The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1900-04-09
LIVING ON S4OD.
Mrs. W. E. Marvin Says
Such a Salary Is a
Disgrace to Any
City.
MUST DRESS WELL
Variety and Accessories
Mount Up Murphy Bill
Best Under Circum-
stances.
MUST DRESS WELL

Mrs. w. E. Marvin, principal of the
Training School threw a different phase
upon the teachers salary question when
morning. 1t would seem as though every
possible reason for raising a teachers
salary had already been given, but Mrs.
Marvin touched upon the subject from
woman's point Of view.
The teachers position" she said, sis one
Of the greatest responsibility. The teacher
is not only training the future citizens
but the future fathers and mothers, there
fore they must be the best. They must
be girls of principle, self-sacrificing girls,
and girls of good scholarship. To induce
such girls to enter the profession we must
give them just compensation. We seldom
have young men in this city because the
compensation is SO small"
Mrs. Marvin then spoke of all girl had
to go through before she could become
teacher-of the four years in High
School followed by two more of the hard
est kind of work in the Training School.
This would make six years Of a girls life
devoted to study in preparing herself for
a teacher Provided she enters the High
school
twenty before she is prepared for
teacher and probably twenty-one possibly
twenty-five before she gets an appoint-
nent Then she receives $400 year, less
than eight dollars per week, while the
stenographer has only to study six or
eight months with no High School educa-
ton to back her and receives ten dollars
per week at once.
Were it not for her summer vaca-
tion," continued Mrs. Marvin, ''the young
teacher could not live on such a salary,
provided she had to board. 1t is dis
grace to any city not to give teacher
enough to live on
The question: of dress was then brought
up together with the incidental expenses
connected with a teachers life
'sRespectability is an absolute neces-
sity,'' said Mrs. Marvin, "a teacher can
not preach neatness to her pupils if she
does not set an example. She must be
well dressed and should have some variety
in that dress All the little accessories
which go to make up a girls wardrobe
mount up, and the best work cannot be
procured from a teacher if in addition to
her class work she must worry over her
wardrobe and there is no place harder on
clothes than the school room. She cannot
make her own clothes and do justice to
her class work Then, too, a teacher must
take the teaching periodicals of the day.
She is supposed to keep up in current lit
teratllre and there are any number OF
other expenses
When asked if she thought the Murphy
Bill fair, Mrs. Marvin replied that it was
the best that could be done under the cir
eumstance.
.sThe forty-eight dollars increase per
year. said she, 'is the minimum. The
law will compel that, but there is nothing
TO prevent teacher getting more. That
depends on the teacher herself"
Mrs Marvin further said that while the
raise was small at first, it meant $sS6 in
less than twelve years, which is an i'm
crease of three hundred dollars over the
present rate.
There is one thing, however" said Mrs.
Marvin, .'that 1 want to correct. 1t has
been stated that twelve years ago the
teachers salaries were reduced. That re-
duetion took place twenty-five years ago
and the salaries have never been raised
to their normal standard since"
How do you think the teachers here
compare with the New York teachers?"
was asked.
s'They are every bit as good,' replied
Mrs. Marvin, ''of that there can be no
doubt, and New York is taking our teach
ers because she is in need of them while
here there is large surplus
Mrs. Marvin then explained that several
of the girls from the last two training
classes have already filed applications for
New York appointments. The rule is that
a Jersey City teacher must have two
years actual experience or an equivalent
amount of substituting in New York, to
be eligible for an appointment in that
city. 1t is not unlikely that some of the
teachers who have been in the profession
here will leave for New York in the fall
which will leave a few vacancies for some
Of the sixty-nine surplus teaching force.