The Grit-advocate., 1906-07-13
PAY OF TEACHERS
TOO Low FOR WORK AND PREP.
ARATIok REQUIRED.
We CAN AFFORD I0PAY MORE
Less Than Servant Giris-Situa.
zion Still Worse in Rurai Schools.


New Haven, Conn.-The American
Institute Of Instruction opened its an
Eual convention Tuesday with ses
| siors in several departments In the
| department OF public school finance
| Calvin y. Kendall. superintendent OF
schools in indianapolis. spoke on the
expense Of the education which schools
ought to give. saying in part:
| This expense must be considerably
| more than at present for the following
| reasons:
| .'F'irst-The demands upon schools
are constantly increasing. AS an ex-
ample, the farmers in some sections Of
| the country are demanding that the
elements OF agriculture shall be taught.
| Manual training in its various phases
| is another example.
| 'SecOnd-More and more people live
in the cities. and schools in cities cost
more per capita than schools in the
| country.
''Third-The cost OF living has
greatly increased in the past ten years.
This seriously affects the net salaries
of teachers.
FOurth-There are numerous we'll
paid and attractive employments other
than teaching for both women and
men.
"Fifth-The public can afford to pa.
more for schools than at present be-
cause the country is prosperous, is
growing richer. and good schools con
tribute as no other force does to the
various kinds of productive citizen
ship.
The teacher is the determining fac
| nf q e
nand teachers possessing good health,
scholarly attainments. teaching power.
social refinement and the ability to use
good English. So far as schools fall
short of teachers possessing these
qualities so far are they wasteful and
SO far do they fail to accomplish their
Irrpose-the production of intelligent
citizenship and social efficiency.
Excepting New York, Boston. Chi
cago and Philadelphia. the average
yearly salaries OF women teachers in
the elementary schools is only $556. In
some of the cities the average salary
is less than $500 So far as men are
con cerned. they have practically disap-
peared from teaching in the els-
mentary schools of cities owing 10 the
inadequate salaries.
1.-The wages for women. therefore, In
half the cities are less than those Of
servant girls, when it is considered
that the latter pay nothing for board.
room and laundry. Moreover, the SER
wants have no social position 10 main
tain as does the teacher. and the re.
quirements of dress are far less expen-
sive. In many cities the minimum
wages of teachers are less than the la
| borers on the streets. This labor is en-
tirely unskilled. while the teacher has
| spent years in preparation. The wages
| Of skilled labor are from twenty-five to
one hundred per cent. higher than
| teachers wages.
The wages OF teachers in the cities
are princely in comparison with those
| in the rural schools. In view Of the
demands made IN on them, teachers
are therefore miserably underpaii. 1t
seems incredible that the pay should
be so inadequate for those in whose
| hands rests the training for citizen
| ship
Mr. Kendall predicted that unless
| higher salaries are paid to teachers
there would be steady increase Of
private schools to which many
| thoughtful and discriminating people
would send their children.