The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1907-01-04
PENSIONS FOR HAWA||'s
WORKOUT TEACHERS

Pensioning superannuated teachers
from and after the year 1910 will be
the effort made by the present Board
of Education at the suggestion of SUI
perintendent of Public Instruction Bah
bitt. The matter will be taken before
the legislature at the coming session
and the endeavor will be made to per
suade the lawmakers that, in providing
a fund for pensioning such teachers,
they will be doing most commenda-
BILE act.
Under the act proposed by Mr.. Bah
bitt, the Superintendent of Public In
struction becomes chairman of Board
of Trustees comprising the Commission
ers of Education; the territorial treas
er is treasurer of the fund; the terri.
torial auditor draws the warrants and
the attorney general is the legal adj
wiser of the board. 1t is proposed to
set aside . 1-2 per cent. of the school
taxes collected in the Territory as the
nucleus of the fund. The school taxes
amount to 100000 and 1-2 per cent.
would amount to about $500 or $4,000.
The fund will accumulate through in
terest-bearing deposits, as well as by
hoped-tor legacies and donations. The
fund is not to be available until 1910
by which time it is thought that it
will be sufficiently large to draw
against for the very few who may be
qualified to be pensioners at that time.
Those who have taught in schools for
thirty years, and at least twenty-five
in the public schools of the Territory,
may voluntarily retire as teachers and
become eligible at once to a pension.
The board may retire teachers who are
if they have served an aggregate term
of 25 years in the schools, provided 20
of these have been served with the
public schools. No pension shall ex-
ceed 5000 per annum.
1t is proposed that teachers who
wish to become eligible to participate
in the benefits of this fund, shall con-
tribute small amount of their salaries
to the fund, but should they leave the
school department even before they ac.
quire the qualifications necessary to
become pensioners, they will be en-
titled to withdraw fifty per cent. of
what they have paid in. The benefits
to teachers are exceptional and the
proposed act merely follows along the
lines of pension acts in vogue else
where.
The pension act was discussed at the
regular meeting held yesterday after
noon which was attended by Superin-
tendent Rabbit, Commissioners Mrs.
]. M. Dowsett, W. R. Harrington, Frank
Dodge and David All, and Normal In
spectors King and Baldwin.
An important matter under discussion
was the over-crowding of certain
schools and the problem of how to
dispose of the children of the newly
arrived Portuguese immigrants. The
matter came up through letter re-
ceived from Mrs. Overend, principal of
the Waipahu oahu Plantation) school.
She stated that for sometime she has
been compelled to turn away numerous
children, owing to limited quarters, but
that the problem has assumed more
serious phase since the arrival on the
plantation Of the Portuguese immi-
grants and their numerous children.
Mrs. Overend stated that as these chill
dren have no knowledge Of the Eng
lish language, it is necessary, no mat
ter what their age, to take them into
the receiving room, where sixty-three
pupils are already enrolled. The school
has four teachers and the seating
Of the school is 20S. Many
who have always lived at Wal
pahu have been compelled to await an
opportunity to go in.
Mr.. Babbitt said that this was mat
ter which would be up to the legisla-
ture to remedy. Mr.. harrington con
sidered it a serious matter as there is
a likelihood of discomfort to be mani
Tested by the new arrivals, to whom
have been held out promises of an edu-
cation for their children.
When Mr.. Babbitt was asked wheth-
er he could not provide another room
he called attention to the fact that the
Department of Instruction is without
funds, having but 72 cents
left and only $32 in the repair fund.
He said he had even borrowed $40
worth of stamps to carry on his cor
1t was suggested that perhaps the
could temporarily meet the
difficulty by providing quarters for the
children. Mr.. Babbitt said he could |
supply a teacher. The same conditions
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