Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1903-04-20

M AAh9 40 "a hh9
less salary than they received even
years ago, or have suffered a reduction
in salary of Is per cent within that
time.
Il purpose now to show the relatively
small value of wages paid to MARSHALL
town teachers. l will take an average
teacher who receives $50 per month, or
$3.50 for nine month of four weeks each.
This is all her income. Meanwhile the
average cost Gas l have found by in
quiry) of board, room, fuel, lights and
laundry is SIS per month. This has to
be paid for thirteen periods of four
weeks each per year. costing per year
1925, and leaving from 8 teachers SAL
airy a balance of 1925 for all other tx
penses, such as clothing, sickness, raw
cling and professional expenses, etc. II
is no fair to state hat some OF the
girls live at home. That is their good
luck, not ours, and should not be con-
sidered in this matter.
Thus l AVE shown that the teacher
in Marshalltown has to clothe herself.
buy books, pay for certificates and
magazines. attend institutes, and a
thousand and n things necessary to a
teachers life-the sum of s125.
I'm addition to this, u teachers, as
at present, are subject to the ills of
human life, and upon being out, lose
so per CEN of these wages, besides the
cost of nurse, and doctor. and medi-
cines. Upon such wages as our girls
receive, a girl who has no friends would
in case of a serious attack Of illness,
be compelled ito go to the poor house.
"1t is not an exaggerated statement
to say that a girl working as a domes-
tic in the kitchen comes out at the end
of the year with more money than one
of our best teachers, eve tho the do
nestle has no education whatever. A
girl working as a domestic can easily
get SO per week, with board, room,
lights. fuel and laundry. This would
leave for expenditures for clothes, ETC..
s156 per year, while as a teacher there
would be only S125. In other words, the
position of domestic in the kitchen to-
day, pays higher wages than that of
teachers in the public schools Of Mar
shalltown. In addition to this, the
girl working as a domestic receives
many presents of clothing and things
from her mistress, still adding to her
advantage.
eat present scarcely a teacher teach
ing in the public schools at wages paid
in Marshalltown, can, without the aid
of friends. live from ear to year., and
come out at the end of the year with
any money. Upon inquiry, / have found
but few of our teachers have any
money left at September, even with
the strictest economy, and ia have
to borrow to get back to their posi-
tons in the fall. Thus these
young women give up the best
and most valuable years of
their lives in the ardous and nerve
racking work of teaching forty child
rem for wages which scarcely tide them
over the year. and which In no wise
would allow them to lay up anything
for sickness, for a rainy day or for old
age.
at will be said that the wages paid
in Marshalltown are equal to those paid
in other towns of like size, but in my
opinion this has nothing to do with the
matter, for an injustice is lone to the
teacher in all these cases; and IL each
town makes the excuse that 1t cannot
raise wages because others do not, then
this injustice continues indefinitely.
The question is: Is Marshalltown pay
ing her teachers a just compensation
without respect to other towns? Mar
should rather set an Xam-
pie to other towns, especially when the
example would be simply a long delayed
justice.
There are, however, other reasons
than the ones that I have cited.
are not reasons of justice to the
teacher. but Of good financial judg7
ment on our own part. i
I'VE make an investment in our pubS'
lie schools each year of almost $4,000.
The question is how can this fund be
SO administered as to result in the
greatest profit in the development OF
our children? The business man would
not hesitate to meet an increase in in-.I
vestment of s or 10 per cent to real11s
ize a fair profit, provided a failure to
increase the investment by 5 per cent
cause q so per cent reduction In
profit.
"I present your committee herewith
a list OF signed statements from teach
ers who have received other offers else
TO show you that we are about
to lose possibly the majority OF
best teachers unless we can give them
a substantial increase in wages. II
this should happen, all the careful
training that 1 gave the teachers last
year in preparation for the work that
the board and myself have laid out
would be lost and we should be llk
Sisyphus in the old mythology, whose
was to roll a large stone
with great labor up a hill whence it
to the bottom, n he had to be-
gin his labor all yer again. With q
corps of new teachers, / should have to
all over again the preparatory work
of the past year which has been done
at the cost OF great labor and palms.
and thus what l have done this year
would be lost.
"The teachers who have been offered
positions are, of course, among our
very best ones. They are the ones
whom we cannot afford to lose.
~ believe that it is absolutely nee
essary to the future of u schools that
we retain these teachers unless the,
cost is beyond what Marshalltown can.
afford to pay.
Much as we would regret to set q
Of a substantial increase IN
wages, our regret is tempered by the
that it has been o n almost every
where else, as any newspaper reader
will know, and this same thing is likely
to AXE place almost universally in the
in the spring election of teach,
- !, has hean shown by the offers