The labor journal. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1909-1976, 1921-12-09

| GIOuSH CedCHeIS, well Trained
trained teachers, men as we'll as
women, in the rural schools. Some
one asked me, as that a dream of
heaven?" and l had the pleasure of
saying, "Those are the facts about
the schools of Queensland, Austral-
it," When Edward Theodore, Prem
Ter Of Queensland, was in the United
States last year he gave me the
most interesting interview on the
subject of schools that it was ever
my good fortune to hold. The chief
feature of it all was that everything
was different from what we are used
to. In the Antipodes we expect ev-
trything to be upside down. Certain
ly from our point of view, things
in Queensland might not be right
side up and we the ones who are
| headed the wrong way.
How do they manage to maintain
healthy condition of the rural
schoo schools with just as good
| teachers in the country as in the
town? How do they keep plenty of
teachers, and, moreover, plenty of
men? 1t is all due to a system,
democratically conceived and nation
ally Administered system which
recognizes equality of opportunity
for teacher and child alike. 1t is
not al all like that in the United
States. Bear that in mind.
Fluctuations in Pay
In America we have in prictice no
standard, either of qualification or
of pay. Throughout the United
States the widest fluctuations in pay
prevail. A New York principal will
receive $500, but a principal in a
Texas high school may receive as low
as $500 year. The Texas principal
might be the superior of the New
York man in training and other
qualifications. Whether teacher
will receive good pay or poor pay
depends upon the accident OF loca-
ton. In one town good salaries may
prevail; in another town of the same
size, in the same state, there may
be a variation of nearly $1,000.
Worst of all, because most serious
in its far-reaching consequences, IS
the difference between the salaries
of city and rural teachers. In the
United States we have done about all
that can be done to discourage men
and women from teaching in the rur-
al schools. The average salary OF
the Tennessee rural teacher is 1888 a
year--an effective deterrent to teach
ing in the country schools of Ten
nessee. In short, the teaching mar
ket in the United States is notsgood,
is not stabilized.
The reason they can have good
teachers in the rural schools OF
Queensland is because the whole
school system of Queensland is stan
dardized. A teacher does not fall
into the good fortune by accident, ir-
respective of location or of qualifi-
cation. A teacher of qualification
doing a specific type of work under
definite conditions knows within a
definite range what his compensation
will be. There are three classes of
teachers, and to each class attaches
a range of salary between specified
minimum and maximum. A teachers
in the third class cannot be put in
the second class until he has COM
piled with the requirements of that
class. He cannot pass from any
class to the one next above without
increasing his qualifications, nor can
he draw the salary of that class un-
til he is entitled to it by scholarship
and experience. His place in the
scale in any particular class is deter
mined by his work and the condition
under which the work is done. | was
interested to know that the mini
mum salary in the third class (the
highest) was $500. When l COM
mented upon the fact that the most
highly qualified teacher should re-
ceive not less than $1,000 per year
Mr.. Theodore pointed out the fact
that the purchasing power of that
sum was more than twice as great in
Queensland as in the United States
and that the teacher was receiving ir
actual value at least $4,000. Let ii
be remembered in this connection
that the public school system in
Queensland does not in the majority
of cases extend to secondary educa-
ton, and the teacher drawing the
above minimum rate in the first
class is an elementary school teach
er. Not only does the teacher know
what he pay he may reasonably ex-
pect, but the pay itself appears to
be a decent compensation. Profession
! al standards are exacted.
Stabilizing the Market
To conduct a school system in this
wav is to stabilize the market fol
| the services of teachers. Because
there is something like definite re-
turn for investment made in prepare.
ton for teaching, teachers do not
| hesitate to make the investment, as
they do here in the United States
| Another factor in the encouragement
| of teachers to undergo teacher train
| ing is the payment of cadets while
they are in the process of being made
| into teachers. To a minor degree
this device is employed in the United
States. Normal school pupils arr
paid when they are serving theil
apprenticeship in practice teaching
by few NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.. Tex.
Seattle, Wash.-and not many others
A second inducement to the pros
pective teacher in Queensland is tbs
! fact that she will not be called upoi
to serve the almost inevitable perio'
| of probation as a country teacher
| For many reasons, was about t
say for every reason, the green han'
| is not given that most difficult o.
| problems, the administration of al
| u1graded country school. Many al
American girl teaches her first yea
=, H. oo,,nfrv with LOT ne saw for