The Portland daily press., 1888-06-02
THE MAINE STATE PRESS.
School Teachers and What they
Should Wear,

ELetter TO the Popular Educator]
In recent number of the Common School
Education there appeared short article
from an anxious pater-familias begging the
teachers in the name Of all that is good
beautiful and true" to have mind to their
manners and their dress. He says that in
the High School Of his own town the teach
ers' language and manners are SO bad that he
breads to have his boy come under their in
fiuence. He then goes on to speak Of the
way in which teachers dress. He asks and
says that his boy often asks, why teachers do
not'wear pretty dresses as other ladies do p
He then suggests not at all unkindly TO be
tional gray and drab, ana give little atten-
tion to effect. He then quotes one teacher
who impressed herself strongly on his boy
ish mind because she always wore pretty
dress which was covered over with flowers.
All this Is well enough. We grant that
hundred Argus eyes as to their manners and
their dress. We grant that next to the
mother stands the teacher In the making or
marring Of the child's eternal soul.
We grant that the moulding of the Nations
future lies largely in the hands Of the teach
r;.we grant that a teacher ought to be not q
little lower, but little higher than the an
gels; we grant that teaching is such a gra nd,
such an ever-telling, responsible work, such
soul creating work, that none but the grand
est, n0blest-souled women of our country, are
fit for 1t, or ought to dare to think of trying
it, But as liberal in the educational
world once asked, "HOw much are you will
ing to give for such woman as this 2? And
each answers Three hundred and fifty a
yearP or thereabouts.
Now, we ask what business has any man
or woman to expect the public school-teach-
er to be more worthy than her hire? Ii her
salary averages with that Of man who
cleans our streets, why should you expect
from her anything better than street culture3
Would you expect merchant prince to clerk
for you in your corner grocery Would you
expect Napoleon to serve as district sher-
IN? Would you expect the Angel Gabriel to
hawk your fish supply about the. streets
Then why expect grand. souled, noble
minded, highly educated, broadly-cultured
woman to spend her life in the school-room
qnibbling with that Bohemian class which
the school room so often holds, subject to the
sings and arrows of outraged parents-and
all for three hundred and fifty .yearP
Take the pains rather to visit the schools
and see what sort of teachers are there. See
II they are given to coarse language and
coarse manners. If they are, ask yourself
honestly If you have any right to expect any
thing better; and if they are n0t-and they
are not-then thank your lucky stars that
your boys and girls are able to come under
the influence OF as good women as most OF
the public school teachers are, and all with
so little strain upon your tax bills.
Then as to the teachers dress. Our wor-
thy correspondent refers to one teacher who
always wore pretty brown dress, with
bright flowers scattered all over it. The
fact that she always wore it, as he says,
gives the key note of the whole symphony.
And the key note of most teachers sympho-
mics is, economy economyi economy
The traditional gray and drab will be held
to by teachers on economic principles just as
long as the traditional teachers salary. Is
held to by the people on economic principles
Teachers are, as class, quite as intelli-
gent, quite as cultured in taste, quite as fond
Of becoming and pretty dresses as any Other
class OF women. If you do not believe it,
try the experiment of offering hundred ex
ira dollars year to few of us, ON the con.
dition that we will have one pretty dress.
How quickly and gladly we would all counter.
mand our last order at the dressmaker's and
change the plain skirt for a genteel plated
one we so much like, but which was to have
cost whole dollar more. Offer us all an
other hundred year, and how pleasant q
sight we would make of ourselves to YOU
boy by the bright pretty ribbons we would
so gladly wear. Offer us thousand year
and even that Is the salary of very ordi
nary sort of business man-and our faces
would be so illumined that the bright rib
bons even would pale under the incandes
cent light.