The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1894-04-16
PENSIONS FOR TEACHERS.
Two Bills I'm the Assembly Affecting
school Instructors.

Two Bills I'm the Assembly Amectlng
school Instructors.
The public school teachers of this city and
Hoboken are much Interested in the bill TO
pension public school teachers introduced In
the Assembly last week by Assemblyman
Wilbur of Mercer county. The act pro-
yides that any male teacher who shall have
taught in any of the public schools of the
State of New Jersey during a period of
thirty years shall, upon application, be re-
tired by the Board of Education on a salary
equal to one-half the annual salary received
by him at the time of his making the appli-
cation. The time that women teachers must
serve before they can retire on a pension Is
twenty-five years, but the other provisions
are the same.
The bill applies only to cities of the first
and second class. There was at first some OBJ
lection to the bill, inasmuch that there
would be a drain upon the school funds, but
on examination of the records in the Office of
the State Superintendent of Public lnstruc-
ton, it is found that it will not be as heavy
an expense as first expected.
There are in the State altogether seventy
six teachers, both male and female, who have
been instructing for a quarter of a century,
and the number who have taught thirty
years is estimated to be about seventy in the
entire State. In the cities the number that
will be entitled to this pension will be IA in
Jersey City and II in Newark; Paterson has
s.; Camden, 4; Trenton, 5; Hoboken, none;
Elizabeth, 7; Bayonne, 2; Orange, 2; New
Brunswick, Z; Passaic City, none There is
some doubt as to the correctness of these
figures.
This bill is also favored for another reason,
that in many communities there are teachers
who lave been faithful to the trusts imposed
upon them, but who, by reason OF long serv-
ice and age, are not as apt in adopting the
new methods that are being constantly
adopted in the schools, and this would afford
a convenient means of placing them on an
honorary and retired list without depriving
them of support. There are cases in almost
every community like these, and this bill
will be one of the means of removing more
or less trouble. /.
Assemblynan Wilbur has also introduced
a bill in the interest of smaller mixed col
leges, such as Pennington, Peddie, West Jer-
sey, at Bridgetnn, n HackettStoWn. 1t Is a
bill over which there is an interesting fight.
DR.. Hanlon of Pennington is leading it, while
the State Board of Education is much OPP
posed to it. The bill provides as follows
Be 1t enacted by the Senate aud General As
sembly of tae State Of New jersey, That the
State Board Of Examiners are hsreby empower
ed to, and shall, grant secoud grade State
teachers certificates to all applicants therefor
who are graduates of any literary or scientific
institute or academy located In this State, duly
chartered, and whose course of study embraces
at least four full academic years. and which
shall provide for the training and education of
its pupils In such branches of knowledge and
such methods OF teaching and governing as will
qualify them for teachers OF our common
schools: provided that five years after gradua-
ton from such literary or scientific institute or
academy. any holder OF a second grade state
certificate is entitled to have said certificate re-
newed for life, without examination, by the
State Board Of Examiners, on presentation of
satisfactory evidence to that board that the
holder has been continuously and successfully
engaged in the profession Of teaching during
the FIVE years next preceding the date OF appli-
cation.
It is claimed on the part of these institu-
tions that they have the same curriculum as
the State Normal School n should have
the right to issue certificates that are of the
same force as the State school, but the State
Board of Education insists that the bill
takes the control of the education of teachers
out of the hands of the board, gives them no
chance to examine or control the curse of
study of those who desire teachers certih-
Gates. and gives to them a s~eeond-grade certi-
foate that would be of as much value as the
one given by the State Board of Education.
This, they say, is not fair, and would be a
bad precedent and would take the control of
the education and certification of those who
are to teach out of the control of the State.
It is probable that the bill will be materially
amended.