“The Important Consideration, After All, Is Disability”: Physical Standards for Teachers in Los Angeles, 1930–1970

Abstract

Ideas and norms about disability shaped the experiences and careers of every teacher and prospective teacher in the Los Angeles public schools between 1930 and 1970. Medical doctors created and conducted the extensive medical examinations that teaching candidates and practicing teachers needed to pass to enter or remain in the classroom. The Los Angeles City Board of Education capitalized on existing disability-related retirement policies, targeting educators with age-related disabilities and enacting a compulsory retirement age for all teachers. Teachers accused of disability-related incompetence could only retain their positions if they could disprove their diagnoses. By adding this discussion of teachers’ bodies and disability to the historiography of teachers, we can better understand teachers’ experiences and the ways in which school leaders attempted to define and enforce standards of normality.