Start The Revolution Without Me

By Gene I. Maeroff

Louis Romano became a teacher almost by accident. He earned a bachelor's degree in business administration in 1958 at Seton Hall University in New Jersey, went into the Army for two years, and then worked long enough in business as a management trainee to decide that he did not care for the world of commerce. Like the good young Catholic that he was, he went to his parish priest seeking direction.

The priest had an idea. He said the parish school needed teachers and that Romano ought to give teaching a try. That was more than 30 years ago. Now Romano (whose real name is not being used here in the interest of candor) has decided to call it quits. He is almost 61 years old and will retire next year from a public school district in a small city in northern New Jersey, where he has spent nearly his entire career.

His move to the public schools came just two weeks after his career began in the parochial schools. It seems the only thing that the priest who hired him had said about salary was that it would be "a living wage.'' When the first check came, it amounted to about $75 for two weeks' work. Romano, who was on the verge of getting married, left the Catholic school to accept a job in a nearby public school district, where his...