The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1918-02-25

the question which probably more |
than any other haunts the waking
hours of the superintendent of
schools. That question with some of
you is: where in the world can l
find efficient teachers?" With others,
It has come to be: Where can 1 find
somebody who will keep SCHOOL,"
The question is an old one but it is
taking on a new aspect. Ten years
ago, in the remoter and more sparsely
settled regions of New England,
schools remained closed for weeks at
a time because nobody could be found
| to teach This winter have known
of schools in sections of Connecticut,
far from remote and thinly populated,
( which have had to wait until teach
ers could be found. For long time,
the rural superintendent has suffer-
ed while his brother in the city has
somewhat complacently called his
teachers away. Today, the city SUI
perintendent is losing out in competi-
ton with still larger cities, with COM
rnerciaI and industrial enterprises and
with war work. The public is likely
soon to find it's children unschooled
because there are no teachers, skilled
or unskilled, trained or unframed,
competent or incompetent who can be
found to keep the schoolrooms open.
But I" you say, this is simply a
war condition which will pass with
the war" There is everywhere
shortage of labor, and this is merely
a part of the general shortage" 1--WE
must face the situation and find ex-
pedients to tide us over this period of
extraordinary stress"
Expedients we must undoubtedly
find, If expedients there are, but it
will be a sad failure if we as a people
Il don't mean you and l as school,
men but all the people of this state
and the other states) prove unable
to see the real situation and face the
issue.
The truth is, as 1 shall abundantly
show, and as you schoolmen doubt
less realize, this present shortage is
simply one of the many breakdowns
which the unusual stress of warfare
has brought about in social and po-
liticaI machinery which was worn out
and obsolete before the war and
lapsed anyway. The war merely
fastened the inevitable.
The man-fashion answer to the
question is "Pay adequate salaries
and scrap your obsolete machinery"
Higher Salaries Required.
For a long time, everybody has
recognized that teachers ought to be
paid more than they are paid, and
salaries have been increased. Boards
of education have timidly formulated
schedules which they thought the
appropriating bodies might stand, the
appropriations have been passed here
and there. but in the end 10 pei
cent or 20 per cent. increase has
been forthcoming. That is all over
I We must make up~our minds, not tc
{ 10 per cent. nor 20, nor SO per cent.
but to~two or three times the salary
scale we are now paying. And ther
we must exact as we shall be able tC
exact proper qualifications for per
sons who assume to teach the chill
dren of the state.
Let us see what has been happen
ing.
In 1855, Sc per cent of the teach
ers of the state were men. In 1
years this had fallen to 80 per cent.
in 20 years more to 10 per cent; il
another 20" to per cent.
At the present time, the percentag
of men teachers in Connecticut
less than per cent, and most o
these~men.are in administrative posi-
lions. And such is the history @
most of the states. None like it eX
lists anywhere among the great power
of Western Europe.
Now, the significant thing is, nc
that men gave place to women, bu
that women replaced men becaus
they could and would work cheape
AS soon as you once employ a woma
because she is less expensive than
man. you inevitably begin to emplo
younger and inferior women becaus
they will drive out in competition fC
a place which has substantially n
qualification bars, more mature an
superior women.
BY the beginning of the preseI
century, we had reached stag
where, outside of a few of the large
cities, practically all the teacher
were young girls, inexperienced an
with no permanent interest in teacl
ing. Today the sudden great increa:
in the number of well-paid position
commerce and the industries, h;
ushered in period in which it
S'~ difficult to secure anybody to teac
at the salaries paid.
In other words, we have reacht
the dropping-off place. Sooner
later-we should have reached it an
way.
Salaries Compared.
Let us compare women teacher
salaries in the state of Connectic
with salaries paid to other wom
workers Men teachers don't cou
especially at 50 or $40 per week.
Using the last figures obtainab
those for the last school year, I fl
that the range of teachers salari
in the state is from $S5 a month
$79 a month. Averages for towns a.
cities are used. OF course there we
individual salaries less than SIS a
greater than S79. The most comm
salary was $50 per month and
bulk Of the towns and cities we
paying less than $5S per monta.
the typical teacher was receiving l;
year an annual income of rather Il
than $500.
Miss Charlotte Holloway of t
Bureau of Labor has very kindly fl
nished me with information regardi
present salaries of women, who"
Miss Holloway states. "some years q
would undoubtedly have been in I
teaching ranks"
Yearly inco
Stenographcrs ....-.$ 500 to ST.;
Bookkeepers c..... 500 to l.:
CJerks in deD2rtment