Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1909-02-18
SALARIES OF TEACHERS.
DIR. NoER OF wABENO AGAIN
ANSWERS SUPT. TOBEY.
Increase of Qualifications With Ceres
pondine Increase of Salaries.
County Superintendent

pondine Increase of Salaries.
County Superintendent
To the Editor: Supt. Tobey's reply
in Saturdays Free Press to my discus
sion Of his previous article on the ques
ton of the proposed teachers salary
| legislation, prompts me to ask further
space in your valued columns. Instead
of meeting the arguments fairly the
writer seeks to divert attention from
the points at issue.
At the outset 1 wish to emphasize
the fact that nave never objected to a
higher standard of wages for compe-
tent services.
Teachers with properly trained nat
ural talent, who do their work zeal
ously and efficiently, cannot receive too
high compensation.
But, as l have already shown, these
arr, not the teachers who would be af-
fected by the minimum salary standard
except adversely, by being brought in
to competition with greater number
of inferior teachers.
While / may not be as familiar with
the history of salary legislation in In
diana as is Supt. Tobey, think may,
without violence to the rules of logic,
conclude that the discarded Indiana
law which Mr.. Tobey would have us
copy was failure inasmuch as it has
been replaced by the present rational
law, which primarily fixes high
standard of qualification, and seconda-
rily fixes standard of wages, depend
ent upon training and experience.
1t is under the present law that the
schools of Indiana have attained their
high degree of efficiency. Had Supt.
Tobey read my article with greater
care he would not have stated that |
argued that if under the prevailing
low salaries you cannot secure ade-
quately prepared teachers all you have
more exacting." Does not Supt. Tobey
know that the supply of teachers both
as to quantity and quality will always
be in accordance with the demand?
His experience, if properly directed,
should have taught him that there is
today no dearth of good teaching ma
terial, and that if he wishes properly
qualified teachers he can secure an
abundance OF them by establishing the
necessary high standard and then pay
ing the price.
Very true, Snpt. Tobey, if the farm
er cannot sell scrub horses at profit
he will raise thorough breds, and the
bins" and ''unripe produce" will be
outdistanced by his more enterprising
neighbor, who, producing high grade
products captures not only the market
but the price.
Would Supt. Tobey favor the pas
sage Of law fixing minimum price
for nubbins and scrub horses? Such
would be the logic of his illustration.
In reference to standard of qualifi-
cations which would exclude from our
schools the incompetent, Supt. Tobey
says: 'sSuch drastic measure would
turn 100, 900 to 100000 children from
the rural schools into the street"
Evidently he is not familiar with
life in rural communities. The expert
ence of Indiana does not bear out Supt.
Tobey's conclusion.
Does he believe that the great state
of Wisconsin cannot supply her schools
with teachers as well qualified as those
of Indiana?
An increase of qualifications with a
corresponding increase of salary would
place at our service teachers from all
parts of the United States. We should
also save to the profession numerous
wonld-be teachers graduates of high
schools-who are annually lost to the
profession because positions w C h
should be open to them are given to
third grade teachers eighth grade pu-
pils) Tor the reason that they are
sshome girls" or are friends of the
school boards.
The statement that it is possible for
any comfy superintendent to refuse
certificates to incompetent teachers
now. conveys an erroneous impression.
While the county superintendent may
refuse certificate to a person not fitted
to teach he has no power to require a
higher standard of scholarship than is
prescribed by law for third grade GER
tificate.
Does supt. Tobey believe that this is
sufficient to produce competent teach
ers?
Supt. Tobey unconsciously emphasiz-
es the need of a law prescribing high
er standard of qualifications when he
admits that the duties of the office of
county superintendent are performed
from the standpoint of personal poll
tics, incompetent teachers being in
fiicted upon our children in order that
h. NJ x1orf