Who started the Merit System?
The merit (civil service) system is not new. Early in the 1800’s, “spoils” patronage was well established as a method of filling government jobs. It took the tragedy of the shooting of President Garfield by a disgruntled office seeker in 1881 to focus enough attention on the practice to spark legislative reform. Two years later, Congress passed the Civil Service Act of 1883 (the Pendleton Act), which set up the first civil service system for federal employees to guard against patronage appointments. In the following years, state and local civil service systems flourished, but it was not until 1936 that the first merit system law for school districts was established. California was the leader when, as a result of a disgraceful patronage system in one of our largest school districts, more than 700 employees were fired on the day after an election to make room for political “spoilsmen”. For more information feel free to contact us.
