tammany Hall-aligned majority that sat on the Board of Education. His philosophies on education (inspired by scientific management movement founder Frederick Winslow Taylor) were publicized by the New York state board of education and the media. In praise of McAndrew, in 1914 the Brooklyn Times-Union called McAndrew one of the, "most progressive men," in New York City's public school system, In 1917, McAndrew's was characterized by the Brooklyn Daily Eagle as being energetic and unpredictable in his approach as an educator, with the newspaper describing McAndrew as, "a live wire" in the field of education. Upon his departure from New York in 1924, The New York Times wrote that McAndrew had given the school system, "a quarter century of cheerful, unconventionally efficient, outstanding service," going on to declare that, during his tenure in New York City Public Schools, McAndrew,

McAndrew was well regarded by other leading educators. One example of this is the results of a 1918 survey in which the New York Tribune surveyed individuals described as "leading educators" on the who they thought would be best fit individual to serve as the next superintendent of New York Public Schools. The survey was sent to 200 "experts", and saw 72 responses. When it was asked as an open question, McAndrew placed second with eight votes, placing only behind Detroit Public Schools Superintendent Charles Chadsey, who received eleven votes. When the question was asked with options limited to eight well-known associate superintendents of the New York City Public Schools, McAndrew was the choice of a majority of the respondents, with 39 votes. In the article that accompanied the results of the survey, New York Tribune opined that McAndrew was the best-known of the city's associate superintendents, and wrote,

Among McAndrew's successes was that an increase in spending had provided teachers and students with greater access to resources than they had ever been provided with for. He was succeeded in this role by Frank Ballou on February 25, 1925.

Political opposition to McAndrew The Chicago political machine was also frequently in opposition to McAndrew, and within just months of the beginning of his tenure, some demanded he resign, but the Board of Education continued to support him. By 1926, Chicago Alderman Leo M. Brieske, who chaired the Chicago City Council's schools committee, wanted to see McAndrew ousted from his job. Brieske took issue with McAndrew, who was seen to be from New York City, declaring that local men should hold local offices in Chicago instead of transplants. Brieske launched an investigation into appointees for the Board of Education, laying the groundwork to oust McAndrew. In a surprise move, Mayor Dever broke his neutrality amid a school board dispute and on December 5, 1926, he sided with Brieske by saying that it would be preferable to see McAndrew replaced with a new superintendent. Dever declared that he believed the superintendent should instead be a native Chicagoan, declaring, "I am heartily in accord with Alderman Brieske's stand that Chicagoans should fill Chicago offices. We have plenty of capable persons at home, without bringing in outsiders".

Attacks by William Hale Thompson

In the 1920s, a wave of Anglophobia occurred in the United States, with rampant hostility between the U.S. and the United Kingdom. Critics and opportunists took advantage of these political tensions, alleging American textbooks contained "pro-British" and "unamerican" bias. During his successful 1927 campaign against incumbent Democratic mayor William Emmett Dever, Republican nominee William Hale Thompson alleged that McAndrew was a British agent sent by King George as part of a grand conspiracy to manipulate the minds of American children, setting the groundwork for the UK to repossess the U.S. Thompson also accused the "left-handed Irishman" Dever of being part of the plot. Thompson's attacks on McAndrew were a major factor in his successful campaign.

Thompson’s attacks on McAndrew drew upon his published criticism. Back in January 1926, McAndrew wrote an article critical of Archibald Willard's The Spirit of '76, calling it an inaccurate picture of war. The Chicago chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution condemnded McAndrews criticism.

Thompson made further attacks on McAndrew and the school system he oversaw, alleging that new buildings in the Chicago Public Schools system were unsafe because of unsound structural support arches. Seeking the votes of African-Americans, Thompson seized on McAndrew's alleged failure to act upon complaints in 1926 by The Chicago Defender that there were anti-black stereotypes in high school civics textbooks authored by the University of Chicago.

While it is not clear why Thompson chose to focus on attacking McAndrew, political scientist Dennis F. Thompson believes that Thompson might have chosen McAndrew as an enemy, in part, due to McAndrew’s opposition to political patronage in schools, McAndrew's ties to Dever, and McAndrew’s unpopularity with teachers.

Initial months of Thompson mayoralty

Thompson won the 1927 mayoral election and was sworn in on April 18 of that year. In his inaugural address, Thompson declared, I will proceed vigorously to oust Superintendent McAndrew from the schools of Chicago, and restore to the school children the true history of George Washington and the other fathers and heroes of our country, and expose the treason and propaganda which insidiously have been injected into our schools and other educational institutions.

About a month after the new mayor took office, tension began to become apparent between McAndrew and the Chicago City Council. On May 16, alderman Wiley M. Mills, a former Board of Education member and an ally of Margaret Haley, sent McAndrew a letter asking him to explain a statement he made previously in 1924, shortly before the board had selected him as superintendent. The Chicago Tribune had quoted McAndrew at the time saying that he had been brought to the city to "loose the hold of the City Hall and certain outside agencies on the schools". McAndrew’s response did not stop the persistent attacks. On May 19, the City Council Committee on Schools, Fire and Civil Service requested that he appear before them. After this, the new Board of Education Committee on School Administration approved a resolution saying McAndrew should obey the City Council's summons. McAndrew resisted, writing the chairman, "Your resolution suggests that you are proposing to try me before your committee. I don't see what, other than personal satisfaction to yourself, could come of it. Much as I love you, I'll have to deny myself that favor to you." By July, Coath escalated the attacks against McAndrew, calling him a "bunk shooting educator" and promising that he would oust him as superintendent before the start of the new school year in September.

Administrative hearing

Background

Mayor Thompson soon reshaped the Chicago Board of Education with his new appointments, and by August 1927, it was under his influence. Throughout his career, McAndrew had opposed political patronage and favoritism. That same day, by a 6–5 vote, the board voted to suspend McAndrew, charging him with insubordination pending a public administrative hearing to be held before the board to decide whether McAndrew should be removed from office.

With McAndrew’s suspension, the board installed William J. Bogan as acting superintendent to carry out McAndrew’s duties during the suspension period.

Proceedings McAndrew was subjected to a total of 27 hearings with more than 100 witnesses, resulting in more than 6,000 pages of testimony. Time magazine characterized the Chicago Board of Education as, "a partial set of false teeth in Mayor William Hale Thompson's capable mouth", writing that they had, "orders to chew up Superintendent McAndrew". On November 20, after six weeks of hearings, McAndrew appeared frustrated, and stood up and asked whether the board would actually address the specific charge they brought against him. Receiving no answer, McAndrew left the hearing, declaring that he would return if the board dismissed the charges. Two months after McAndrew's term as superintendent had expired, the board found him guilty on March 21.

In December 1929, less than two years after the original administrative hearings against McAndrew began, Judge Hugo Pam of the Superior Court of Cook County voided the decision by the Board of Education. The South Bend Tribune, at this time, described McAndrew as having been, "perhaps the ablest superintendent of schools," that Chicago had ever had.

A 1968 report on the history of Chicago Public Schools by Robert J. Havighurst and others for the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare wrote that McAndrew, Was a man of great self-confidence, well educated, and honorable in all his dealings. Yet he reflected the mood of the 1920's in his worship of business efficiency, organization, and 100% mastery of subject matter. His concept of administration clashed with the philosophy of teacher participation in policy formation which in Chicago stemmed from John Dewey, Francis Parker, and Ella Flagg Young, and which was administratively embodied in the system of Teachers' Councils, which McAndrew discontinued. In 1925, McAndrew succeeded Frank Pierrepont Graves as the editor of the Educational Review. McAndrew would continue to serve as editor of this publication until his death, In January 1928, McAndrew was hired as editor of histories for The Century Company. From 1928 onwards, he also arranged the philosophical "Happy to Say" page of Nation's Schools and served as a regular public speaker. On October 5, 1928, several months after McAndrew left the Chicago superintendency, he was again appointed the chairman of the National Education Association's Department of Superintendence. On November 9, 1928, McAndrew was made a life member of the National Education Association.

McAndrew's health deteriorated during the last year of his life. stating that it was his belief that that education's role was, "to produce a human, social unit, trained in accordance with his capabilities to the nearest approach to complete social efficiency possible in the time allotted." In a 2015 article, Whet Moser of the Chicago magazine characterized this philosophy as in-line with the goals of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and his appointment as superintendent as having been illustrative of the club's influence on the city's schools. While leading Chicago's schools, McAndrew was a proponent of pursuing a more practical curriculum, with deemphasizing classical studies and the teaching of the Latin language. He also was a proponent of a more civics-focused curriculum.

Personal life

McAndrew was married in Dover, Maine, on June 28, 1894, to Susan Irvine Gurney. They had three children, daughters Helen (born 1895) and Mary (born 1897), and son John (born 1904).