The Medina sentinel. [volume] (Medina, Ohio) 1888-1961, 1919-08-15
! COUNTY SCHOOL NOTES !
THE SCHOOL TEACHERS OF THE
= UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

y, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
It is strange that the generous
hearted Amerian people, who poured
out their riches so prodigally in re-
sponse to every patriotic, every char
liable appeal, and who accorded such
enthusiastic and liberal support to
every measure and to every group
that helped win the war, should have
neglected to properly encourage and
reward the services of one of the
noblest professions in the field Of hu-
man Activities profession that in
lofty ideals, in unselfsh principles, in
sacred responsibilities, 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 granted
to us, some measure of consideration
for the foster-fathers and mothers Of
our children-the school teachers of
the United States of America.
There is no class of workers of
which 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 though they were their
very own, to drill them in the arts Of
sciences, to train them for business
and for citizenship, to instruct them
in manners 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 burden and responsibility
with such willingness as these conse-
Grated men and women. No class has
performed their increasingly heavy
tasks more devoutedly, more con-
scientiously, and with less thought of
self. No class served their country
more intellectually, more Loyalty,
during the trying and tempestuous
times of war, day by day pursuing
their round of duty, day by day help
ing the young people, and through
the children the parents, to see the
struggle in it's 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 we'll this
republic would not outlast the span of
a generation.
What then have the teachers re-
ceived at our hands in return? They
have received little of honor and
somewhat less Of pay Other classes
have prospered; other classes through
powerful organizations have secured
generous wages. The teachers have
no spokesman, however, to demand
even the simple justice of a living
wage, so to them we give their petty
pre-War pittance, so meager, so pitt
fully inadequate, that it places a
burning brand of shame and disgrace
upon this nation.
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 to the scrub
women employed in the public build
ings of the United States Government.
Normal school graduates receive less
salary than street sweepers; high
school principals and superintendents
less than section foremen; country
school teachers less for instructing
the farmers children than he pays his
hired man to feed his hogs.
In a certain town of Illinois, for
instance, the average wages of fifteen
miners for one month was $217, while
the average monthly salary of fifteen
teachers in the same town was $55. In
another town a miner, who, by the
way, was an enemy alien drew more
than $2,700 last year, while the sal
airy of the high school principal in the
same town was $765. We welcome
with all our hearts the long-belated
recognition that is being 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 with
immature women who merely use the
profession as stepping stone to
something higher. No wonder there
are thirty thousand teachers in the
United States who have had no school
ing beyond the eighth grammar
grade. Small wonder, indeed, that
seven million of our school-childrer
are being trained by teachers, mere
boys and girls themselves, who have
had no professional education what
ever.
When we consider that the 740,00(
teachers of America are paid al
> average SALARY vf- 89ss seaa3 wien
moreover, we consider the fact tina
living costs have actually advanced
103 per cent since the beginning o.
the war, thereby cutting the buying
power of these significant salarie
in half, we can G silly determine tina
only fool or a martyr would choos'
teaching as a profession, or woul'
long remain in it unless these terrible
conditions were swiftly remedied.
What crime is this! What an in