The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1917-12-15
LETTERS FROM THE PEOPLE.
The Chief is not responsible for
views expressed by correspondents.
Reply TO Taxpayer

|
Donaldsonville, La, Dec. II, 1917
! Editor Chief:
There appeared in your last issue
of Saturday, Dec. s; letter by a
Taxpayer relative to teachers sal
aries. A few brief facts in reply te
| the letter may convince Taxpayer
| that his views are not in accord with
| the bare facts of the teaching profes-
sion. wish to say at the outset that
| it is, not my purpose to enter into an
endless argument in regard to this
issue, for the very same question has
too often been discussed. !
f. I will pass lightly over the wei!
dressed" and "short hours" part OF
the letter. There are very few well
dressed teachers, and those that are
do not depend entirely on their In
comes from the teaching profession.
I wish to state with great emphasis
that there are no such teachers in the
teaching profession who work only
from o'clock in the morning until a
o'clock in the afternoon. The class
room work of teacher is only half
of her duties; the other half is spent
at home, at night, in preparation OF
the next days work.
I come now to the question OF
salary and the vital part of ''Taxpay-
er's" letter. Since Taxpayer" is
from the parish of Ascension shall
quote statistics from my annual re-
port to State Supt. T. Fl. Harris for
the session 1861. This report is
in my Office and is open to inspection.
Teachers salaries for the session
1867 amounted to S31, 090.88. The
annual average salary of the male
teacher was $699.3O, that of the fe-
male teacher $476.30. I take it that
Taxpayer is fair minded and will
grant that a teacher must live 365
days in the year and therefore his
income must be tcalculated by the
year. Dividing the salaries by II,
the monthly average earning of the
male teacher was $58.25, and the
monthly average earning of the fe-
male teacher 5000; or $1.94 and
$1.32 per day, respectively.
Board and lodging in the parish of
Ascension averages closely to $21 per
month, ranging from $3.50 to $25
per month, exclusive of laundry bill.
Figuring the laundry bill at So per
month, this leaves balance of $25.-
rs for the male teacher and $16.69
for the female teacher.
With this balance she must dress,
not. we'll, but neatly. must save
enough to attend the summer normal
schools; pay the expenses incurred by
participating in the parish Institutes
and while travelling to and from her
home; defray her doctors bills, and
put little aside for the proverbial
rainy day. 551,'t a@=
The above is not theory but the
bare facts of the teaching profession,
backed by actual figures open to the
inspection of the public Supt. T. II.
Harris states there will be stampede
| of teachers to other professions. The
stampede has already started, as there
are at present in the state over 800
vacant class-rooms. have experience
ed in this parish considerable trouble
in filling my schools, having, had to
appeal to married Womensto fill some
of, my vacancies. 9g,s 10 a4gas. =!
/. Let me state in, conclusion that the
Office of a teacher is as important as
that of the lawyer, doctor, politician,
or any other profession, requiring
college training of from two and
half to four years. The standard is
being raised yearly, requiring all
teachers to pursue further at the
summer schools their professional
H. r. BRoUssARD, supt. I