The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-12-22
R. |. HEWITT MAKES STATEMENT ABOUT TEACHERS SALARIES
Teachers Are Paid as Near ly on Time as Possible Under the Law, States
 Clerk of Board

The amount of time that it takes to examine the reports of the teachers of the public schools of the county rela- tive to their monthly pay. together with irregularity of the mails, and several other causes of delay were submitted to the county board of education yes- terday by R. C. Hewitt, chief clerk in the office of the board
 The report was made by MT. Hewitt at the request of the board, on account of the criticism directed against it in the matter of the alleged delay of the teachers pay.
 MT. Hewitts statement follows:
 '"The law governing your action in the matter of paying teachers and oth- CTS of your employees is found in Sec tion 22 of Article of the new code of school laws and published on pages 2e and 27 of the pamphlet school laws, and reads as follows:
 The county superintendent of edu- cation at the end of each scholastic month following the date fixed for the opening of the schools in the county according to Section Is. Article of this act shall prepare his pay roll covering the amounts due such teachers and oth- CT employees of the county board of edu- cation as are not employed by the cal endar month -------. No teacher shall be entitled to receive payment for services unless all the current records tof the school have been kept with care and accuracy. and no teacher or other employe of the board shall be entitled to receive payment for services unless all records required by the county board of education have been properly made and submitted
 REQUIREMENTS OF LAW
 "The first part of this section pro- vides the method of payment and the second part defines what teachers must do to be entitled to payment It is clear, therefore, that before the county superintendent can place the name of a teacher on the pay roll he must know that the requirement of the law as to keeping records has been complied with Among these requirements is teacher s monthly report upon which a great many items are shown--too many to be enumerated here. It is my duty to ex- anime these reports and to advise the county superintendent of such errors as may find To do this requires from two or three days steady work; after all the reports have been examined. the names of teachers on such of them as are found to be correct are placed on the pay rolls. To make the pay roll check 1t over, add and recapitulate by districts require from one to two days. The pay roll is then passed over to the treasurer of school funds who pre- pares his checks for making payments The time required for this the treasurer informs me and confirms same by let ter is four days
 Mir. Hewitt stated yesterday that his office was not responsible for the all legged delay in paying the teachers sal aries and cited as an example the third Der 5.
 { DELAYED REPORTS
 On Friday morning, December 12. 21 reports had not been filed, among thes the report of the school in which one of our critics teaches The last four reports reached the office on the 16tt of December. This delay in compiling reports is not altogether the fault of the teachers, but lies in the irregularity af the mails and often in the difficulty of finding trustee sto approve the re- ports. But even were it possible for all these reports to reach this office by Saturday afternoon following the close of the school month, 1t would be ? physical impossibility to get ready to pay the teachers much earlier than two weeks from the close of the school
 'The county board is now, and so far as recall. has never been three. much less seven, weeks behind in paying teachers, but upon the other hand. the teachers are paid as nearly up to tho time their salaries are due as is> DOS sible under the law.
 ''The institute week is not a part al the school term" stated Mir Hewitt land no teacher has legal right te claim payment for attendance No in. \ stitute has been held in Jefferson coun. Nty for the current year. but one was { held during last September, under tho { act of 1915, which provides that the county board may pay teachers for in. stitute attendance. Our county board instructed the county superintendent te ray the teachers one-half salary abou the middle of the term provided the, had kept their contracts. This has beer done and the teachers have this amount added to their checks which were pay able on Saturday, the 20th.'