Newark post., 1919-10-01
Pay Your Teachers
for the Sake of
Your Children y

piiia ieadlng newspapers
preached last Children's Day an elo-
quent sermon, part of which follows.
IL Is an alarming fact that the en-
rollment in the normal schools in this
state this year is so per cent below
the average. 1t is a dangerous fact
Vhat scores of school boards todav are
appointing as teachers for next wear
young men and women who arc MT
half qualified, either by learning. Or
experience.
Yet we live in an age which nrides
itself on having uplifted the child, We
i've IN country which boasts of its
nigh ideals and its moral and spiritual
leadership! We live at a time when
the church sets apart one Sunday for
special consideration of childrenl
Are we going to sit back and CON-
tent ourselves by listening to sweet
words said to them? Are we goino to
sausfy our conscience with singing
hymns that tell about the patter of
little feet in the golden streets of the
hereafter? Are We going to weave
beautiful word picturs around the old
otd stories, or are we gong to put on
the whole armor of God and go out to
hght for the inherent rights of these
ooys and girls as those right are en-
dangered at this very hour?
We have helped to win a war for
freedom and righteousness. We have
given the lives of our men without
complaint and poured out our money
without stint. Billion after billion
has freely been given to provide and
supply an army that would assist in
putting down an attempt to rob US Of
all the past has given US. Even when
we knew that much of this money was
being misspent, we carried on.
And here we stand today. facing
the one army that can. be of assist
ance in holding what has been gained
and we say to these 2O0OO,OOO chill
dren whose praises we are singing
and for whom we are praying: eve
cannot afford to pay the few millions
that are needed to give your teachers
& living wage. We appreciate those
teachers, of course. They are doing
"a noble work. They are fine set of
men and women, But they must try
to get along some way or other. for
with all our other expenses we cannot
afford to pay them living wage."
Mark you, | say we say this to
the children. We may think We say
it to the teachers, but the fact is, we
say it to the children-to our child
ren, to the children of America. And
when We say it to them we say it to
the United States of America tomor-
row!
We cannot afford to keep our coun-
try high-minded and efficient! We
cannot afford to keep her free from
Bolshevism and anarchy and the dry
rot of arrested imagination. We can
not afford to pay for the best guild
ance, to wall out ignorance, to build |
up the kind of character that is de- |
veloped by men and women trained |
for the holy profession of teaching!
Already our blindness MAS done |.
damage which only years can repair.
Already we have lost more than we .
can regain in a decade, however swift |
our awakening to this mightiest need !
of the nation. And still we are |
Gawdling and haggling and trying to
justify ourselves by claiming that we
are too poor to do as much for the
teachers as we would like to!
Haven't we eyes to see that it's
not the teachers for whom we would
be giving, but the children?
Heven't we sense to know that the
maintenance of the standard of teach
ing is the maintenance of our national
ideals; that we will fall hopelessly
behind unless we quickly strengthen !
our teaching forces; that We will send
out armies of young folk undeveloped
mentally and spiritually and unfit to
cope with the great problems of the
day that will be theirs to glorify or
disgrace?
Do not mistake this for the mouth
ings of an alarmist. Doubt it! Ques-
ton it! Go to the bureau of education
at Washington and ask for the facts.
Go to any school board and ask for
the facts! Write to all the normal
schools in the nation and ask for the
facts!
ArmIaint Yourselves with these