Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-11-11
hat end of the pay rolls for about ;

that end of the pay rolls for about
year.
The bureaus bill was in the neighbor-
| hood of $500. When the voucher for
this amount got to the auditor for the
| State and other departments. that Of
fetal promptly disallowed the amount.
| saying that Congress had furnished a
| sum of money for the board OF educa-
| tons clerical work, and that the clerical
| force should make up the rolls. At al
most the same stroke OF the pen he
approved the voucher for printing the
pay rolls for that single month, probably
| basing his action on the line in the last
certain contingent expenses, among
which the word printing is conspicu-
| Gus.
Appeal to Controller.
The auditor for the District appeal
ed to the controller Of the Treasury Oc-
tober %. This story has been related be-
fore in The Star. in part. but to point
out the entire situation II is necessary
to bring in every link in the chain.
The controller of the Treasury is ex-
| pected to make a reply to the appeal on
| or about November II. II the position
of the auditor of the State and other
| departments is upheld then this will be
| the situation:
| The school pay rolls must be made out
by the hard-worked clerks of the Frank
| lin, who are already busy every minute
| or the pay rolls may be made out by a
printing firm, the names and amounts
| filled in by typesetters. ETC., at rate
several times as much as a typewriting
firm would charge. because the word
| printing appears In the appropriation
| for contingent expenses.
But the rolls may not be made out by
an outside typewriting firm, simply be-
cause it would have been decided that
typewritng is clerical work. and all the
| board of educations clerical work must
be done by the boards own clerks. Prob
| ably the clerks in Mr.. Tweedale's office.
as we'll as Mr.. Tweedale himself. will
continue to ask the question. Where's
the difference between typewriting and
printing-as far as the effect of the thing
goes?"
A Pretty Big Job.
| Making out the school pay rolls is no
little job. There are about 1000 teach
/ ers. and their pay roll is the longest and
most complex piece OF work of its kind
| i'm the entire District Of Columbia. The
| law declares that before the teachers can
be paid the pay rolls must be filled In
/ with a score of items of information.
| name basic salary, automatic increase Of
salary. monthly salary, deductions IL any.
| amount to be credited for supervision in
the case of superintendent. and other
| information. The sheets are large, are
|
has to be exercised in typewriting them.
Any one who reads the news OF the
| board of educations semi-monthly pro-
| ceedings will notice that there are hum
| dreds of changes in the schools every
month. Teachers go up and down the
| ladder. are dropped from the rolls, are
| transferred. and take leaves Of absence.
All those matters make changes i'm the
| details of the pay rolls and so frequent
are the changes in certain quarters that
| Auditor Tweedale's office almost stands
| on its head in its effort to follow the
| course of some OF the teachers through
| some Of the schools.
| personal account has had to be
opened with each of the 900 teachers. in
order TO check up the pay rolls monthly.
| They show the basic salary and the auto
| matte increase in salary. If a teacher
| pay should stay at one figure until the
board chose to raise it the process might
he easier, but the law regulates the mat
| ter. and every so often a teachers pay
is raised provided he or she does not go
down hill.
First Of Year Troubles.
In connection with the changes which
occur monthly, and which have to be re-
corded so carefully and with such defer
ence to the governmental red tape, il
might be interesting to know that the
greatest number of changes is always
shown at the beginning Of the school
| Every summer some eeachers marry.
, some resign, many are promoted, etc.
During the three months OF the last va
cation there were just 1.12S changes in
the school organization that had to be
recorded.
| Teachers have been paid in ten install
| ments. covering the school year. from a
| time when the memory OF man runneth
not to the contrary. The system is based
on the very old decision Of a controller of
\ the Treasury, which divided the school
army into sections composed OF officers.
teachers and clerks. The officers, such
| as the supervising principals and others
| who are on duty, are paid in twelfths.
SO also are the clerks, whose labors do
not cease when the school child shuts up
| his books for the summer. But the teach
| ers' activities extend over the echooi year
only neither are they called on for duty
during the vacation months. and conse-
| auently the old decision has been written
into the more recent egfslation-namely,
the appropriation act covering school ex-
| penditures in 19OS-l9D II IL specifically
provided In that act that hereafter the
teachers shall be paid in ten installments.
| II seems that many of the teachers are
not able so to exercise the economical
I virtues that they are able 10 stand the
long period Of financial drought with any
degree of comfort, and they put them
| selves simultaneously into tile class OF
the Chicago teachers, who some time ago
kicked because many of them had no
shoes ut TO wear to school after they
were through with vacation. Still, no one
can help the temperament system under
the present law.
Would BENEFIT the Majority.
II is practically impossible to ask every
teacher whether or not he or she would
rather be paid in twelfths, but it IL the
opinion OF several of those at the head