Evening star., 1920-01-08
TEACHERS OF;C|TY
VOICE ACUTE NEED
Of |NCREASEDPAY
Board of Education Listens
to High School Teachers
and Others in Service.

In two moves yesterday afternoon
large groups of public school teachers
of the city wildly emphasized to the
board Of education their acute need
for substantial pay increases at once
Dr. John Van Schaick, jr. presl-
dent Of the board expressed in both
instances the hearty sympathy of the
governing body and said it was CO.
operating fully with leading civic or
sranizationS to secure from Congress
substantial relief for the teachers
A group of more than fifty man
teachers in the white high schools.
headed by Harry English, chief math-
ematicS Instructor, went before the
board. which was participating IN the
second meeting of the teachers coun-
Gil. and submitted a resolution Whlch
had been drawn up and adopted pH
man high school teachers IN mass
meeting an hour previously,
This resolution called upon the
hoard 10 submit TO Congress at once
a bill for an emergency appfoprla-
ton for teachers salaries 50 that each
teacher shall receive an increase in
salary equal to at least 40 per cent
Of the maximum salary Of the teach
erS class or group. The lncfeaS"
would be retroactive from July |. 1919.
and be in force until any regular re
classification is made of the salaries
District.
The second move was made by :, r.
Lucas. a teacher in the Business High
School who presented to the hoard at
its regular meeting petlton re-
ouesting immediate action for SUB
stantial emergency salary increase iof
ali teachers This bore the signatures
of 1929 teachers.
High School Petition.
I'm general the salaries or wages
of others. teachers and government
clerks excepted. have been steadily
increased to meet the increased cosc
of living" Mr. English said, as
spokesman for the high school
tea cherS.
since 1914 living expenses in the
District of Columbia have increased
over so per cent. and we must OBTAIN
more money. either within the system
or outside of it. ractically prohibited
as we are from earning additional
money from the federal government.
The increase asked. at the best,
will only enable us to pay our debts
which have been incurred during the
wears of high prices. during which
our salaries. always meager. have re-
mained stationary. The condition is
more desperate than is generally
known.
In presenting this resolution we
are merely asking that immediate anu
adequate salary relief be afforded
teachers in the same way as that af-
forded firemen and policemen.
while recognizing fully the re-
sponsibility of the board of education
to provide suitably for the education
of children of the District of Column
bia. and expressing our most sympa-
thetic feeling for the projects looking
toward its betterment. we most re-
spectfully submit that the one object
which tranScends all others for i'm
mediate accomplishment is that OF OBJ
tanning at once salaries which Will
enable those teachers to live who
have made it possible for the public
schools of the District of Columbia to
exist So far as the teachers per-
sonally are concerned, there is no
other issue
Mr.. Maurer's Argument.
Mr.. English was vigorously. though
briefly supported by Robert A. Maur-
er, assistant principal of Central High