The Cordova daily times., 1920-02-28
The Teachers Pay

It IS settled rIght, we nave no apology to offer for presuming to discuss the small matter of the teachers pay.
 The war to make the world safe for democracy is won. But the war to make democracy even safer for the world will last yet for hundreds of years In the former war, teachers fought far behind the lines. In the latter they must be leaders. Some people think that when problems are to be solved all that is needed is for the legislature to pass some law. But a law is of value only if public senti ment supports it, and public sentiment is matter of education. A country's problems must be solved in it's school rooms. Does it or does it not behoove the American people to obtain, and having obtained, to retain, the very best material to be had in the teach ing profession? There are those who
 1iscredit the present crisis in the shortage of teachers, saying it is a cry of Wolf. wolff" But with 100- 900 teaching positions filled with girls averaging 19 years of age-mere chil- dren who should be in school them selves-and another 100000 schools closed throughout the country because of no teachers, it would seem that the seriousness of the educational situa
 tion confronting the American people is not overestimated This shortage is due to the uniformly low wages paid over the country, whose average wage a year or so ago was the magnificent sum of $500 per year, and which is no better now in spite of much-her- aided increases in pay, because the cost of living has doubled, while it has been a liberal community indeed which has granted it's teachers so much as 25 per cent increase. In considering increases, one must at the same time consider the purchasing power of the dollar, which has shrunk out of all proportion to any increases in the salaries of teachers. Hence, school men and women in large num- bers-about 65,OO0 the past year have left the work of their choice to engage in other lines which pay bet ter; and the end is not yet
 Every governor in the country has expressed his belief that the uniformly poor pay of American teachers, as compared with that of movie stars and baseball players, is a national dis grace. Perhaps they recognize bet ter than some others the relative value of different kinds of work.
 When a boy with no education be- yond that of the eighth grade can earn more money in a year learning his trade than a teacher who must have, beside an eighth grade educa- tion, minimum of four years in high school plus from two to four years of higher education, in addition to years of practical experience, it would seem that very low estimate is placed upon the value of a teachers prepara- tion and work
 And yet teachers are told repeatedly that theirs is the most important and responsible work in the world. A cer- tain well-known author once said: 1 There is no country in the world where labor is theoretically so hon. ored and practically so despised as in America" He doubtless had in mind the aforementioned horny handed son of toil" but teachers are Justified in thinking this remark applies particu- 1arly to their own labor when they hear the fowery things that are said on all sides about the dignity and the value of their calling, and then com pare their yearly wage with that of uneducated manual laborers, at the same time that they compare the de- mands made upon them as teachers with the light demands in other lines of work infinitely better paid For the teacher is expected to dress as befts her high and noble calling; she must have thorough preliminary training; she must attend summer school, and keep in touch with the latest educational thought through lectures, books and magazines; she must travel to broaden her outlook; she must avail herself of the best that the theatrical and musical world have to offer, if in a locality where this is possible. All this costs money as we'll as time. What other line of work de- noandc c1,oh oopofopt