The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-06-15
INSPECTOR WILKES SOLUTION OF
THE SCHOOL BOARDS FINAN-
GAL PUZZLE.
BOARD MEETS AGAIN TODAY,
HAVING BEEN UNABLE TO SECURE
QUORUM UP TO
DATE.
LIST CAN NOT YET BE DRAWN UP,
Owing to the Continued Absence of
Some of the Members From
the City.

Still the school board is unable to
get quorum. Last night as usual,
three members Of the official body gath
cred in Supt. Curtis office at the high
school, crossed their feet upon the desk
for a. few minutes, expressed a few
Well-chosen words as to the severity OF
the hot spell, and how much better if
would be for the little boys and girls
10 be running barefoot in the street in
stead Of being penned up in suffocating
school rooms, and then they went home.
after adjourning to meet this morning.
The charter provision that the list
OF teachers shall be named June Is, if
practicable, is a source of trouble and
annoyance to the three members who
have been meeting nightly, and their
adjournment to this morning was To
enable them to demonstrate that they
mad spared no effort to secure the an
prevail of the list by the time limit pre-
scribed
The recreants, however, seem to be
worried as little as though the charter
provision did not exist at all. "Wby.'
said Lou Wilkes, one Of the two fill
busters" last evening, chow can we
".
1 consider it a discourtesy to Inspector
Yoerg, when he has been called away
by business, to close up a school in
his district summariIy without giving
him chance to defend it, and I do not
propose to be a party to it. 1t will
not take long to make up the list if we
go at it right. Let the present teaching
stats remain. We have %, 900 children
to put in these schools and these %. 900
children ought to be provided with
them unless some insurmountabIe OBJ
stacie prevents. Our present staff is
none too large. These $4,000 children
are Of more Importance to the conmun-
ity, it seems to me, than the supremacy
OF any political party, whatever
greatness it may assume. 1 will show
you how the schools can be run on the
money we have available for the next
year, and it is not difficult matter,
either. Comptroller McCardy says we
have 100000.
The salaries of the teachers for nine
months, on the present basis, with new
years scale, will be $32400O. Fuel will
cost us $4,000. Supplies take $4,000
more. Janltors, engineers and other
employees take $4,000, and OO00 must
be had for repairs to school buildings.
That makes a total of S419, 900, or S10,-
600 more than the amount available.
We will be able to pull through then on
this amount by trimming off some Of
the fancy salaries, and by sailing close
to the wind in the other items, but
without closing any schools or throw
ing any Of the children of the city Oh
the streets, except for the ordinary
summer vacation.
Now in the fi0UTaS 7 criI-
the sum allotted to the payment Oh
teachers salaries is on a basis OF nine
months-nine calendar months. FIither-
to we have had forty weeks, as We
have called it, Of school, but when ecu
take out the vacation at Christmas.
it leaves but thirty-eight. For this
year of thirty-eight weeks we nave
PAID the teachers on a sO-called month
Iy scale, under which they were really
paid every four weeks. I believe that
rather than have their salaries kept
up at the expense of sisters who must
be removed under the plan of school
annihilation, which has been proposed,
that the teachers OF this city will be
Wiling to accept pay for the nine cal
endar months in which they actuauy
work. If you will take the calendar
you will find that these nine calendar
months VIII cover thirty-eight weeks
of actual school, We would be paw
ing them for the work actually done,
although on a little different basis.
Just to show you how it would eff
feet the teachers of the lower classes.
Take first year girl. who has been
receiving $40 for ten months. She has
been getting $500. This year she is
entitled TO S45 a month She will get
it for nine months. making s405. The
teacher who has been getting $40 a
month for ten months now will get
her schedule increase of SIS which will
make her salary for nine months the
same as last year in the total. We
can run our schools
1 have net been staying away from
those meetings because Of a desire to
be an obstructionist, or from a crav-
ing for nctoriety. nor from buli-head-
edness, but I have believed for the
last sixty days that we could run our
schools through the year. l have been
standing out for this idea, that is all.
l think I am not less careful Of the
funds Of the board than any other q
Its members, but I do not believe thF
the abolition of three of our branch
high schools is the way to meet our
present necessities"