The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-05-26
POORLY PAID TEACHERS

, mere boys and girls themselves, who ] have had no professional education what ever
 When we consider that the 740O0O teach CTS of America are paid an average sal ary of s630 year; when. moreover, we
 consider the fact that living costs have l actually advanced 103 per cent since the beginning of the war, thereby cutting 1 the buying power of these insignificant 1 salaries in half, we, can easily determine thnt only fool or a martyr would choose teaching as a profession, or would long remain in it unless these terrible con- ditions were swiftly remedied What crime is this! What an in- dictment! What an objectionable sin at 1 the doors of an enlightened people who
 now find themselves at the head and fore front of the democracies of the worldi | How can we better prepare for the great undertakings of reconstruction than by setting ourselves immediately to remedy l ing this perilous condition. In these try | ing and chaotic times when the world | is beset by unrest, by anarchy, by revo- | lution, by the devils brood of appalling evils that follow in the train of war, we must make sure that the foundations Of our republic are set a rock that it may stand against the flood.
 l The peace and security of the world of the future will be in the safe keep ing of the generation now in our schools. These boys and girls must knit up the ravel'd sleeve of civilization. Their hands must minister to the wounds or the nations. Their minds must meet and solve the difficult and crucial problems l that will be their inheritance. Their hearts must be so imbued with the hor- l TOTS of war and with the. poverty and an- guish that inevitably follow in it's wake that they in their time will enter upon
 it only as last resort in national self defense or in support of some great principle of humanity. 6s Never has there been a more urgent need for high minded, great-hearted
 splendidly. trained, 100 per cent American instructors to drive home the vital lessons
 that these times hold. Never has the future of the nation been so clearly com mitted into the hands of the teachers And yet thousands of men and women of ability who would prefer to teach are reluctantly leaving their chosen calling | forced by the hard necessities of their very existence.
 The teachers ask no largess at the hands of fortune. They enter their profession for service, not riches. But they invest years and money in preparation for their fife work and the knowledge they gain is shared with others who themselves use it to their own profit. Teachers then, by every right and in all justice expect return that will permit them and their dependents to live decently and in comfort.
 Literary Digest there are readers of fore sight, of vision, broad-minded men and thoughtful women who will say-nay, per- haps have long since seen-the critical and compelling importance of this prob lem We are directing this appeal to
 them. We urge them to compare the
 salaries of their teachers with the wages
 
 value. There, will be challenge in the facts that will stir the community to
 action.
 Let each community invest in schools
 so that it may thereby invest in a trained manhood and wonanhood that can play their part in the great period of rebuild ing and reconstruction that lies before
 us. Let each community set for Its goal, as far as is practicable, a mini
 mum wage of at least 5000 a year for the teachers of Amerioa. This would cost
 the nation perhaps as much as we spent so gloriously in but one week of the
 great war.
 We are not pleading merely for the
 welfare of some single profession; we are not pleading for a special class; we are pleading for America; for her larger,
 her brighter, her richer future, for the fulfillment of her glorious promise. We are pleading for coming race of men and women who shall be qualified to
 make complete the work of our forefA- thers who founded this nation and dedi- , cated it to liberty, and who will bring
 to full fruition the new victories that we have won in freedoms cause. We are , pleading for wider teaching of the principles. the purposes, and the ideals
 of this nation that all men shall know her meaning and shall have equal access
 to her opportunities; that the light Of l Americanism will so shine that it vii. , flood every hone, every heart. in our ,, great land. FA9~