Charlevoix county herald., 1921-04-22
Rural Schools
Facing Problems
Lack of Competent Teachers
Now Greater Than Ever.

AAS ~ OOiOh Vi hCCPihk ROOu tCdCu-
ers in the rural schools looms bigger
than ever before, just at the time when
the county had hoped that the problem
might have been partially solved. OF
sixty-four teachers in the one room
schools, thirty-three are leaving the
profession for the coming year-quitt-
ing for good, entering into other lines
OF work, goiug to school for year or
two, or getting married. The remain
ing thirty-one are going to teach, half
OF them remaining where they are for
another year, perhaps, others looking
for something better.
Ordinarily county school commiss-
ioner figures on twenty or twenty
five percent change and transfer in the
faculty. This is a change of more than
half. Inquiries into conditions in the
southern part of the state bring data to
the effect that good teachers are hard
er to get than ever, the shortage keen
er than ever before. Is it taste of in
dependence, touch of business life,
or more money and less work or all
three? - that we do not know, but
the teachers are not coming back" as
was predicted.
There are ten students in the county
normal class and prospects that at least
one college student will write the coun-
ty examination. This will leave the
schools, many of them open, and begg-
ing for teachers. One or two high
school graduates have expressed the
desire to take the six weeks course
and take the examinations. Of these
very few pass, and of those who pass
only small percentage are able to
handle the work. The course of study
is too complex and the work too diff
cult for unframed teachers to handle.
Directors paying for service resent ex-
perimentation while the teacher learns
her profession after taking the contract.
City school boards of education have
some of them employed their teachers
for the same wage as the present con-
tract, others make ten or twenty per-
cent raise. Rural school officers have
been holding back to see what had to
be done. They are not to be blamed
as each solves the entire problem for
one community. Taxes are high and
if a drop is to be made, they would
prefer making it now. Teachers note
but slight decrease in the cost of liv-
ing and resent any drop in wages
On the other hand, the one big ar
gument for good wage for teachers is
not one of the cost of living. This
scarcely enters into the question at all.
Every teacher is entitled to a living
wage and as much more as she earns.
Teachers must necessarily lay off three
or four months each year while living
expenses continue. If the contract sal
ary for the year is divided by fifty two
weeks, the daily wage, and the weekly
wage become smaller in our sight. If
we add to this the fact that teachers,
must to keep mp with rapidly changing
methods, and improved conditions, 90
to school at least two summers out of
three, the expense of the profession
must be subtracted from the contract
salary. The salary is small and the
girls who prefer to be self supporting
have many of them sought other pro-
fessions. The work is hard and everE
teacher should have snlary enough so
that she can afford to hire all clothiug
mabe and all grooming cared for. A
business man does not waste time on
on details. He gives his sole attention
to his work. The salary should also be
large enough so that the teacher would
feel able to take complete rest,
whether in bed, or in wholesome re-
creation, in short vacation periods. The
teacher must do this, must do all of
these things in order to be complete
success and dependent upon her sue
cess are the lives of the boys and girls.
The training necessary, the long lay
off i'm the summer time with mo pay,
the hard work, in school and out, these
are the drawbacks of the profession.
To offset these is the opportunity for
service But teacher can not live on
service. Neither can we get teachers
who will give maximum of service if
every teacher who applies is given
school. We should be able to pick and
choose, select only the best and advise
others to choose different lines OF work.
A professional misfit in the schoolroom
is a crime and the biggest argument for
maintaining a good wage standard is
the fact that the standard must be high
enough so that the right ones will take
the necessary amount OF training and
that only the right ones may be select
ed. II is going to be hard to meet the
wage standard in some places, and in
many cases the only solution will be
consolidation. Nevertheless the county
is even now facing crises and some
thing must be done. Each school Off
GER must decide for himself what it is
that he will do