William McAndrew Jr. (August 20, 1863 – June 13, 1937) was an American educator and editor who served as Superintendent of Chicago Public Schools in the 1920s. McAndrew was, for a time, one of the best-known educators in the United States.
Before becoming Chicago superintendent, he worked as superintendent of schools in St. Clair, Michigan, as a principal in Chicago, and as a principal and assistant superintendent of schools for New York City. During his more than three-decades (1892–1924) as a school administrator in New York, McAndrew garnered national attention and esteem in his field, becoming widely-known and well-regarded as a leading figure in the field of education. His philosophies about education (which took inspiration from scientific management movement advocate Frederick Winslow Taylor) received attention.
McAndrew made numerous reforms within Chicago Public Schools, including establishing middle schools, implementing standardized testing, expanding vocational training, enacting rigid requirements and supervision of teachers, and championing the creation of a mandatory retirement age. While he garnered national reverence in some circles, he also became an enemy of local teacher unions, which disapproved of his elimination of teachers' councils and strict rules in governing teachers. In Chicago, McAndrew attracted significant criticism for what detractors characterized as an autocratic leadership style, as well as national renown and praise for a number of his successes as a school administrator. He was the subject of hyperbolic political attacks by William Hale Thompson during Thompson's campaign in the 1927 Chicago mayoral election. After Thompson took office as mayor in April 1927, his adversarial tact towards McAndrew led to a highly-publicized administrative hearing conducted by the Chicago Board of Education. The board suspended McAndrew from acting as superintendent pending the result of the hearing and eventually found him guilty of various charges, but the Superior Court of Cook County would later void this ruling.
Later in his life, McAndrew was an editor of both the Educational Review and School and Society, and continued this work until his death. Educator Robert J. Havighurst described him as "a man of great self-confidence, well educated, and honorable in all his dealings", but also as one whose approach to efficiency and administration ultimately conflicted with the Chicago teachers and schools he sought to change under his leadership.
Early life, family, and education
McAndrew was born on August 20, 1863, in Ypsilanti, Michigan. His parents were both Scottish immigrants to the United States.Tarvardian, p. 120 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 was their second-born son, and had an older brother named Thomas.
His parents were political liberals and were involved in local reform activism. They hosted Sunday afternoon forums which drew participants such as social reformer and women's rights activist Susan B. Anthony and temperance reform activist John Bartholomew Gough to speak at their meetings. McAndrew's father would later quit his profession to join McAndrew's mother to operate a sanatorium she founded.
McAndrew graduated from the local Ypsilanti elementary school and from Ypsilanti High School.:William McAndrew Jr., Helen Walker McAndrew, 1826-1906 , Ypsilanti, Michigan, 1931 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. McAndrew later returned to Michigan State Normal School to receive his Master of Education in 1916.
Early career
Upon his graduation from the University of Michigan, McAndrew became superintendent of schools for St. Clair, Michigan, serving in this role from 1886 through 1887.Tarvardian, pp. 120-121
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.Tarvardian, p. 121Herrick, p. 143 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. Thereafter, McAndrew momentarily left field of education and, in July 1891, became an advertising manager and district passenger agent in Saint Paul, Minnesota, for the Great Northern Railway.
New York City Principal of Pratt Institute High School McAndrew served as the principal of the Pratt Institute High School (Public School 44) in Brooklyn, New York for a decade (18921902).Tarvardian, pp. 121–122 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. When New York City consolidated in 1898, McAndrew's job as the principal of a public school in Brooklyn brought under the auspices of New York City Public Schools.
Principal of Washington Irving High School
McAndrew was involved in founding the Washington Irving High School, a girls-only school in Manhattan, and served as its inaugural principal for the twelve years following its establishment in 1902.Tarvardian, p. 122 His selection as principal came through a balloting process that saw him defeat a large number of other candidates. Under his leadership, Irving became the most publicized high school the city during his tenure, and was regarded as a leading institution among all-girls schools in the United States. By 1912, the school had approximately 8,000 pupils. In 1912, the Journal of Education wrote that McAndrew had, "attained world-wide fame as the principal of the Washington Irving High School." 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. Detroit's Board of Education voted 10–8 on July 18, 1912 to select McAndrew as their superintendent, ousting fifteen-year incumbent Wales C. Martindale from his post in a single round of balloting. The Detroit Board of Education anticipated that McAndrew, being from outside the city, could be uninvolved as superintendent in the city's political tumult. However, McAndrew declined the position.Tarvardian, p. 123 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. The Detroit Free Press wrote,
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. However, McAndrew's selection was opposed by New York City Mayor John Purroy Mitchel. Despite McAndrew's decade of work in Brooklyn as principal of the Pratt Institute High School, it was reported that a number of Brooklyn members of the board had stood together in opposition to McAndrew. McAndrew's support was reported to have come more strongly from Manhattan members of the board. However, McAndrew was reported to have received a number of Brooklyn members' votes, which put him over the top on the final ballot. 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.
+ October 28, 1914 balloting for associate superintendent of Schools of New York City Note: 24 votes needed to win Candidate Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5 Round 6 Round 7 Round 8 Round 9 Round 10 William McAndrew 8 15 17 17 17 17 20 20 22 24 Charles W. Lyon 7 7 19 21 21 21 21 21 21 18 Edgar Dubs Shimer 6 4 4 4 3 2 1 1 John Dwyer 7 5 4 2 2 2 1 Edward W. Stitt 4 2 1 Darwin L. Bardwell 10 10 1 Jerome A. O'Connell 2 Cornelius F. Franklin 3 Grace C. Strachan 1 Henry L. Jenkins John F. Reigart Joseph S. Taylor
McAndrew served on the board until he assumed his role in Chicago in January 1924. Among the tasks assigned to McAndrew at various points on the job was oversight over its "new-program" schools, the "duplicate and intermediate" schools, and Division No. 1 elementary schools.
During this time McAndrew built up his reputation as a powerful writer and orator on topics related to education, and became a leading figure in the field. McAndrew became a well-known author, both authoring a series of popular magazine articles and writing articles for scholarly publications such as the Educational Review and The World's Work. His work for the latter publication received praise from the Albert Edward Winship-edited Journal of Education . The Journal called McAndrew "a genius in the interpretation of the significance of educational utterances as well as a master of the art of putting his interpretation compellingly." 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. By the later part of 1917 he was seen as coming into conflict with the Tammany Democratic Party political organization over a program that McAndrew spearheaded to establish "new-program schools" in the city which adhered to new methods of education such as the "platoon system" (also known as the "Gary Plan", developed by William Wirt in Gary, Indiana). While he was in office, the administration of Republican Mayor John Purroy Mitchel supported this effort. Tammany Hall, on the other hand, opposed the program. McAndrew also supported the policies of controversial superintendent William L. Ettinger, which divided the Board of Superintendents. Two years before leaving for New York City he had several politicians oppose his reappointment as associate superintendent. In spite of this opposition, the school board unanimously reelected him.
Reputation during tenure in New York City