New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1920-04-13
'Innca Gircfs'
Taxed Salaries.
Teacher Says
Sensational Charge Made
by Miss Edna M. Bryant
at Board of Estimate
Hearing ON Pay Increase
Asserts Levy Was 1 p. C..
Lockwood Donohue Bill
Denounced as Favoring
Higher Paid Positions

Miss Edna M. Bryant, president of
the Professional Elementary School
Teachers Association, Inc, made some
thing of sensation yesterday at the
hearing before the Board of Estimate
on the application of the Board Of
Education for an appropriation of
$6,300,000 to increase teachers salaries,
chiefly in the lower grades, when she
declared that teachers of all grades
in the public schools had been re-
quested to contribute one per cent of
their salaries toward fund in. support
of the Lockwood Donohue bill, now
pending before the Legislature.
Miss Bryant's testimony was brought
out by close questioning of the Mayor,
who enthusiastically favored the cause
of the elementary teachers throughout
the hearing. The Mayor stopped the
hearing long enough to have Secretary
Haag, of the board, look up the figures
for teachers salaries during the last
year and found that they amounted to
approximately $45,000,O00. This he
said would have meant fund of $780,
000 if the proponents Of the Lock-
wood-Donohue bill had collected one
per cent from all the teachers. The
Mayor denounced this bill as humbug
and fraud upon the teachers in the
lower grades.
Charges Intimidation
Miss Bryant said that she under
stood that the fund was to 90 to the
teachers associations supporting the
HI tN1l% hat
the association she represented, as it
was opposed to the bill She said that
not all of the elementary teachers had
contributed to the fund, but that many
of them had done so because they were
led to believe that they could not get
an increase in any other way than by
upholding the teachers in the upper
grades and supporting the bill. She
said she would leave it to the mem
bers of the board to judge whether the
collection Of such a fund had not.
amounted to intimidation and coercion
OF the elementary teachers.
What was done with the funds ?"
Major LaGuardia, President Of the
Board of Aldermen, asked the teacher.
Il can't tell you that" replied Miss
Bryant because l am not in the inner
circle"
Teachers representing the elementary
grades, as we'll as several principals
and teachers OF higher grades. ap-
peared to protest against the Lock
wood Donohue bill as discriminating
against the teachers in the lower
grades and to urge the board to grant
the appropriation asked by the Board
OF Education, $5,000,0O0 of which will
60 toward increasing the salaries of
the elementary grade teachers. Mayor
II Il !,
with the cause OF the lower grade
teachers and promised them that he
would vote for the appropriation pro
off," '''''N'
Craig Withdraws
Comptroller Craig, after announcing
mat he was opposed to the appropria-
TON IN view u the policy adopted. in
the face of objection, by the f,egisla. a..
ture, OF fixing the teachers salaries
,wlthdreW from the hearing. He said
ne thought moth ng should be done in
the matter at the present time, as the
action OF the Legislature on the bills
now pending might be different from
that expected by some members of the
board. The board held an executive
session PRIOR to the public hearing in
oroer to go over the schedules of in
cieases presented by Aiming S. Prall.
president OF the Board of Education.
Apparently there was no one present
at the hearing who was opposed 70 tho
Board of Education plan. althouoh
several teachers objected to certain
phases of the proposed schedules. Mr.
Frall stated that he had not invited
any one to attend the hearing to speak
IN favor of the appropriation. The
Mayor remarked that it could not be
charged that 1.-The old gang of agitators"
were present.