New Britain herald., 1919-12-18
The Teachers Drive.
(Now York Times.)

tNeW York Tmes.)
 iNo less than the university profes. sor the teacher in grammar or high school is pinched by the cost Of liv
 ing; but the means of redress have not hitherto been obvious. Graduates of our colleges have a. warm spot in their hearts for the alma mater, and not a few of them are able to con-, tribute hberaliys but graduates of public schools are less given to "pa- triotic" reunion and song; and though they were ever 50 libGrally disposed they do not assess as high in worldly goods From the point of view of public policy, however the school is even more vital than the university
 The injustice of the present school salaries is fragrant. Much publicity has been given to the fact that at Har- ward an instructor receives less than a motorman, that at Yale he receives less than the furnace men lately de- manded. But consider this cxperi- ence of certain grammar school teacher. She has the difficult task of coaching mental defectives. One day she met in the street a boy who, in spit of her best efforts, had three times failed to pass out of the sev- enth grade. EIe wore a silk shirt and an ulster with belt. On inquiring how he was getting on, his former and baffled teacher found that he had become day laborer and was receiv- ing pay that fell only few dollars yearly short of what she was receiv- ing.
 Is it strange that the profession is deteriorating Before the war, to be a teacher required sn expensive train- ing and enough ability to pass a com petitive examination. Today the conl- petition of commercial life has so thinned the ranks that emergency licenses are issued to applicants of far less than the former equpme ent; and yet, according to d report from the National Education asso citation, the number of children who are de- ned schooling for the lack of teach CTS is rapidly rising toward the num- Der of one million. In the current campaign for the Americanization of foreigners the method most widely urged Is education in our history. Among the items of information i'm parted will the fact be included that our own children are denied educa- ton?
 A promising ay out Of tie difficult ty has been found by the teachers of Worcester, Mass. They presented their case in 8 series of bulletins filled with statistics. Tn many states there Is a minimum wage, covering all kinds of work of S1,000 a year; but the minimum wage of the teachers of Worcester is s675. Since 1913 the cost of living has doubled, and even in 1913 it had already advanced alarmingly. But since 1872 the salary of the principal of the Worcester High school had risen only 6 23 per. cent.--from $3000 to $3,20O. spe- cial arRuErent was addressed to the voters of the city in the fact that dur ing the same period of forty-six years they had in creaS ed the salary of their mayor 233 per cent. It was further shown that the tax rate in Worcester was notably lower than in neighb boring New England cities. This propaganda was brought before the graduates of the schools--name the voters of Worcester. Though the available time was limited 17,000 out Of 2S.9a3 vot- CTS signed the petition.
 This story is told in School Life, the official organ of the Bureau of Education at Washington, and with an implication for other cities that Is obvious. The alumni of our public schools are the American people. They are more fortunate than the alumni of our most deeply gilded univ crsitics. for they do not have to sign ch eclls for thoir contributions to tile drive: they can vote them.