Arizona republican., 1917-01-29


 the employment of teachers of unblem-
 ished character and unquestioned
 ability.
 To one who knows the number and
 character of our public school teachers,
 this sounds easy; but to one who un-
 derstands the years of preparation re- quired to fit one for the teaching pro- fession, the i'll paid and arduous toll
 involved in teaching. the uncertain
 tenure of office, it sounds impossible. Under present conditions in this coun- tyr the teaching profession is un-
 profitable and unpleasant if not posi- lively repellant to noble, high minded | teachers
 Within twenty years salaries have
 increased very materially; but they
 are still far from satisfactory The 1 report of the United States commits sioner of education for 1911-1912 shows
 that the average salary paid women
 teachers in our public schools for that
 year was $467.51 and men teachers
 S624.71 or $5461l as an average sal
 ary. This means $4551 for each of
 the twelve months in the year, or | $68.06 for each of the 7.9 months
 which constituted the average school year.
 Think of it! We pay blacksmiths more for mailing shoes on our horses
 feet than we do teachers for putting l ideas in our children's heads. We pay stone masOns more for laying the foun- dations of our blocks, bricklayers more for building upon those foundations, and bod carriers more for carrying up
 the bick and mortar than we do our
 teachers for laying the foundation for
 the future greatness of this republic, building upon that foundation char
 acters that shall make sure our future
 glory, and performing the brain de-
 stroying, nerve wrecking, heart gall
 ing work of climbing up and down the
 educational ladder at the beck and call
 of ungrateful and unruly pupils and
 of ungracious and fault finding par
 ents. God pity us and save us from
 our folly. So long as we are willing
 to pay three times as much for the
 building up of our blocks as for the
 building up of our boys; so long as we care more for the laying of cement than for the laying of character, so long shall we find it impossible to se- cure an adequate number of noble and , competen teachers, to undertake the training and development of the future citizens of a country that is so wealthy that it can afford to pay munificient- ly, and so great that it ought to be ashamed of itself for paying so miserly.
 [ When to the low salaries are added l the long years of laborious and expen- sive preparation for teaching, the long t years of arduous and nerve wrecking r work before the teacher and the daily t dread of being removed at the end of p the year. to give place to some friend = of some member of the board or tC T some one who has a political pull, il I must be admitted that the task of se- s curing the kind of teachers we need is = not an easy one The remedy lies ir = removing our public schools entirely f from political control; giving every y teacher a fair trial and due notice be- { fore dropping her; authorizing them tC r enforce discipline in the school room = honoring them for their noble calling 1 and paying them salaries that ar, s commensurate with their work anC | worth.
 0 The final step in the solution of oul = educational problem-and it is thu = most important one-is the introduc f tion of specific moral teaching in tho l, public schools. 1 am aware of the fac { that in approaching this question l an
 walking upon the thin crust that ha! V O 1 shall neither draw back nor wall n carefully. l shall state my convictions n positively, although cOurteously. e There are three distinct opinions or e this subject. Perhaps the majority O - Christians hold that the state is los h unless it teach morality in the publi d schos and insist that morality canno l. be taught without teaching religion a ,- its basis. Going step farther ar = most Roman Catholics and some An d glicans who believe that morality can l. not be taught without giving the de v finite religious teachings of Christian c ity,-which in most cases means tn {, brand of Christianity put out by thei h. respective churches. Opposed to bot l. Of these positions stand those who de le clare that the public schools shoul d have. and must have. nothing to do di V rectiy with religion; that to teach re a ligion in the public schools is to out n rage the feelings and violate the right 1t of certain classes of our citizens, an IS ultimately to disrupt the public school ,- themselves and endanger the perpetu If ity of the nation, thus reaching a 70 length the antipode of what was de 1f sired.
 ir Reluctantly-because of the unpopu n larity of my position-yet unhesitat 1t ingly-because l believe in the right 10 eousness of the cause-I step out ava i'd from the two former classes and en 5; roll myself with the last Commo re sense and the constitution of tn re United States impel me to this actiol lg During our entire history there ha a- been complete separation of churc of and state, and the consequences 32 other countries of the union of churc 3; and state have been so dire as to lea Id me to wish most devoutly that We ma ,h never seek to make the union of tn
 two closer than it has been in the pas at I have not the slightest sympathy wit ol those who are seeking to secure a S. amendment to the constitution Of tn is country, declaring that this is Chris ne tian nation, or with any others VII l- would marry church and state. TIT m two have quarreed so constantly 1e countries where they have been weC ne ded. and are so opposite in temper an SC method, that I can SC no justificatio le for their union in this nation. l woul ce therefore prohibit their courting Id the public schools, as they would n- doing if religion were taught there. or If it be insisted that religion nut is be taught in the public schools, I ask or Whose religion shall be taught? us Utah the Mormons outnumber u or Gentiles in almost every school distric ed As a Gentle do you have the courai of of your convictions and dare you i'll say that the Mormons should ha' ye the privilege of teaching their rel ,le zion in the public schools of Utah?