The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1910-12-13
TEACHERS MAKE ABLE PLEA FOR
 SALARY RAISE
Board of Education Comments Appr0vingly on Document
 Set Before it

Advancing almost every possible reason, and presenting their complaint in most concise and complete com munication, the grade teachers of the c:ty. acting through their organixa- ton: the Teachers association. last ing for sweeping increase In salary to the members of the Board of Ed ucation. The communication contaifl- ed twenty-six pages of typewritten pages giving figures and reasons why the teachers of Bridgeport are under paid. telling why they should be bet ter remunerated for their services.
 When Secretary Edward F. Hallen had completed the reading of the somewhat lengthy communication. Commissioner Macdonald said, "A very able presentation of the case,'' while Commissioner Cullinan remark ed. "a highly commendable oommun- 1cation.' The other commissioners seconded their remarks.
 The petition asks for a general in crease for the first year of $1OO flat, with raise of $50 each succeeding year until the maximum of 39OO which they have set, is reached. They eight grades be set. that s9O0 At the present time there are just seven maximums. They also ask that the minimum scale be $500 instead of s450 as now stands. These figures have been presented to Farmer read CTS for some time past.
 Following the reading of the con- munica tion, the petition was referred to the committee on Schools, which committee is preparing entative list of salaries, such as 1t believes the board will be willing to pay. The board will meet on Dec. 2s, when it will consider the report and also make out the budget for the ensuing year, to be presented to the Board of Apportionment.
 The petition of the teachers did not come without Oppos. ton. The eighth grade teachers of the city sent in a communication objecting to the peti- wherein they would receive the same salary as teachers teaching in lower grades. They claim they should re- ceive at least s1O0 more per year than other teachers. stating that they have much the harder work in preparing pupils for the high school. This com munication was also referred to the Committee on Schools.
 Those eighth grade teachers who signed the petition were Lucy l.. Blood. Isabel O. Clarke, Alice B. Thornberry, Harriet Bottomley, Car- B. Barry and Lillian F. Silliman.
 Some of the reasons advanced by the teachers for an increase are here with gwen. They state that the in- creased cost of living is one of the main difficulties. Within the past ten years the increase has been on an average of 40 per cent, while saI- aries have not increased in the least. Other cities are offering so much bet- ter salaries that such inducements at tract the local teachers to the great detriment of the local schools, for it is generally the better teachers who have the most love for their work who go elsewhere. Figures are giv- en. reciting the cost of preparation needed before a teacher may be ac- cepted by the city. Comparisons are made with other lines of work pur- sued by other young women of the city. notably in the factories and in the stores. Little or no preparation is required in these pursuits, yet in most instances the salaries are much Teachers often find themselves in debt at the end of the year, Tn many instances their parents being called upon to shoulder the burdenS The teachers hold that one grade should receive as much as another, main ta ming that the intermediate grades which are at the present time the lowest paid, are just as hard to ham, dle as the others. Ss the teachers are called upon to bring out and develope the minds of the children. In the primary grades the children are cas- fly led and induced, in the middle grades they just begin to assert them selves, while in the higher classes they are so far advanced that 1t is with ease that they adopt themselves to their studies.