Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1919-02-07
Minimum WAGE BILL
FOR TEACHERS SIS
FATHEREO BY HOUSE
Mrs. Thompson introduced
Law To Increase Peda-
gogues Wages.

School teachers in Oregon scored a
great victory tins morning in the house
of rel rtscntatives when it passed al
most un. nimously the bill of Mrs. Alex
ander Thompson providing a minimum
salary Of SIS month. As schools are
he'd eislA months or more of the year
in cvev dis rict, even the teacher N
the far distant rural district is now
assured of at least 5000 a year.
Two years ago Mrs. Thompson had
written in the laws of Oregon bill
providing that instead of six months
as the minimum school, eight months
should be the minimum And today,
she went one better for the educational
interests of the state by securing the
support of the house of her bill making
$75 a month the minimum wage.
In her address in support Of her biz,
Mrs. Thompson said: "While you have
been trying to elevate the standards Of
teaching you have never offered to
raise the teachers salary. Teaching
has been a notoriously under paid pro.
fession We have always been mig
gardly in paying those to. whom wo
trust our children. America last year
spent twice as much for showing gum az
it did for its teachers and it invested
more money in automobiles than it did
in salaries for primary and intermediate
teachers.
Relative Expenses.
"Tho schools of Marion county IN
1914-15 paid its teachers in the on;
and two room schools, an average Of
$58.18 month. Now it is paying 1T
average of $64.7S. The average pGce
Of board five years ago to the tcacne.
ws $3.50, Now it is $25.3S.
| -" In Polk county five years ago tho
average salary of a teacher was $63,Ca
Now it is 1860. In Union county five
yers ago the teacher in the one and two
room schools got on an average $So.o7
a month. Now the figure is 500. a
month. In that county Five years ago
board averaged $ls.l5 month while
now it is $2759.
In Lane county for the years 1916
II the teacher was paid on an average
$58 while now it is $63. In LaGrande
for the school year of 1913-14 the teach
Or was paid an average of $72.23 while
now it is $84.52. Living five years
ago at LaGrande cost $22.5O month
while to-day the average is 1876.
"During the past five years the la
boring man has increased his salary 40
per cent, due to his labor organizations
while the school teacher hs been in
creased only s per cent. cannot un-
derstand why we in Oregon should pay
school teacher less than man snow
cling dirt at $4 day."
BY the time Mrs. Thompson had
closed her address and presented her
figures, there was general scramble
to get in the band wagon and vote for
the bill. Smith Of Baker, one Of the
spell got in first. "Where the
sun shines 800 days in the year and the
moss is not allowed to grow on our
backs, we are doing well for the school
teacher" exclaimed Mr.. Smith. Mr..
Elmore of Brownsville didn't liaS the
insinuation Of being moss back and
he referred to Methodist history and
Willamette university to prove there
was no such thing as o moss back in
the Willamette valley.
Gallagher, the cyclone from Malheur
county, was the second to climb in the
band wagon, speaking for increased sal
aries, Hhe sid he often talked to Par.
ent Teachers association" Do you want
underpaid girls who cannot go into the
business world to make living by
teaching your country schools?"
/ AS no one attempted to answer the
question Speaker Jones ordered rol
call. In favor of the bill 40 votes were
recorded and as far as her personal cf
forts arc concerned in the house the
most important bill Mrs. Thompson has
introduced received it's approval.