Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1906-12-07
farm work.

ers, who are indispensable to
great and successful educationa
system. can only be obtained 70
those schools where the terms ar
sufficiently long to Justify teachin,
to be pursued as an entire and ab
solute occupation. Every schoo
in this State should run at least
months in the year, The best in
terests of teacher and pupil bemant
this.
BETTER PAID TEACHERS.
Then, as previously stated, the
pay Of the teachars Of this State
should be increased. Virginia, on
an average, has been paying the
poorest salaries of any State. Sew
enty.seven per cent of our. teachers
are women, and until this present
session their yearly average salary
was only $l91.14. The cost of liv-
ing has greatly increased in all di.
rections, and yet we expect our fe-
male teachers to live on that pal
try sum. So small is the compen-
satiun paid IN comparison to other
occupations that our male teachers
have been reduced from SO per cent
in 1875 to % per cent last year. If
this rate of decrease continues, the
male teaches in Virginia will soon
be an extinct species. For the
work done, tho responsibility inn
posed, the capacity required, the
school teachers of Virginia are the
poorest paid persons in the State. ]
know the mental worries, The phys.
ical discomforts, the exactlng work
that conscientious teacher must
undergo.
was a public school teacher, or
rather | ran country nursery, for
it seemed to me in those days that
every person In the community
who had a child too bad to keep al
home and they were too stingy to
hire nurse for it, sent it to me to
nurse during nv school hours. |
haye always felt that the thirty
dallars paid me was not half enough
compensation for nursing those in
fants and teaching that school.
My heart goes out to the poorly
paid teachers OF Virginia, and |
pledge them to use all the power
in my Office and MI the influence |
possess to have their salaries made
commensurate with the compensa.
ton derived from other vacations.
A GREAT AWAKENING.
Nv friends, | bail with delight
the great educational awakening
in Virginia, More new legislation,
more increased appropriations have
been given, more fine schools erect
ed, and more practical benefits be-
slowed upon education during the
last year thau in the previous de.
cade. Nearly half of the cities and
counties of this State have increas-
ed their school taxes The present
annual increased local school taxes
for primary and high schools will
more than aggregate five hundred
thousand dollars, | earnestly urge
the authorities Of the remaining
counties to act and join this gior-
ious procession Of counties in their
march to superior educational ad-
yantages. About 225 new, hand
some and comodious school build
ings have been erected within the
last year. In many Of the coun-
ties and cities the salaries of the
teachers have been increased, and
in many the school term lengthen-
ed. | wish TO say to the teachers
of Virginia, prepare yourself and
become trained, competent teach
els: perform your duties we'll and
faithfully, and you may rest assur-
ed that in the future you will re-
ceive just and fair compensation.
The results accomplished are
amazing, and bespeak bright pros
poets for the future. Unpatriotic
and parsiminous grumblers, who
love darkness, may complain, but
they cannot stay the dawn Of the
rising SUI Of educational light.
One of the most conspicuous fig.
ures in achieving this great work
has been our splendid Superinten-
dent Of Schools. j D Eggleson.
Young. enthusiastic, energetic,
courageous, With definite plans and
purposes he is worthy to be follow.
ed, and, if properly sustained, [ be-
Iieve he will produce wonderful
improvement in our public school
system.
My friends, in conclusion, let us
recognize that the work before us