Waterbury evening Democrat., 1904-06-22
TEACHERS AND TRAVEL.

The teachers of foreign modern lam
guages in the Boston high schools
have recently presented to the high
school committee petition asking the
privilege OF years leave OF absence
for purposes of study. with hale pay,
aftAr each nine years Of service The
petition provides that such leave OF alb
serce shall only be granted with the
approval Of the superintendent and Of
the school board, that the teacher shall
make such reports as the superinten-
dent may require as to how the leave
OF absence IS employed, and that a sat
isfactory bond shall be fled to refund
to the city proportional part of all
money paid to the teacher during such
leave OF absence, In case the latter
leaves the employ OF the city within
three years A similar provision for
leave Of absence with half pay once In
seven years is made for the teachers
most higher institutions of learning.
The city Of Cambridge has for several
years given teachers leave OF absence
every tenth year. with one-third pay,
as In Cambridge two-thfrds Of the regu-
Lar salaries are necessary to secure
satisfactory substitutes. SI1perinten-
dent Cogswell states that the results
have been highly satisfactory to the
school authorities.
The plan proposed would involve no
expense to the city, as the amount de-
Quoted from the teachers salary would
pay the full cost Of q substitute. The
principals or the high and Latin
schools. believing that such action
would greatly increase the efficiency OF
the modern language teachers, have
unanimously Endorsed the petition. In
Europe, where the commercial value OF
q foreign language has given the ques-
ton q more general interest, ii has long
been recognized that for the best work
the teacher of foreign language must
make frequent visits to the country
where that language is spoken. and
keep in constant touch with it's life,
thought and literature. To make this
possible, all the leading countries and
many of the cities have annual appro-
priatfons for meeting travelling ex-
pcnses and the cost OF substitutes for
such teachers. france appropriates
more than 10000 francs annually for
this purpose, Austria 10000 kronen,
Prussia $4,000 marks, Norway 1900
marks. etc. Among the cities appro-
priating considerable Sums are BresIau
1000 marks. Hamburg 5000, Bremen
1000 Dantzig 2,5o0, Hanover, Koenigs-
berg, Dresden and others. 1000.
Last week the Boston schools were
visited by DR. Hoefer OF the Muster
schulz, In Frankfort am Main. Leave
or absence in Frankfort is generally
FOR half year. The teacher draws his
full salary, and an annual appropria-
ton of 1000 marks is made to defray
his travelling expenses. The city pays
| the substitute for the first six weeks
! and for the remaining time the expense
is divided equally between the teacher
and the city. In DR. Hoefer's case. as
he has leave of absence for full year
q special provision Is made. DR. Hoef.
er draws his full salary, receives In
addition a stipend Of 800 marks. and
pays one-half the salary of his substi
tute, the city paying the other half
The net cost OF the substitute to DI
HoefeT Is exactly one-sixth of the lat
ter's salary; he therefore having leave
Of absence for one year, with five
sixths OF his regular salary toward de
| frayinR his expenses Compared with
this determination on the part Of Ger
man city to give Its children the best
possible instruction. the request Of the
1 modern language teachers of Boston
seems modest in the extreme. No ez
ira appropriation ia required the
i teachers will return to their work re
] freshed strengthened and inspired
/ ana their substitutes, most OF whom
will enter the permanent employ Of
the city, will come into the service
having been already tested by a years
experience In the city schools. ---Bostor
i Transcript.