Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1918-09-18
ENGLISH WOMEN TEACHERS
DISCONTINUED WITH PAY
cicty, Agitating for Change
Of System.
UNHAPPY STATE OF AFFAIRS
Educational Boards May BE Com
posed OF Butcher, Baker and Cam
dicstick Maker-lnSpcctOrs Are
"liighbrOws."
ny H,LDA Il CuMtNCS.

by H;LDA A. CUMMINGS.
LONDON, September i7.--Discontent
is rife amongst women teachers in the
eiementarIy schools Of Ensiand and
complaint is the common one--that OF
inadequacy of pay for skilled and
irdOOS labor.
\ girl leaving college at the age OF
twenty-one. having passed her exami-
nations that have cntailed training
work as teacher in primary school
in London at a salary of $40 per an
mum and at the age OF forty-hve. if
as an assis tant mistress something be-
tween 800 and $500 per annum.
In re-war days, these figures rep
the present moment when their buying
power has decreased TO less than half.
aud in view of this fact, the teachers
make ENDS meet under the existing
salary scheme appears perhaps not ex-
aggerated.
Thousands united under one society
the National Federation OF Women
Teachers are agitating for change.
They claim to have used every con-
10 gain redress and since the authori-
ties showed no disposition 10 meet or
forced to resort to more violent
method. and II no settlement were
reached to go out as body "on strike"
But at tho last moment the London
County Council climbed down and
granted "a war bonus of 1915 n week.
II is an unhappy state of affairs and
Of the ill-paid is conclusive. But the
demand of these women for living
wage is hardly warranted. for few
could deny the receiving of this. There
is also the other side of the question
the moral side-which cannot be
ignored in this circumstance We ask
almost involuntarily whether those
whose care is the children Of the land
should for matter of money and in
time Of war throw aside e., their their, duty y
c!amor for satisfaction on purely selfish
grounds. 1t rather points to the fact
snbsaiarY to the desire es for gain and
most certainly II suggests the need for
reform not only in salary schemes but
would leave It so reconstructed as 10
make Impossible such an arrival as
the recent deadlock.
FIRST LINE OF DEFENSE
DECLARED EDUCATION.
The frs, line OF defense is--educa-
ton. These were the words Inscribed
on one of the banners carried by the
members of the National Federation Of
held by them in Trafalgar Square,
London. when :hcy met to signify their
intention of striking. If the authori-
ties refused To attend to their COM
plaint-and though their action at tho
moment made their interest in their
W%'Ghw9ra arpsar E@mSw dsny doubt
Yet results go TO prove the equally
true. but lamentable fact of the tnef-
ficiency OF England's first line OF de-
tense"
The merits and faults Of the schools
Of the rich may be left out Of discus
sion. 1t is the peoples schools with
are concerned and in which az these
events in Londons great square go 10
show. there Is lack Of that spirit of
cooperation which alone can bring
success.
one reason is easy to find. There is
no sympathy between governors ana
soverned-that is between the eeduea-
lion committees i'll whose hands the
general MANAGEMENT OF the schools lies
and the teaching staffs who have 10
carry out their rules. The members of
the council of the borough or town III
which they live and are elected 10
their position as school managers by
their colleagues for no better reason
than that they are not more unsuitable
10 the post than those left outside the
voting. The local board of school man.
ayers may be formed OF the butcher.
the baker and the candlestick maker"
each excellent in his own business. but
in no sense can it be generally said
that they have studied the art OF the
with teachers or children. In consid-
ering the letter they are glad that
circumstances have made them fathers
or uncles who only see certain of the
younger generation on occasions and
seldom when they are troublesome and
with regard 10 the teachers. they never
forget their working day, OF five and
one-half hours, their hve-day week and
their holidays. which in the Judgment
OF these rulers should compensate for
al that is not entirely satisfactory.
Nor are the relations existing be-
tween the teachers and His Majestys
inspectors more sympathetic. though
differing in kind Dividing these two
classes is the whole distance created
by higher education and environment.
The larger crcentagc of elementary
school teachers nowadays is drawn
from the ranks OF the upper standards
of the schools themselves. These girls
and fewer boys. by dint OF work and
some scholarship snupping. have passed
through the course prescribed BY the
Board OF Education to emerge from