The Washington herald., 1911-01-07


| Discussion of the plight of the 200
teachers in Washington schools, who by
the recent decision of the Comptroller of
] the Treasury have been unable to obtain
their December salaries, formed the lead
ing feature of the postponed meeting of
the board Of education yesterday after
noon.
Auditor Alonzo Tweedale, Of the Dis
| trict. was the target of the board, and
the legality Of his decisions on compila-
ton of the time teachers were absent
from their duties. together with various
other aspects of the situation, were criti-
cised freely. AS final stab at the audi
tor. the board referred to him for imme-
diate answer a question list of twenty
two problems bearing upon the public
school pay system.
The sick leave" problem occupied the
| attention of the board. Its various
phases were discussed. and a general sur
vey of the matter was taken up by Supt
Stuart in a long address.
Public's Wrong Idea.
| "A few days ago the question of the
! board of education's authority upon the
employment of substitute teachers went
from the auditor to the Comptroller of
| the Treasury said Mr.. Stuart. From
the publication of the decision given in
that case, l think that the public has a
| erroneous idea of the true situation.
From a casual reading of the Comp
troller's report. the layman would gather
1,
ington schools for teachers to farm out
their positions and that it was done
with the knowledge of the school officials.
Such is not the case
THE two cases referred by Auditor
Tweedale to the Comptroller were iso-
lated in the extreme. Such conditions
as existed in the case of those two teach
ers have not been known in forty years.
They were without parallel in their
peculiar features. and it is entirely wrong
for the community to gain such an idea
OF the conduct of their schools as was
implied in the report
Referring to the fact that Washington
must have some provision in its school
rules for the employment of substitute
teachers. Mr. stuart presented for con-
sideration of the board a compilation of
statistics from more than 100 leading
school cities in the, United States.
Case in Washington.
In Washington said Mr. Stuart,
THE teachers have never been given
leave with pay in case of death in the
family: have never been given recon-
pense in case of quarantine. and. under
the recent decision of the Comptroller, We
are not to be permitted to give leave and
pay in case of personal sickness. Such
ii condition exists in no other city in the
country
From the statistics presented by Mr..
Stuart it was seen that full pay was
given in cases of personal illness for
varying lengths of time in many cities.
New York leads the list, with 81 days
leave; Kansas City. Lexington. and
Yonkers. 20 days each; East ST Louis.
Hoboken. Melrose, and SomerviIle. Mass.
Il days; Cleveland. st. Joseph, Mo:
Waltham. Mass; Maiden. Mass. and
Newton, Mass. 10 days: Holyoke. Mass,
days: Columbus. Ohio: Fort Wayne,
Ind. and Passaic. n. j.. 8 days: Denver,
San Antonio. Tex, and Waterbury.
Conn, days, and Bloomfield n. j., 2
days.
Half pay for personal illness is al
lowed in many other cities, follows:
Quincy. Mass, eighteen weeks; Jersey
City, thirteen weeks; Baltimore, two
Brookline, Mass, six weeks; st.
month: Montgomery. Ala. four weeks:
Butte. Mont: Minneapolis, Milwaukee.
New Haven, Peoria, ILL.,; Reading, Pa. |
Spokane and St. Paul, three weeks;
Syracuse, n. Y: Davenport, Iowa: Har- |
risburS. Pa, and Houston, Tex, two
weeks. and Pawtucket. +. l.: Rockford. |
ILL.,, and Stamford. Conn, one week.
One-fourth Allowed.
Many cities allow one-fourth of the |
regular pay in case of personal illness. |
Such system is followed in Hyde Park, |
Mass, five weeks; Louisville. four
weeks: Bridgeport, Conn. three weeks: ;
Stamford. Conn.,. and Worcester. Mass.
two weeks: Portsmouth. n. H., and Ra-
cine. Wis. until close of current month
Particular attention was directed by
Mr.. Stuart to the cities where the So
called farming" system was allowed.
This system allows full Rlary. and the
of a substNote instructor
Ithaca. n. Y, allows one week; Knox
vile. Tenn, and Wilkesbarre. Pa, two
weeks: Columbia and Waterbury. Conn,
three weeks: Bloomfield, n. j.: Dayton,
ohio; Haverhill. Mass, and Fitchburs,
Mass, four weeks.
The benefits Of a "sick allowance sys-
tenn We're dwelt upon at some length by
5upt. Stuart. In Indianapolis, he ex-
planned. the teacher receives $l5O per
lay while ill., provided that the total
amount does not exceed $50
In connection with the present situation
If the teachers who have not received
heir December salary, Supt. Stuart SUBJ
nitted a report showing causes for abb
'ence of 10 of the 200 instructors. One
hundred and twenty-five were for per-
'onal Illness. IS for visiting schools at the
direction of the board of education, for
at the boards order for
Urgent personal business 80 for death
n illness in the immediate family, and
on account of marriage.
GraduatiOns This Month.
Few students will be graduated from
Washington schools this month. The ex-
rcises probably will be held on the last
lay OF the month in the respective halls.
With Central graduating Is, Business q
two-year course), Mckinley 10 (four-year
ourSe). and Armstrong 4.
President Oyster appointed a commit
ee. composed Of Mrs. Mussey. Mr. Blair.
nd Mr.. Horner to take up consideration
t the twenty-five questions made out by
'upt. Stuart In regard to the pay roll
ystem. The committee met in executive
ession immediately after the close Of the
egular meeting, and will submit its re-
'ort at the next meeting of the board.
he report will accompany the question