The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1919-05-23

i
out their riches so prodigally to- every
| patriotic, every charitable appeal
and liberal support of every measure
who accorded such an enthusiastic
and to every group that helped with
the war, should have neglected to
properly encourage and reward the
services of one of the noblcst pro.
fessions in the field of human activl'
| ties-a profession that in lofty ideals
in unselfish principles, in sacred re-
sponsibilities, stands side by side with
the ministry of the Gospel itself.
We wish to bespeak, with whatever
power and authority We may have
and with such words as may be grant
| ed to us. some measure of COnsidera-
tion for tthe foster-fathers and moth
|-ers OF our children-the school teach
ers of the United States of America
There's no class of workers OF
whom we demand so much. We com
nit into their keeping the minds, the
bodies, and the very souls Of our chill
dren in the tender and formative
years of their lives, and they, receiv.
/ ing these children, can indeed be said
to hold in the hollow of their hands
the future of America. We expect
these devoted men and women to
| watch over and care for our sons and
| daughters as tho they were their own,
to train them for business and for
to drill them in the arts and sciences,
| citizenship, to instruct them in man.
ners and in morals, to do for them
those things which we would do had
we the training and the leisure.
No class has assumed so heavy, SO
trying a burden and a responsibility
with such willingness as these conse-
Grated men and women. No class
has performed their Increasingly
heavy tasks more deveotedly, more
conscientiously, and with less thonght
! of self. No class served their coun-
| try more wholeheartedly, more loyal
| ly, during the trying and tempestu-
Gus times of war, day by day prusu.
/ ing their round of duty, day by day
helping the young people.and thrOug,
| the children the parents, to see the
struggle in its true light, thus secur-
ing the cooperation Of the community
! in every measure undertaken by the
government to win the war
Truly they have made the nation
| their everlasting debtor. Truly had
they not done their work so well this
would not outlast the span of y gen,
;eration.
What then have the teachers re-
ceived at our hands in return7 They
have received little honor and some
what less of pay. Other classes have
prospered; other classes through pow
erful organizations have secdred gen
erOus wages. The teachers have no
spokesman. however, to demand even
the simple justice Of a living wage,
so 10 them we give their petty prewar
pittance, SO meyer, SO pitifully mad
equate, that it places burning brand
of shame and disgrace upon the ma
ton.
The men and women who are max
ing the Americans of tomorrow are
being treated with less consideration
than the Janitors who sweep out the
buildings in which they are employed
they are earning on the average. less
than the wages given &c. the scrub
women empoyed in the public build
ings of the United States Govern
ment- Normalschool graduates re-
ceive less salary than street-sweepers
high-school principals and superinten-
dents less than section foremen
country teachers less for instructing
the farmers childen than he pays his.
hired man to feed his pigs.
In a certain town Of Illinois, for
instance. the average wages of fifteen
minors was $217, while the average
monthly salary of fifteen teachers in
the same town was $55. In another
towsl minor, who by-the-way, was
an enemy alien, drew more than $2,-
700 last year, while the salary Of the
high-school principal in the same
town was $765. We welcome the
long belated recognition that is be-
ing given to the man who works with
his hands. We believe that this same
wOrkingman will be the first to join
with us in asking better pay for those
who teach his children.
No wonder there are fifty Thousand
vacancies in the teaching forces of
the schools. No wonder the ranks
are being filled with weak men and
women who merely use the profess
sion as stepping-stone to something
better. No wonder there are thirty
thousand teachers in the Uuited
States who have had no schooling
beyond the eighth-grammar grade.
Small wonder, indeed, that seven mill
lion of our school-children are being
trained by teachers, mere boys and
girls themselves, who have had no
professional education whatever.
When we consider that the 740,-
900 teachers of America are paid an
average salary of $500 year; when
moreover, we consider the fact that
living costs have actually advanced
103 per cent. since the beginning of
the war, thereby cutting the buying
power of these insignificant salaries
in half we can eatsily determine that
only fool or a martyr would choose
teaching as a profession, or would
long remain in it unless these terrible
conditions were swiftly remedied.
What crime is thisi What an
indictment! What an objectionable
sin at. the doors of an enlightened
neonle who now find fhepnaelxes AT