Perth Amboy evening news., 1920-09-17
SCHOOL BUDGETS SHOULD
Be TWICE is LARGE

-
NEW YORK. sept. II. school
twice as large as before the wal ac-
cordinx to an analysis OF public
school statistics just given out by
the Russell Sage Foundation. The re-
mort maintains that teachers salaries
ehould now be double the pre-war
figures in order to obtain the same
oualitv OF educational service. The
cost Of school buildings Is declared
20 have trebled in the last hve years.
These findings are made public IN
a volume entitled Trends OF School
costs" The author is DR.. w. Ran
dolph Burgess, assistant director OF
Tho department OF education fof the
russeli sage Foundation. The study
IL an application to the field OF edu-
cotton OF the method OF the index
number. The volume Is a compan-
ion to THE Index Number Fol State
rrhool systems" by DIR. Leonard p.
4vrcs. which made a comparison of
Ire efficiency of the school systems
Of different states.
DR.. Burgess compares the salaries
paid to teachers with o paid 70
iahorers and artisans for so years
and finds that the wages paid to
voung women teachers In country
schools have increased from $2.50 a
week in 1S41 to $3.50 now, an in
crease of 500 per cent. Salaries of
women teachers in cities show a
similar increase from about $3.50 to
$3.50 a week. Men teachers re-
reived much smaller relative IN
Ereases.
Up to 1915 teachers received per-
eentage increases in salary nearly
twice as great as artisans and Ia
--- r. D,r~-a1g HndQs hfIf In
rpita of the average pay OF teachers
has never risen as high as wages
paid to such artisans as blacksmiths,
carpenters and painters.
sDuring the five years since 1915
the salaries of teachers have IN
creased on the average Of As per
cent. as compared with a 100 per
cent. increase in the wages of labor
ers and artisans" says q summary
of the report. This lag In teach
ers' salaries behind the general rise
in prices has wiped out all the gain
that was made since n time OF
the Civil War. A comparison OF
teachers salaries and the cost of
the necessities of life each year for
the past eighty years makes 1t clear
that in the past two years the pur-
chasing power of the teachers SAL
ary has been less than at any other
time since the Civil war. The re-
mort maintains that the only way
10 retain efficient teachers in service
and at the same time attract able
men and women to teaching is to
bring salaries 10 a level correspond
ing to the level of the wages IN
other occupations, and the level of
the cost of living. This is aiken to
mean bringing salaries to a point
5ust double the pre-war figures"
Estimating the probable levels OF
school expenditures during the
coming few years. the conclusion IS
drawn by DR.. Burgess that to buy
Hhe same amount of educational
service in 1920 and 1874 as in 1915
ii will be necessary to double the
school budget. In the light of price
and wage fluctuations in the past
and particularly at the time of the
civil War, 1t Is predicted that no
large decreases in prices or wages
are to be anticipated Immediately.
Considering ways to meet h de-
sired increase IN school expenses,
DR.. Burgess says he believes the tax
rate on property and particularly
on land can be further increased
without disaster. The wide range
Of tax rates in different large cities
IS cited to indicate that there is no
economic limit which has been
reached in many cities.