 Salt Lake City superintendent of schools Jesse F. Millspaugh had resigned his position in Salt Lake City early in his two-year term in December 1898.The debate over who should replace him reinflamed past tension between Mormons and non-Mormons on the school board and in the community, with newspapers carrying on editorial debates over whether Mormon candidates would even be considered due a perceived bias on the non-Mormon-majority board.On April 11, 1899, the board offered the job to Cooper, a Congregationalist, by a vote of 6 to 4 along sectarian lines, with the minority asserting that Cooper's lack of a formal degree disqualified him and that the other candidate, Joshua H. Paul, lost only because of his Mormon faith.