Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-07-30
Teachers and Pensions.

The trustees of the Carnegie Founda-
tion for the Advancement of Learning
could not have made a better start In the
selection Of American educators to receive
the benefits of the endowment than by
Offering the first OF the pensions to Dr.
William T. Harris. for many years United
States commissioner of education and now
retired to private life. This choice puts
the work inaugurated by Mr.. Carnegie
upon high plane. DR.. Harris has been
a conspicuous figure In the educational
world during nearly half a century. AS
the head of the federal bureau devoted to
that interest he has been brought closely in
touch with systems and individuals. Though
limited in the statutory scope of his bureau
and handicapped by lack of sufficient funds,
ne developed it's usefulness to a degree not
generally appreciated. There is no more
conspicuously worthy recipient of Mr.. Car
negie's far-seeing bounty.
The case of DIR. Harris is striking IL
Illustration of the truth which lies at the
base of this beneficence His profession
has never been a lucrative one. He has
been active in various side lines of educa-
tional and literary enterprise but he has
reached his years of retirement without
having accumulated fortune in any way
commensurate with his labors or the val
ue OF the attachments which have been
applied I'm them. 1t is melancholy truth
that the teaching profession is one of the
most responsible and at the same time
poorest paid in our social system today
Considering the demands of the educa-
tional work, the requirements even of the
humblest positions. the remunerations are
no more than pittances, sometimes miser-
d 1rrg
q woman of high character and refinez
ment, broad minded. progressive, ambl-
tious, studious. There is a constant ad-
vancement Of ideas and a development of
methods. If the teacher would keep pace
with the procession he must read and
travel and consult. The day has passed
for the hermit student who sits for a few
hours day in class room and drones
forth the dry dicta of books. to be taken
or rejected by immature minds. The
scheme of modern affairs calls for alert,
ingenious. sympathetic. diplomatic men
and women in the schoolhouses
The District was for many years the
poorest field in wide area in the matter
of the payment of teachers. Although the
educational standards have lately been
raised to high point, and the tendency
has ever been upward, the range of pay
has been wretchedly low Tardily. Con-
gress has now placed the schools upon a
reasonably high plane in this regard The
statute enacted at the past session should
have been granted dozen or twenty
years ago. For two decades teachers have
remained in the local service despite Of
fers from other cities of better salaries.
owing TO their desire to contribute to the
efhciency of home system in which they
took personal pride. Some of the best
however. have been forced to respond to
these calls.
These conditions prevail to a greater or
less extent all over the country Mr.. Car
negie's endowment was inspired by the
realization that the teaching profession Is
miserably under-paid. He desired to offer
an incentive to continuance He wished
TO light a beacon Of hope. He has given
an assurance that man or a woman who
has devoted lifetime TO the education OF
youth need not die in poverty when age
mas FORCED retirement. What this man has
done In broadly national way the states
and cities should themselves undertake.
upon local foundation. No longer should
IL De possible to say to the everlasting
feproach of our American civilization
that we rate our educators as worthy ~
less consideration than the janitors of our
buildings