Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1904-01-02
TEACHING AS
A PROFESSION
Subject Discussed by Professor
PIayter Before New Mexico
Educational Association.
TEACHERS PAY is POOR
Referred to as False Economy Result.
ing in Keeping Many Out Of
the Field.

One OF the best papers read before
the New Mexico Educational Associa
ton convention. was the one by Pro
fessor Edward A. Playter, principal O.
the Santa Fe High School. His sub
ject was Teaching as Profession.
Pursuant TO the action taken by the
New Mexico Educational Association
as body, an abstract of the paper is
herewith published, so that it can be
read throughout the Territory, and by
educators generally. The abstract fol
lows:
If factory owner should buy set
of very costly machines and then pay
such low wages as to secure the SER
vices of only unskilled operatives who
did not understand how to run the ma
chimes to the best advantage, we
should certainly consider that factory
owner lacking in good business sense,
The people of the United States are no
better than such factory owner, for
they have invested $576,963, ,089 in
school property, but all they pay their
teachers is an average of $375 year,
less than is received by all except
those in the very lowest occupations.
such as section hands on railroads,
day laborers. and agricultural labor
,ers. Now, as that is the average sal
aryl probably more than 250.0Q0 of the
100000 teachers in the United States
receive less than 1875 year. Such
poor pay is no inducement for men and
women properly to equip themselves
with a professional training for the
hard, trying work of teaching. On the
contrary, it drives competent men and
women out of the profession and pre-
vents others from entering. 1t Is an
insult to intelligence and premium
on ignorance.
'But, it may be said, this will be
compensated by the, opportunities for
advancement. Many q man is willing
to begin on little or nothing If he
knows that he has unlimited opportun-
ity to rise, as in business. medicine,
law, engineering, or in the ministry,
in all of which mans energy, ability,
and character alone determine the lin
it of his income. Let us see. The
highest salaries are paid to the city
superintendents. r. The high water
mark of public school salaries is set
by the cities of New York and Chicago.
Each pays its superintendent $10,OOO,'
though New York has nearly twice the
enrolment of Chicago. Ninety-three
per cent of our cities of more than
1000 inhabitants pay their superintend-
ents less than $2,500; sixty per cent
pay less than 1,500.
1T now becomes easy to see that
the average salary Is as low as stated,
for if it fares thus with the superin-
tendents, whose salaries, as rule, are
far above the salaries of even the
highest paid teachers, what must be
the salary state of the teachers? Prob
ably 400, 900 teachers of the 100000 in
the United States, get less than, 5000
a year.
"The writer has often heard compla-
cent public speakers proudly mention
our great public school system; but he
has never yet heard one boast of the
salaries given to the teachers, by
whose efforts, devotion, and intelli-
gence there is work worth boasting
about in our public schools.
1.-THE highest incomes in law are ov-
er 100000; in medicine over 100000;
and even in the ministry the poorest
paid profession after teaching, some
are paid more than the best paid Off
cials in the public school system of
this, the greatest. richest, and most
generous nation in the world. Now 1t
it an economic fact that the action OF
the government tends to raise wages
but to lower salaries. Yet even under
the government only the very lowest
occupations are paid worse than teach
ers; and very little intelligence Is re-
quired in these menial positions.
''Of 66 different positions under the
government for which examinations
were taken during the fiscal years end
ed June 80, 1899, June 80, 1900, June
80, 1901, in only three does the mini
mum salary go below the average
teachers salary. A messenger boy
cannot earn more than $3.50 per an
mum, but even that. is $50 more per
annum than the average salary Of
teachers in the great state of Pennsyl.
yania. In the other two of the three
mentioned above. the average is high
er than the average pay OF teachers.
The lowest yearly salary paid by Uncle
Sam to his teachers in Indian schools
is $500, higher by one-third than the
average pay of the teachers Of white
children throughout the country.
Congress is the legislative body for
the city of Washington, D. c., and
there we can get fair comparison be-
tween the value placed by the general
government on teachers and on other
employees. Such comparison Is
found in the report for 19OO-1S01 Of the
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