The Bridgeport times and evening farmer. (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1918-1924, 1920-09-01
PUPILS
ON SHORT time
DURING The YEAR

When Bridgeport's schools open
next week it is probable that there
will be fewer pupils on part time than
there were when school closed last
June although Superintendent Slaw-
son was not prepared to make de-
tailed statement when seen by a
Times man yesterday.
At the close of school last June
there were fifty-two classes on part
time or aboutN2 100 pupils and the in
dications were that three classes
would have to be added to that num-
Der this fall but by fixing additional
rooms wherever possible and the use
of portable, buildings superintendent
Slawson is in hopes to put many
more On full time than last year.
The city is buying six two-reom
portable buildings which, will be US
ed as follows: two in the Sylvan ave-
nue. district; two at the Shelton
school; and one each at the Column
bus and Longfellow schools.
This does not mean, however, that
twelve more classes can be taken
care of for at the Shelton and Long
fellow schools the portable rooms
will be used to reduce the number
of pupils in the old I rooms which
were much too crowded last year, be-
cause in those sections SO many of the
children's parents work that the chill
dren would have been loose on the
street if they had been turned out
of school for a part of the time and
so the rooms were kept crowded be-
yond a reasonable limit
Bridgeport is in much better shape
for teachers than many towns and
cities. Out of a total of 500 teaching
positions lin the city there at present
but five still open and the chances
are that before school opens they
will have been. satisfactorily filled.
This supply of teachers is due to the
fact that since the 10th of July
Superintendent Slawson has done
nothing but hunt teachers task
which has involved thousand miles
of travel and very voluminous cor
respondence.
In his search for teachers the su-
perintendent was somewhat hanoi-
capped by the fact that Bridgeports
| schedule of salaries is not as high
! as some places and especially due to
| the fact that in Bridgeport a teacher
| is not advanced to the maximum SAB
| airy as rapidly as in many places
| Conseque ntly the younger teachers
preferred signing contracts in those
| towns where the advance to the
| maximum was most rapid. Never
| tnGlGSS bridgeport lSdC1lOlS "hii
| ceive more money this year thar
| those of any other city in the state
Bridgeport has a larger percentage
| of teachers who are drawing the
| maximum salary or nearly the maxi
/ mum than any other town.
| Asked to explain the reason fol
| the great shortage of teachers which
exists all over the country today, Su
| perintendent Slawson replied;
For quite a number of years thu
| public at large have had no sym
| pathy with teachers. They hav'
| looked on the teacher as having al
| easy job; short hours and only fv'
| days a week, and have had no cor
| rect conception of how much hare
work they really did or the prepare
| ton required for it. AS a result
teachers have been very much un
| derpaid in comparison with othe
| professions. During the past year
| great change has taken place and al
over the country schedules of teach
ers' salaries have been raised from
40 to so per cent Salaries here il
| Bridgeport were raised rs per cent
up to $500, this added to the regula
| advance of 500 a year to all teach
| ers drawing less than the maximum
| amounts. gave many of the Bridge
| port teachers raise of $500, whicl
| in many instances, was equal to
per cent.
superintendent S1awson also men
| toned the fact that Yale college ha
just established a School of Educa
ton a thing they have never ha
| before, and that after a time
would be of great benefit to Connec
| ticut schools He anticipates tina
| Bridgeport schools will begin to fee
effects of it this fall for classes hav
! been conducted this summer on Sat
| urdays which many of the Bridgepor
teachers have attended.