Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1910-04-30
la quiet city half asleep.
( Climbing the long slope of a. hill.
lSeeming ward and watch to keep
Above the river winding still,
While all around in verdure swell
| The sffir, green hills of HalloWell.

| " Dressed nlllS--yOOr TuSScu ways
Grow fair with Heavens sunset lights.
| Ye throng with saints of other days
| Borne on to glory from your heights, (
While soft the twilight breeZes swell
| Ger the dear hills of HalloWell.'
Superintendent Charles E. Tilton OF
| Bangor followed with a timely and well
| delivered address on Manual Training
| in the public schools, in which by many
Illustrations with the actual work before
| him the importance Of this department
| in the public school curriculum.
| An address on Reading by Miss
| Maud f. Andrews of Augusta was de
| livered after the style that few bur
Miss Andrews knows how. She read
as il snoald not be and read as it shonld
| be. She made the occasion humorous by
showing the righteousness Of hunldrunl-
isri i'll delivery, then pointed the way
| for its cllre, and held the teacher re-
| spoons. BILE for failure.
! The address Teachers Pensions" by
Prof, Henry |. Upton of Augusta is
best told in the brief synopsis:
| The first ana by far the greatest con
| sheraton in dealing with any new
scheme or plan which concerns the edu-
cational enterprise. is the highest wei
| idit VI tIIe SCHOOLS. w -ii tIt SCHOOLS
suffer. or will they profit? Is it for the
highest interest of the pupils? viii il
| increase the efficiency of the school >&ys-
tenn? VIII society in general gain
| thereby? Now, can system of teach
| erS' pensions he maintained on this ba
sis? If SO. well and good, If not. no
| argument 10 urge pensions because
teachers want them, or because teach
ers need them. or because teachers de
serve them. viii avail,
| A system of teachers pensions should
have a two fold object, first, humane,
and second. practical. Old and worn
| out teachers who have grown gray in
the service should be cared for: hut
pensions should also tend to increase
the efficiency of the teaching force
In the states or cities where these
pensions are In operation. we find the
| following results:
| !. Dissatisfied teachers. The assess
| ment to he paid to the pension fund is
| retained, i. G.. deducted from the teach
er's monthly salary by the board, and
| she is paid the balance. Thus THE
teacher is coerced. Great dissatiSfar-
| ton is the result especially among the
younger teachers.
=. The pension plan tends to keep
salaries of teachers down. The general
public come to feel. "Oh well! She is to
| have a pension so we will not raise her
wages" The people do not stop to
think that the teacher is paying her
| own pension.
3. The teachers pension plan makes
it difficult to retire a teacher when She
ia do 10 nG
becoming inefficient corresponds with
he date Of retirement on pension
which is seldom the case. On the other
hand, il does enable board TO retire a
WORKOUT teacher without difficulty when
the pension age or length of service ar
rives.
H. 1t acts chiefly as stimulus to
the weak and inefficient teacher The
stroneer ones in general command sal
Any enough so that they do not need the
pension, or else they have left the pro-
fession to enter more lucrative fields of
labor. Thus it tends 10 weaken the
teaching force by holding out on in
dt,cement for the ncapables to remain III
it.
MY conclusion regarding the eStab-
lishment of teachers pensions is this
that they are neither humane nor pra'-
tical: the old and wornout teacher is
not provided for. and the efficiency OF
tie school system is not increased
What, then, shall we do to attract. to
hold aud to improve q superior teacll-
ing force? Apply the merit system ahd
pay each teacher as nearly as possible
what she is worth on the ground OF Ell
ficiency Where the merit system has
been tried and its principle enforced
without fear or favor, the following re
suits have followed:
l. The incompetent teacher Is either
aroused or driven out, 50 the money
available for teachers salaries is there
hv distributed to reward the faithful
and efficient.
.. The superior teacher is attracted
and held in the profession, hence the ef-
fciency of our schools is increased
. The increased efficiency of the
schools makes the public willing to in
crease the school appropriation ond to
nav the teachers better salaries"
In the afternoon the music was
rendered by a. chorus OF girls selecteu
from the inmates of the Maine INDUS
trial School for girls under the dlrec-
ton of Miss Hazel Kirk Webb, plahist
and the visiting teachers were not pre- .
nared to listen to the voices they
heard. The superior training by these
wards of the State was the general re
mark heard in expression OF -their
efficiency,
Miss Adelaide " Finch made an ad
dress: Teaching Pupils How I"
Study" Then came the address by
i. f. Spa ding, superintendent OF
schools at Newton, Mass, on "lndustri-
al Education" Mr.. Spaulding's adj
dress was thoughtful and abounded
with interest in offering a solution OF
many difficulties in the way Of the
proper training of the youth where
early advantages were not or the best
AT $50 o'clock in the afternoon the
convention was divided into three Iii :
visions, the Primary schools holding a
session in the City hall and the Gram
mar schools meeting in X. OF p. hail.
At the City hall the Kindergarten
Exercises" under the care of Miss II
F.. Haskell assisted by Miss Gertrude
Greenlaw of Augusta with about 80
tots from the Capital city gave a most
interesting illustration of what pa
thence and perseverance can accom-
Tho iftla nnaS ap0llittp6 tbpo1