Omaha daily bee., 1905-06-18
PROBLEMS FOR THE SCHOOL BOAR

EhObLhMS rOH IHb SChOOb bOAhD'
Now that the graduating exercises are
over and the schools have been closed
the Board of Education is again face to
face with the ever present problem--the
classification of teachers, their salaries,
the question of superannuation and re-
tirement pensions.
TO begin with, the income Of the board
is necessarily limited and the demand
for increased school facilities, with all
that this implies, is growing from year
to year out of all proportion to the reve-
nue.. The amount set apart for the SAL
aries of teachers must, therefore, be ap-
portioned according to efficiency and
length of service and whatever advance
in salaries there Is to be made must be
distributed with a due regard to per-
spective.
The board must constantly bear in
mind that the teachers in the lower
grades are the hardest worked and poor
est paid and therefore are entitled to
greater consideration than those at the
up VI tllt 10 De sure HI III
crease of $50 year to 100 teachers will
make a larger hole in the treasury than
an increase Of $1,000 to the superintend-
ent, $500 to his assistant and 5000 year
to each of ten or fifteen OF the high
school faculty, but $50 year to the pri-
mary teacher goes further than the
1000 year to the men and women at
the top.
Superintendent Cooley Of the Chicago
public schools and the Chicago Fedora
ton of Teachers hold divergent views on
the subject of promotional examinations.
Mr.. Cooley insists that the maintenance
of efficiency among the teachers is
matter of study and continuous mental
improvement. The Teachers federation,
while not disparaging study, holds that
length OF service and general teaching
experience should have the greater
weight in determining the relative effi-
cheney Of school teachers. AS promo
tional examinations are proposed MS the
basis of salary advances, it follows that
these different views on the efficiency
factor have serious financial side. If
cheney, 1t is very important to the teach
ers that the kind of efficiency be def
nitely established,
Superintendent Cooley and the Teach
ers' federation both agree on progressive
efficiency as a basis for promotion. but
they cannot agree as to the relative value
of study and mere experience The SUI
perintendents view is expressed In the
following quotation:
An increase OF salary based on length of
service can be defended only in so far as
1t can be shown that length Of service con-
duces to greater efficiency in the work of
the school room.
Mr., Cooley contends also that advance
ment based on-length of service has
tendency to fossilize the school teachers
and he pleads for a new system that
would at least keep the younger teachers
from going to sleep. There is much
truth in both these positions.
AS to the age OF compulsory retirement
there also will be great divergence. The
consensus of opinion among school men
favors retirement pensions. but as there
is no provision in our school laws for
pension fund the board will have to de-
wise some scheme for accumulative saw
ings to be re-destributed TO retired teach
ers through a protective association. or
ganized and managed by teachers and
for teachers under regulations that con-
template a contribution annually toward
an insurance fund in line with the sys-
TEN adopted for all classes of wage
workers by the German government