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weeks a year, beginning in grade three and continuing thruout the whole school course, places at least ten times as much emphasis upon this subject as is given at Gary. The Gary plan may be right and ours in Ottawa may be wrong, but the fact remains that we are really teaching cooking and sewing to every girl who goes thru our schools; in Gary three-quarters of the girls are merely playing with these subjects.

The Gary schools have the largest and best equipt playgrounds I have ever seen. I was there in early December, but the grounds were in constant use. Too much praise can not be given the school authorities for their provision for exercise and physical education. The gymnasiums for both sexes are spacious and well-managed. The instructors in these subjects seemed to me deserving of praise for the general excellence of their work.

The cooperation in Gary between the schools and the Public Library is admirable and their plan might be copied with profit by every city in America. One school is so close to the central library that the pupils can use the library reading room almost as easily as one of their own classrooms. Opposite the largest school the Library Board has just completed a branch library for the needs of the surrounding district, but especially to meet the needs of the school. In another large school the Library Board has opened a regular branch library, but here again the needs of the school are first considered. In all these Gary schools pupils have regular hours for library work. The one defect seems to be that no provision has been made for a class teacher to accompany them. I noted tho that the teachers of literature, history, and geography made suggestions to their pupils as to how they might supplement these regular lessons during their library hour.

OTTAWA, CANADA

J. H. PUTMAN

III

A CROSS SECTION OF TEACHERS' FINANCES

The Teachers' Club of Kansas City, while working on the problem of higher salaries, determined to have as nearly accurate information as possible concerning the financial and social condition of its members. How much did they spend on charities and war purposes, on summer school and extension courses, on recreation, dress, and doctor's bills; how much did they save? A questionnaire was sent out in Christmas week to the 900 elementary school teachers in the Kansas City schools. It was so arranged as to get a fairly clear report of what was done with the entire salary, yet was not so minute as to prove offensive. There were 419 answers returned in time to be tabulated. The salaries represented ranged from two helpers at $300, to teachers in charge of small schools at $1,200 per year; 222 were women on a salary of $1,050, that is maximum salaried teachers. The reports are more than interesting. When you remember that a very large percentage of the children of the city get their ideas of the best type of American life from the public school, if they get any at all, then the report becomes alarming. Everyone agrees that children should be under the best possible influences during the school age. The public schools are depended upon to make real Americans of the future citizens, no matter what their home surroundings may be. No one doubts the teacher is of vital importance in this work of the public school. What sort of person is she? Is she a desirable citizen herself? Is she cultured, refined, well educated, of high ideals? Possibly we can not get all of these things from a report on what she does with her yearly salary, but at least we can get some idea.

We can be very sure that at least 207 of them have a serious outlook on life, for that many report being the main support

of a family. Length of service shows teaching is a life work with many of them, therefore it should rise to the dignity of a profession. There were seven of thirty years' or more experience; fourteen of twenty-five years' experience; fortyfour of twenty years' or more; sixty-one of more than fifteen years'; eighty-eight of ten years' or more. Most of this time has been spent here in Kansas City. Think of the thousands of children passing under their influence in all those years! Such women should be ripe in experience and wisdom. They should be leaders of their sex and a veritable power in the social life of their community. For my part I believe they are that very thing. They are at least good citizens so far as their purses will permit. The 419 earned during the year $378,615, and gave $41,881 to charities, church work and war purposes. That is not a record to hide. It is a question to be considered if it is not more than enough, since it takes more than generosity to make a good teacher. She should be healthy and happy. The 417 spent $19,022 on recreation and $11,800 on doctor's bills. In the mass that seems a large sum for recreation, but it is an average of $47 apiece per year. Out of this must come operas, concerts, theaters, club dues and summer trips. Might not a larger recreation bill mean a proportionately smaller doctor's bill? At least would it not mean a rested, calm, beneficent influence in the school room, a thing much to be desired. No one can deny that it is a good thing for teachers to read much, and even on occasion attend a summer school to keep abreast of the times as people in other professions do, yet these 419 spend $8,924 on extension courses and summer schools; $2,935 on magazines and books; a sum just about equal to the doctor bill. This is only $30,881 on all possible means of growth, mental or physical, as against $41,881 on charities and war purposes.

It will be interesting to see what these women spend to makes themselves attractive in personal appearance. The dress bill, together with the laundry and cleaning, amounts to $63,404, about $150 apiece with which to achieve an artistic effect that shall serve as a model to cultivate the taste

of the next generation in color combination and appropriateness of dress. Nothing short of a genius could ever possibly succeed.

The tabulation becomes vastly more interesting as each group is taken up and some little study of the individual attempted. Begin with the twenty-nine who receive $500. Little or nothing is spent on extension courses, while there is a fair enthusiasm for magazines and books. Small amounts even up to $100 are spent in recreation, tho we must confess most of it reads $3 or $5 with an extravagant $20 or $30 occasionally. Evidently these girls feel that they have arrived after two years of preparation and are enjoying a year's rest. There is a suspicion that many believe dress very important for a disproportionate amount of their income is so spent. Skipping the nine who report on their $600 and $650 salaries, take the twenty on a $700 and the seventeen on $750. Only one spent $150 on extension courses or summer school, but most of them took magazines and bought books. Two spent as much as $100 on recreation, which might indicate a trip, while the dress bill is fairly liberal, only three spending less than $100.

Investigators tell us that most women who teach drop out by the fourth year, so we would have a right to expect $800 women to begin to show signs of making teaching a life work. Of the forty-six earning $800 who reported, two spent as much as $150 on extension courses. That does not seem satisfactory. One spends $55 on books and magazines, but most of them less than $10. This does not represent the spirit of progress that the patrons have a right to expect from the women who have the training of the minds and tastes and ideals of their children. Not by any means the standard the nation should expect from those who have her future citizens in charge. Doctor bills are increasing, ten of them being $50 or more and many close to it. Only twelve spent at least $100 on recreation, while eight spent $10 or less. Dress bills go down. Seven spend less than $100 which seems otherwise to be the average amount spent. To be sure three spent $300 or more to keep up their personal

appearance, but these three live at home which accounts for their extravagance. Now begin the pathetic little comments added at the bottom of the questionnaire. "Debt for schooling $100." "Have $25 or $30 left each September to begin the new year on." "Have to receive help from home." "Teaching in summer school to make up the deficit." "Earned $150 by summer work." "Money for university summer school furnished by parents." There are volumes of information in such added notes that explain the apparent lack of professional pride in these $800 teachers.

When we look at the twenty-five in the $900 group we find five spending $1,000 or more per year which indicates outside help. Four spent more than $900 but are living at home. This is the salary for the seventh year of teaching, and we find that help from parents is still being received. Does any one know if that happens in other occupations where the individual has been successful in the work, for surely we may say these are successful teachers or they would not still be employed? Surprizing as it may seem only two spend as much as $150 for educational purposes, and both of these women exceed their income by so doing. Recreation claims more than before. Evidently they are hungry for a change. Twenty-one spent $100 or more, indicating this to be a travel mad group, one extravagant creature spending $420, and going in debt $100 to do it, at least she exceeded her income that much. Let us see where they got all this money. Eleven spent as much as $100 on dress, evidently rigid economy was necessary somewhere if traveling was to be indulged in. In charities, three gave less than $50, one of those giving $47, while eight gave $100 or more. Good citizenship prevented economy at the expense of others.

Skip the fifteen who tell us what they did with their $950 and take up the most interesting group of all, the $1,050 group. These are the maximum salaried classroom teachers of the elementary schools. They have had nine years' experience and have reached the highest rank possible to a regular teacher. There are 417 teachers in the schools making this salary and 222 reported, so it must fairly represent

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