The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1902-03-06
TEACHERS OF THE OLDEN TIMES
By ETHELBERT STEWART.
o. the United States Department Of Labor.

Let us hope the Colonial scb0oI-teache-
did not measure the Importance Of his
work by the wages he got To us the
vital point. however. is how he was paid
rather than what he was paid
The medieval trade guilds had free
schools supported By the guild treasury.
In Holland there were free school socie-
ties, and sometimes the church orgauiza-
ton gave free instruction 90 exception
ally bright children Of the very poor; but
Colonial New England was the first 20
establish free schools maintained at pub
lie expense out Of a tax fund levied for
that purpose. Let us be fair to the Puri-
tans; amid all the rubbish that has been
written against them and in their de-
fence the one fact stands out that puri-
tanism established the free public school
system which was 20 end puritanism for
ever and which as principle viii never
be abandoned in this country, but viii
eventually be adopted by all the nations
OF the earth.
The public free school was not general
in the Colonies at first: IL was an evolu-
ton. a growth from the surrounding con-
ditions, not a sudden creation The first
free schoI maintained az public expense
was established In that pioneer town Of
democracy, Dedham. Mass. which al
ways claimed that it excluded no man
for his poverty" This school was open
ed in 1914. although the schooIhOuse was
not built until 1913. School lands were
voted and various measures adopted for
raising funds to support the schools. The
teachers salary was fixed at SCI a year
and continued at that figure until 1895,
when It was raised 10 $3.50 a year. Bos-
ton had a school in 1898: Newport one
il 1910: New Haven and Hartford in 1872
These schools. however, we're opened BY
order Of the public authorities but were
not maintained by them. The legal
status was that schools must be main
tanned and that children must 90 to
school; parents must pay the teacher il
they could and an deficit would be made
up from the public treasury
The first general school Law passed by
! Massachusetts in 1877 required all towns
Of fifty househoIders to appoint a com
mon school teacher and his duty was 'to
teach all such children As resort 10 him
/ to read and write" His wages might be
/ paid in any manner the town should di-
rect. either by the parents, masters or
[ from a common funC. Where tuition was
/ paid the prevailing rate was o. cents u
Z quarter for each chile. In 1915 Cambridge
sold some public lands 90 pay its teacher
/ (Mr. CorleD 1910. which was the diner-
ence between the tuition collected and
the amount the town had agreed upon
as his salary. showing that very little.
I certainly not more than half. had been
| paid from tuition fees. In 1850 WATERFOWL
/ established free public school upon the
Dedham plan and fixed the teachers sal
airy at 500 a year IN addition it agreed
I that Mr.. Ncrcross. the teacher, should
| have 80 cents head for looking after the
dr. herd" in the town pasture, II We
| knew the number Of dry COWS on Water
town commons we could state definitely
| the total Of this teachers income. The
/ salary remained unchanged in WATERFOWL
until 1920 when 1t was raised 70 S1i670
a year. IN 1907 the court Of Connecticut
/ ordered every plantation that cid not al
ready have a school to establish one and
/ required the town treasUrers to Pay one
I third Of the cost. Gradually, however. all
OF nearly all the towns adopted the Ded-
ham idea, and after the Revolution free
public schools were constitutionaIIy pro-
vided for in most Of the Northern States.
The Massachusetts, law OF I647 also
provided that towns OF 100 househoIders
must establish Latin OF grammar"
schools wherein youths should be fitted
for Harvard University, which. although
IL was a private school vas heavily sub
sidized from public funds These Latin"
schools. so-called. seem to have been the
progenitors Of our high schools. We find
Nir. COrlet, who in 1913 was the common