Kennedy, Kate (1827–1890)
Kennedy, Kate (1827–1890)
American schoolteacher and reformer. Born May 31, 1827, in Gaskinstown, Co. Meath, Ireland; died Mar 18, 1890, in Oakland, CA; dau. of Thomas Kennedy (gentleman farmer) and Eliza King; sister of Katherine Delmar Burke (founder of Miss Burke's School for Girls).
Named principal of North Cosmopolitan Grammar School in San Francisco, CA (1867); objected to fact that pay was equal to that of principal for lower-level school, therefore beginning struggle for "equal pay for equal work"; ran for position of state superintendent of public instruction as Labor candidate (1886); demoted by board of education to principal position at smaller school, and lower salary (1887); sued board and won decision by state supreme court that served as precedent for teacher tenure (1890). Efforts resulted in passage of CA state law requiring parity in pay for men and women in state public school system (1874).