The Waterbury Democrat., 1938-10-28

hagen & Associates.
 country as whole, the typical school budget devotes 77 percent of the total to instruction. For 37 cities with which Waterbury is being compared, the median figure is 7B7 percent; for Waterbury It is 70.7 percent. Practice in the 37 cities may be summarized as fol- lows:
 Tn one city, more than e5 per- cent on the budget Is used for instruction.
 In IA cities, more than 90 per-
 cent but less than 86 percent is
 used for instruction.
 In 20 cities, more than 75 per-
 cent but less than 30 percent Is
 used for instruction.
 Tn 2 cities, more than 70 per- cent but less than 76 percent is
 used for instruction.
 Average Salaries of School Fin. ployes in Waterbury are Near the Average in . Group of 37 Com.
 parable CitleS
 The three largest personnel groups in the Waterbury schools are CD the teachers in elementary schools, (2) the teachers in high schools, and (3) the janitorial and engineering staff. As the combined salaries of these three groups ace count for approximately 77 per- cent of the total current expenses of the schools, 1t may be well to ask whether Waterbury Is paying excessively high salaries to these workers.
 Salary figures from city school systems arc collected every two years by the Research Division of the National Education Asso- ciation. Thirty.four of the 37 cities with which Waterbury ib being compared arc included in the report for tho school year l03e.37, the latest which has been completed.
 Waterbury Is fortunate in being slightly above q middle position in this group of cities in the aver- age paid to hIgh-sehool teachers, but Is about average on salaries of teachers in elementary schools. IL is below the average in the salaries of janitors.
 There are two accepted ways to compute an average salary figure. One is to add all the salaries to- gether and divide by the number Of employees. The statisticianS call that figure the mean salary. The other method is to compute c salary which is between the upper fifty percent of the salaries and the lower fifty percent; this is called the median salary. Since the mean salary and the niedian salary are seldom identical, 1t is well to consider both.
 The table shows that the mean salary in Waterbury. Of eieb3, ranks 14thN from the highest. When median salaries are con- sidered the position of Water- bury is less favorable. It's figure of 9io44 is 22nd in rank.
 It Is surprising that Waterbury does not rank higher among the cities in salaries of elementary school teachers. because in Wa. terbury the teachers of seventh and eighth grades are included iti the elementary school. Tn 26 of the other cities on this list the seventh and eighth-grade teach- CTS are in junior-high schools, where salaries are often higher than in elementary schools. The typical difference between eie. inentary and junior thigh salaries is something over e2b0 in favor Of the latter.
 Another factor which would lead one to expect Waterbury to have a higher rank than 1t does on salaries in elementary schools Is your policy of absorbing vaca- cies without making new appoiflt- ments. The result is that there are few teachers on the bottom steps of the salary schedule, whose low- CT salaries would reduce the aver- age for the city. The policy of not filling vacancies means that the large majority of the children are being taught by experienced teachers who have successfully completed their apprenticeship but 1t also means . tendency to raise the average salary level. Other cities like your own, are faced with Q decline in school enroli- inent and are reducing staffs ag well, but the reduction in most