Roanoke Rapids herald. [volume] (Roanoke Rapids, N.C.) 1914-192?, 1918-01-18
AN APPEAL FOR BIGGER
SALARIES FOR TEACHERS

. adequate to meet the greatly in
creased cost of living in thes
war times. Many teachers -
perhaps a majority of them =
find their presnt salaries insult
ficient to meet their actual ex
penses Of living. In many instan
ces teachers are paid $4,000 PEE
month for not more than five o.
six months a year, and are pay
ing $4,000 per month, or more
for board alone. The average
annual salary for white teacher.
in North Carolina in 1916 was
$685. 62. While the salaries have
been increased slightly during
the present year, the small in,
crease has not been at all in pro.
portion to the great increase in
their living expenses, nor in pro
portion to the increase made in
other lines of work in the State
and Nation. Many of the young
men, especially. at the High
Schools, have been drafted for
service in the army; many of the
women teachers, or account of
increasd demand and increased
compensation in other lines of
work, and many on account Of
their absolute inability TO meet
actual living expenses on the sal
aries offered for teaching, have
been forced to leave the profes-
sion. The result is that there is a
great derth of teachers in North
Carolina. The demand for teach
ers is greater than the supply.
Many schools have not yet been
able to secure teachers. 1t seems
likely that many will not be able
to secure them and will be COM
PEELED either to be closed for lack
of teachers or to employ untrain-
ed or inefficient teachers.
Realizing the seriousness of
this situation, the North Caro-
lima Teachers Assembly, at its
recent meeting in Charlotte,
passed strong resolutions calling
attention to the necessity for in
creased salaries of teachers. At
the same session of the Assembly,
the Department of School Boards,
attended by sixty representa-
tives of county and city boards of
education and the State Associ-
alton of County Suberintendents,
devoted much time to the serious
discussion of this situation, and
passed strong resolutions urging
the increase of funds and increase
of salaries for meeting the
situation. Committees were ap-
pointed to cooperate with the
State Department of Education
in waging a campaign in devils
ing ways and means for increas-
ing schools funds and increasing
the salaries of teachers with a
view to relieving this serious
situation and thereby preventing
a serious interruption of the
work of the schools and serious
injury to the efficiency of the
educational work and of the
teaching profession in the State.
A conference with these COM
mittees, including the Executive
Committee of the Teachers AS
sembly, will be called by the
State Superintendent of Public
Instruction on the 18th day of
January to formulate plans and
inaugurate a statewide campaign
for increasing school funds and
teachers salaries for relieving
this serious situation. The follow
ing means for increasing school
funds and salaries are available
by the people under the law:
/. BY voting special county
wide taxes for schools under
Chapter II of the Public Laws
of 1911 and by voting special
townshiptaxesf for maintenanceof
township high schools under Sec
ton Alb of the Public School
Law.
2. By increasing the number
of special tax school districts and
voting therin special tax for the
maintenanceof hedistrict schools
under Section Ais of the Public
School law and by increasing the
special tax for schools in special
tax districts heretofore estab-
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