Education: Ko/e, Pt/eri...

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Time was when Michael Solomon was known as just about the most contented teacher in The Bronx. His subject was Latin, and when he first started at the DeWitt Clinton High School in 1908, almost every pupil went at least through Caesar. Even as late as 1923, when he became head of the department, he could boast 16 teachers of Latin on his staff.

But things began to change. Each year, as Michael Solomon greeted his first class ("Salve, pueri ..."), he noticed that there were fewer & fewer faces before him. One by one, his colleagues left the school, for the time came when there were not enough pupils to go around. Last year, out of 4,000 students in DeWitt Clinton High School, only 70 signed up for Latin, and the advanced and elementary classes had to be combined.

Last week, at 66, Teacher Solomon announced that he was retiring—not because he had to, but because he was fed up. For 44 years he had tried to "uphold standards." But "the tide just drifted against me. There's no interest in whistling while you work. People just aren't interested in working hard any more."