The Seward gateway daily edition, and the Alaska weekly post., 1920-10-20

an analysis of public school statistics just given out by ths. Russell ssgs Foundation. The report maintains that tsachers' salaries ahould now be deub- le the pre-war figures in order to ob- tain the same quality of educational service. The cost of school buildings is declared to have trebled in the last five years.
 These findings are made public in . volume entitled Trends of School Costs" The author is Dr. w. Randolph Burgess, assistant director of the de- partment of education of the Russell Sage Foundation. The study Is aA sp- plication to the field of education of the method of the index number. The volume is companion to "The Index Number For State School Systems" by Dr. Leonard P. Ayres, which made . comparison of the efficiency of the school systems of different states.
 Dr. Burgess compares the salaries paid to teachers with those paid to la- borers and artisans for 80 years and finds that the wages paid to young women teachers in country. schools have increased from $2.50 a week in 1s4l to $17.50 now, an increase of 600 percent. Salaries of women teachers in cities show similar increase from about $4.5O to $35.50 a week. Men teachers received much smaller reiat- i've increases.
 Up to 1915 teachers received per- centage increases in salary nearly twice as great as artisans and laborers Dr. Burgess finds; but in spite of the increases the average pay of teachers has never risen as high as wages paid to such artisans as blacksmiths. car penters and painters,
 During the five years since 1915 the salaries of teachers have increased on the average sf 45, percent ss com pared with a 100 percent increase in the wages of .laborers and artisszs", 1, says a summary of the report. "TAis lag in teachers salaries behind he general rise in prices has wiped out all the gain that was made since the time of the Civil War. A comparison of teachers salaries and the cost sf the necessities of life each year for the past 80 years makes it clear .h&t m the past two years the purchasing power of the teachers salary, kss been less than at any other time since the Civil War. The report. ,msiAteias. that the only way to retain sffideat teachers in service and at, the sspe time attract able men and women to teaching is to bring salaries to . ls,a corresponding to. the level of, the wages in other occupations. and the levels of the cost of living. This is taken to mean bringing salaries: to q point just double, the pre,w1r figuress" l" Estimating the probable levels sf school expenditures during the coming few years, the conclusion is: drawn by Dr. Burgess that to buy the saae. amount of education service in 1920 ahd 1921 as in 1915 it will be necesr sary to double the school budget. In the light of price and wsSs nuetua-, tions in the past and particularly .at the time of the Civil War, it is pre-. dicted. that mo large decreases in prices or wages are to be anticipated, immediately. but that expen4tarss on the enlarged scale will be. necessary .or q number eff years.
 Considering ways to meet the ie. sired increase in school expenses. Dr. Burgess says he believes the tax rats sR property and particularly oa iaad con be further increased without di. saster. The wide range of tax rates ir different large cities is cited to indi. cate that there is no economic AfRit which has been reached in many cities