Evening star., 1937-03-21
TEACHER SALARY
STUDY PLANNED
Montgomery Group Maps
Long-Range Program
at Meeting.
Bsa STAFF Correspondent OF The Star.

BETHESDA, Md, March 2O.-Prep-
sration for mapping out long
range salary program for county
teachers was begun yesterday with
appointment of committees at meet
ing of the Montgomery County
Teachers Association in the Leland
Junior High School
The study, which is expected to
REQUIRE or 10 months, will follow
an outline suggested at the meeting
by Dr.. Willard S. Elsbree, associate
professor Of education at Teachers
College of Columbia University E.
M Douglass, principal of the Mont
gomery Blair Senior High School and
chairman Of the Socio- Economic
Committee, will have charge.
Mrs. Hilda S. Nutter Oh the
BetheSda-Chevy Chase Senior + l
School was named to heaN the cost of
living survey in connection with the
program. L, Fletcher Schott of
Richard Montgomery High School,
Rockville. will direct the study of
professional and educational qualif1-
cations. and Maxwell Burdette of the
Gaithersburg High School the study of
teachers salaries in comparable COM
munities and those of other profess
sional groups.
Other Factors Suggested.
Other important factors suggested
by DR.. ElSbree were the financial re-
sources of the county, qualification
~
and traditions of the county school
= system and State la,s, which will be
taken up in later surveys, Douglass
stated.
The association hopes that the
500 pay increase approved by the
Montgomery County Civic Federation,
the County School Board and many
other civic groups will be voted by
the county commissioners for the
1878 school year after funds can
be provided in the new tax levy" he
explained.
We expect to have the survey ready
in plenty of time to be discuSse be-
fore the plan is put into effect in
time for the 1938-39 school year"
Cites w. +. A. Survey.
Douglass pointed out that the cost
OF living in Washington and the
nearby metropolitan area, as shown
by w. P. A. survey in 1885, ranked
highest among other cities of COM
parable size, and that the resources
of the State per unit of educational
need were listed among the upper
one-fourth of all States, and Mont
gomery County is one of the wealth.
est in the State.
Nevertheless. the salaries of county
teachers compare unfavorably with
salaries paid in Washington and Bal
timore, and are only clightly above
the general average for the entire
country, Douglass declared. They also
compare unfavorably with the incomes
OF other professional groups and are
so inadequate that some teacl RS find
1t necessary t. find employment out
side of school, he asserted.
To maintain proper efficiency in
a school system, the National Educa-
ton Association recommends salaries
high enough to permit teachers to de-
vote 20 per cent to saving. 10 per
cent to giving, SO per cent to neces-
sites and 20 per cent to betterment,"
Douglass said.
"A study of average teachers SAL
aries, which approximate those in
Montgomery County, showed that
teachers are devoting only Is ~er cent
to saving, are giving l3 per cent,
and spending only per cent on bet
terment.
That means teachers are spend
Ing too great a proportion of income
on necessities and not enough on cul-
tural and educational betterment The
difference between upper and lower
portions of the county do not differ
much. Necessities may be little
cheaper in the upper portion. but
cultural advantages such as concerts
plays. libraries, are less accessible and
therefore more expensive"
Points to Other Salaries.
Douglass pointed out that salaries
IN Montgomery County are higher
than those in most other counties in
the State, but that the minimum ele-
mentary school salary is S400 below
that in Washington and 5000 below
those in Baltimore and Baltimore
County. The maximum elementary
school salary in this county is from
500 to Sl,l00 less than Washington,
500 less than Baltimore and 500
less than Baltimore County.
The minimum high school salary in
Montgomery County is S57J below the
District minimum, s275 below Balti-
more and SITS below Baltimore
County, where living expenses are
lower.
The present requirement of a three
year normal course for elementary
school teachers will be extended to a
four-year course beginning with the
coming school year in the Fall. A
college degree is required for high
school teachers, and all teachers are
required to attend a Summer session
OF college or normal school at least
once in four years.