Evening star., 1947-01-23
New School Pay
Proposal Faces
Review Today
Teachers, Officers
Offered Opportunity
To Criticize Plan

To Criticize Plan
His own salary future now in
volved by a Board Of Education
move to raise his maximum pay to
$4,000, School Supt. Hobart M.
Corning was to give District teachers
and school officers their real oppor-
ts1nity today to criticize his new
wage proposals.
He set pm. as the hour for
an "open house" discussion in his
Office at the Franklin Building Of
his recommendations that local
teachers and officers be given fiat
$3.50 pay raise over present salaries
and that permanent pay schedules
be revised upward.
The school board moved to In
crease Dr.. Corningis pay at q special
session yesterday. amending the
proposals to include him before
sending them to the Joint Commit
tee on Legislation and Personnel.
Public Hearings Saturday.
The joint committee promptly
voted to hold public hearings at
10 am. Saturday at the Franklin
Building to have its findings ready
for another special session of the
full board called for 1870 pm. Tues
day, when final board action is
scheduled.
The proposals were speeded to
the committee after Dr. Corning
told board members Washington,
as of December 10, ranked 18th in
comparison with the 20 largest
cities in terms Of Junior high school
teachers pay; 9th in elementary
teachers pay, and 6th in senior high
schools.
He said the comparison was made
on the basis of the Districts So
called super-maximum pay scales,
limited to about 10 per cent of
teachers here. If it were made on
the basis of the majority of teachers
pay, he emphasized, Washington
would appear 18th at the Junior
high level, 18th at the elementary
and 18th at the senior high.
Mrs. Doyle Asks Speed.
With time running out on the
deadline for having the proposals
before Congress, Mrs. Henry Grat-
tan Doyle, board president, called
for all possible speed consistent with
interests of the teachers themselves.
eve must be sure we know their
feelings on this matter before we
act" she said.
The school boards action to raise
DR.. Corning's pay along with those
of all the other officers and teach
ers Affected by his proposals came
on d motion by Mrs. Doyle, who
said the action was In line with the
Unanimous wishes Of all the ofa-
GERS III the school system
It would boost DR.. Corning's
starting salary of $4,000 to $12,-
000, while setting a top limitation
Of $4,000 instead of the present
$4,000 it is now possible for him
to earn. Now drawing $4,000, he
will be eligible for a $1,000 raise
next July / and the same increase
a year later. Under the proposed
schedule, he would go up $1,000 next
July l and each succeeding July /
thereafter until the maximum was
reached. -
Cites Other Cities.
Mrs. Doyle said her motion WAS
prompted by desire to place DR..
Corning's salary on scale con-
sistent with pay in otner major
cities in the United States. She
cited salaries of school superin-
tendents in the larger cities-$25, 900
a year in New York. $17,700 in
Philadelphia and $4,000 a year in
both Chicago and Pittsburgh.
Local teachers pay developments
coincided today with a statement
from the National Education As
sociation that salary increases in
many communities are being cam
celed by the upward trend of prices.
Current estimates now show that
the average salary of teachers, prin-
cipals and supervisors was about
$4,000 for the school year 1856"
the NEA declared. UNLESS the
average 1867 salary has ad-
vanced by $500 to $400, the prob
lem of recruiting and keeping teach
ers will continue to grow worse.
Raises Minimum, Maximum.
Outstanding among DR.. Corning's
new proposals is the addition of $3.50
to the fiat $3.50 pay raise granted by
Congress last summer and expiring
July /. His plan for overhauling
permanent pay schedules would re-
suit in raise of approximately ~
per cent of all future teachers. For
officers, this increase would range
from 6 to 13 per cent.
New single salary scales would
raise the pay of teachers with a
bachelors degree from minimum
of $500 to $2,500, and from q
maximum of $4,000 to $500. Start
ing pay of those with masters de-
grees would go from $2,100 to $1,000
and their maximum from $500 to
$4,000.
Liberalization of admission to the
so-called super-maximum brackets
also would permit more teachers to
earn minimum OF $500 instead OF
5000 If they have bachelors de-
grees and a maximum Of $4,000 in
stead of So 800. With masters de-
gree the upper bracket minimum
would Jump from $S, 400 to $4,000 and