The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-08-01
For the Good of
 the Community

sue poLuS TOT Ine purpose Of erecting a high school building and one or two graded school buildings, an auditorium !, and other improvements.
 Birmingham needs all of these. The crowded condition of the schools seri- ously hampers the work of the superin- tendent and the teachers. They lack equipment; they lack room, and they lack several other things that would make for better work in the schools
 The percentage of illiteracy among the white people of Alabama is high, not higher than some other statessas has er- roneously been spread broadcast, but it is too high. It is about 9 per cent of the men, women and children, seven years of age and over The percentage of Hitter acy among the negroes is much higher.
 In Birmingham the percentage of il- literacy is considerably under the aver age in the state, but it is higher than in a great many cities There should be no illiteracy in the state, and especially should there be none in growing, pro- gressive city like Birmingham
 Preparations have been made for in- stalling vocational education depart ment of the city schools. This is as it should be. This is an industrial com munity. A large per cent of the popula- tion is engaged in work that requires more or less training and skill The boys that are now coming on some day will have to take their places. They should be prepared for that day. They should not be required to go into shop or an office or mill or factory to take up the work of some other person without first having received some training that fits them for it.
 If they do not get the training as boys in school they will have to undergo per- iod of apprenticeship in the shops, the of fices, the factories and the mills.
 The city is undertaking to equip the boys and the girls for life work. Having undertaken this it is the duty of the city to give them such instruction as will pro- perly fit them for the work. The voca- tional education school will do this.
 Not only is the vocational education school necessity but the high school and the graded schools are the very life of the city. They should be the equal of any schools of like character in the country, and they will be if adequately supported by the citizens.
 It takes money to run the schools just as 1t takes money to run anything else that is worth while Buildings are expensive, equipment is expensive and teachers should be expensive.
 < Although teachers in the Birmingham schools are better paid than those in most of the schools of the state, they are not paid enough. After spending ten or fif- teen years in preparation for teaching it is not very encouraging to be told that the best salary that can be hoped for is not over S150 month for about nine months in the year, and that to be had only after several years of climbing. Very few of the teachers in the Birmingham schools re- ceive as much as $150 month and those that do are specially trained for special work
 The auditorium is needed. Scarcely a city in the United States of half the popu- lation of Birmingham but has it's audi torium Some of them are small, but they afford place for the citizens to meet and discuss community matters, and are avail able when convention with large at tendance comes along
 Birmingham has debt of about $9,000,00O. That is not much considering the wealth of the city, its of growth and the prospects for the future
 A city is like an individual or a corporation. It cannot prOSDer and prOW on a cash basis The