The Taney County republican. (Forsyth, Mo.) 1895-1992, 1920-01-29
Teachers Salaries

Il land in presenting the recent education
bill 10 Parliament said: That natio
Il which after the war employs the bes
teachers with the highest wages vii
) be The best governed and, the creates
nation.
Oar own nation does not differ in il!
attitude towards the function of Gu
public schools, il We are to Judge b.
the u,terances Of our public men
While the Importance OF school sys
tenn with teachers who are trained anc
} loyal is being proclaimed thru the pres,
and from The forum, the very CLOSELY
related problem Of the teachers wages
is not So readily recognized By the
public as worthy Of 1.-THE same public
ity. Some states have faced the prob
en- ;quarely. New York has secured
laws which place the profession ol
teaching on fairly safe grounds. Be-
fore his legislation was secured Cover
nor Smith in a forcelul message
said: The efficiency OF the school can.
not rise above the standard Of qualifica-
ion set for the teaching service. To
bTing this about the teachers should
be adequately paid and fairly pension
ed. | strongly recommend that what
ever curtailment may be necessary else
where. full and ADEQUATE provision be
made for the education and training OF
our children"
Our neighboring state Of Iowa has
also taken action in passing the mini
mum salary law. Altho the minima
established by this law are msierably
low, it has done much not only to
quiet the unrest among the teachers Of
the state but also to bring into the
state, strong teachers from adjoining
states especially from Missouri.
Missouri has as state done moth
ing. Some cities in the state, not
ably St. Louis, have given publicity
to the problem and have brought
about some relief. As a state the
question Of salary is wholly unsettled,
Last year saw the best teachers taken
from our schools and placed in the
schools Of the states east, north, west
aud even south Of US. Re
quests TO teachers agencies for infor'
nation in locating teachers went un.
answered because it was known that
Missouri was not paying salaries which
would justify these agencies in placing
teachers in the state. Our State
Teachers Colleges and schools Of edu
cation sent approximately one'lhird
Of their graduates outside Of the
state. Back Of all the pres
ent unrest is the fact that teachers are,
in plain words, being starved out OF
the profession. The present remun-
Grafton for teachers in the state Of
Missouri is not sufficient to adequately
cloihe and feed them. Nothing save
the necessity for making a sufficient
wage to meet necessary personal liv'
ing expence is forcing teachers with
selirespect out Of many Missouri
schools
II we may judge BY the present un.
rest, the teachers in the future are not
to be content with a pittance when
other workers are paid so much more
literally. It is difficult for the teacher
to see the justice in paying other work
men much greater salaries when she
Ieels her own work Just as important.
She cannot see why the coal miner, ig.
Iorant and unable TO speak the english
tongue, should be able to make as
much in one day as the teacher aver
ages per week for the year. Last year
81 per cent Of the teachers in Missouri
eceived a wage Of less than S500.00
per We. or less than $40 per week for
he year. In the cities where teach.
srs receive the highest salaries. 1T is
worth s3o4.00 more per year TO carry
bricks Than TO train children; $4,000 !,
more 10 mold dough for bread than to
mold boys and girls into citizens; $500
more to hammer hot iron than to ham
Der ideals; Sl024 more to build frame
works for buildings than frame Rof4