Milford chronicle., 1947-03-14
The Crisis
In Schools

THE nation educational budget
i is around $2,500.000,000 "a
quarter of what it spends each
year on such luXuries as tobacco
and alcohol. Broken down, this
means the country's 861 .845 teach
ers in the public school system receive
an average weekly salary Of S370 1t
ranges from the $l5.47 in Mississippi
TO 1896 in New York.
The lot of teachers, even in New
York where the state voted a $300
annual cost-of-living increase last
month, is not happy one. Living
costs since 1899 have risen So percent.
Teachers in alarming numbers have
been leaving the profession for such
jobs as laborcrs, clerks and bartcn-
dcrs. In score of places throughout
the country, teachers have gone on
strike.
Biggest Strike i'm History
III Buffalo. N Y, the Guys 1000
public school students we're back in
class after an unscheduled weeks
vac' ton caused by the largest teach
Crs strike in history. More than 2,400
teachers in the Buffalo Teachers Fed
era, ion Can independent union) re-
jccted report by Gov. Dewey's spe-
c!al education committee and demands
by the state educational commissioner
that they remember the childrcn's s
welfare and go back to their desks.
After one week, they voted to ac-
ccpt pledge by Mayor Bernard j.
DoWd Of pay increases of $500 to S625
for the 1947-49 school year, provided
the state legislature authorized addi-
tional taxes for the purpose
Striking teachers originally de-
manded an immediate $l,025 increase,
$500 cost of living bonus and a
$4,000 minimum for beginners. The
existing scale ranges from S2,l75 to
S2,575 in elementary schools and
from $2,l75 to S2,975 in high schools.
Teacher Migration
Many New England teachers are
reported gravitating to the west for
more money and, freedom to marry
while teaching if they desire Many
New England communities require
women teachers to resign if they
marry.
Dr., Willard B. Spalding, superin-
tendent of Portland, Ore. schools,
said 20 percent Of the eastern Gle
mentary teachers he has contracted
for next year were from Boston and
environs. H. cited as typical the case
Of one Boston elementary teacher now
earning sl,400 year, hired to teach
in Portland next fall at $500 and
:, guaranteed 500 year increase.
Delinquency Problem
Money. however, is not the root o.
: allteacher problems. Educators discus.
! at almost every association meetin:
the rising problem of Juvenile delin
quency and the difficulty of trying t,
, teach and keep order.
, In ClearvieW, Ohio. the faculty 0
rs arrived at one solution
School superintendent T. c. Smp
son called an assembly to try ant
straghten out stulent-teachcr differ
enccs after 300 pupils walked out 0
claSSroomS. The Walkout occurret
after the high school principal re
po.ted!y slapped students face aftc
shooting incident Student
presented a list OF demands, includin
CD better teaching, f2) better coach
ing. CD more dan.cs
Superintendent Simpson started t
talk amid loud boos and hooting II
kept on but the catcalls increase
until he couldn't be heard
Mass Resignation
Simpson stopped, walked across tn
platform to Chandler Thompson. pres
ldent Of the Clearview School Boart
The teachers can't take any more
he said. We're resigning in body
The designations left more than 4C
elementary and high school pup
without teachers. Said one Of til
student strike leaders the day afte
teachers had quit: we wouldn't ha,
started this if we had known it woul
go this far