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 The University of the State of New York 
 The State Department of Education 
 
 THE TEACHERS' SALARIES AND 
 
 THE FIXATION THEREOF BY SCHOOL 
 
 AUTHORITIES 
 
 A. 
 
 BY FRANK B, GILBERT 
 Deputy Commissioner oj Education 
 
 A ddress before A ssociated A cademic Principals 
 at Syracuse, N. Y., December 31, 191 9 
 
 D97r-Ja20-20oo 
 
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 FE3 H ;920 
 
THE TEACHERS' SALARIES AND THE FIXATION 
 THEREOF BY SCHOOL AUTHORITIES 
 
 At no time in our history has there been so great a demand upon 
 our educational resources as at the present time. It is recognized 
 everywhere that the presentation of our great institutions will depend 
 upon the resultant effects of our public school system. Our future 
 public safety and our future public defense depend upon present edu- 
 cational opportunity and effective school service. The war and its 
 outcome have shown the necessity of educational extension into many 
 fields which have hitherto been disregarded or unexplored. There 
 is a strongly supported and earnestly urged popular movement in 
 favor of the instruction of our non-English-speaking citizens and 
 future citizens in the language of our people so that they may be 
 brought to a sense of appreciation and realization of what it means to 
 be American citizens. The thought is that the millions who have 
 come to us from foreign lands with no knowledge of our language, 
 of our institutions and laws, and of the principles of democracy upon 
 which they are based, must be taught in terms of true Americanism 
 the responsibilities of citizenship. If no effort is made to break 
 in upon their racial tendencies and cohesion, by some educational 
 process, they will never become amalgamated as a part of our body 
 politic. Left by themselves, without enlightenment, they become 
 victims of malcontent and ready prey to the vicious promoters of 
 sedition and destruction. The consensus of public opinion at the 
 present time is that our chief bulwark against Bolshevism and other 
 radical doctrines tending toward the overflow of our republican 
 institutions is the proper education of the foreigners who have come 
 to us seeking the privileges of citizenship. 
 
 In the graded elementary schools of this State less than half of 
 the pupils remain to the end of the course. When the law relieves 
 them of the compulsion of school attendance, they leave the schools 
 and seek employment. A lamentably small percentage avail them- 
 selves of the privilege of secondary instruction. Hence we find 
 hundreds of thousands of children over the age of fifteen thrown 
 into industrial occupation, without adequate educational groundwork, 
 and with no sense of vocational efficiency. Without direction, 
 guidance and instruction, many of them become industrial vag- 
 rants, wandering from one trade to another. The continuation 
 
or part-time school is designed for the instruction of boys and girls 
 between the ages of fifteen and eighteen, who have left school for 
 employment. Schools are to be provided in shops and other places 
 of employment, or in buildings provided and equipped by local school 
 authorities, in which subjects will be taught leading to better voca- 
 tional efficiency and a better sense of civic responsibility. We have 
 not yet been brought to a full realization of the magnitude of this 
 proposed educational enterprise. There are probably four hundred 
 thousand children between fifteen and eighteen years of age, in the 
 several cities and large villages of the State, who must be taught at 
 least four hours each week in continuation schools. The State is 
 pledged to this work, and the several associations of labor, manu- 
 facturers, merchants and business men have recorded emphatically 
 their approval of the plan. In these schools, which are outside, 
 but a part of, our regular school organization, not only children who 
 have been compelled by stress of circumstances to seek employment, 
 but also adults, either foreigners or native-born citizens, will be 
 given the educational opportunity to fit themselves for civic responsi- 
 bility and vocational efficiency. 
 
 By thus extending educational facilities to both child and adult, 
 the State performs a duty to its citizens, and will do much in the 
 way of future public defense against the dangers of ignorance and 
 social unrest. The successful c6nsummation of this widespread 
 educational extension depends largely upon our ability to attract 
 the services of a large group of thoroughly trained teachers; 
 mechanics and artisans skilled in their trades and vocations with 
 knowledge of teaching methods, and teachers with experience and 
 the power to inspire. It is estimated that at least two thousand of 
 them will be required for the continuation or part-time schools to 
 be attended by the boys and girls between fifteen and sixteen years, 
 and as many more will be required for the work among foreign 
 minors and adults. 
 
 This new army of teachers will be recruited largely from the ranks 
 of the teachers now engaged in public school service. Their places 
 must be filled by other qualified teachers, or the accruing loss will 
 be greater than the benefits derived from the extension of our school 
 activities. The school population of our cities and villages is not 
 stationary. There is a constant increase requiring more school 
 accommodation and an ever multiplying number of teachers. The 
 teachers are too few in number for good service. Nearly everywhere 
 the complaint is made that classes are so enlarged by the scarcity of 
 teachers that school efficiency is near the breaking point. 
 
We do not need to present figures showing the present tendency 
 of teachers to leave the schools seeking other employment. There 
 is nothing strange about this. The time was when the teaching 
 vocation was the most available for women seeking self-support, 
 while now the business women are everywhere, and all avenues of 
 commercial and professional activities are open to them. The schools 
 must compete in the business world for the services of men and 
 women who, by training and temperament, are fit to teach, not only 
 to fill vacancies but to prevent vacancies. 
 
 All these circumstances show the demand for trained teachers. 
 Where is the supply to meet the demand? A teacher to be worth 
 having must be cultured ; " if she is to impart personality she must 
 herself possess the sacred fire." She must be trained by special, 
 intensified instruction or by experience in the science of teaching. 
 There has been a notable diminution in the number of young men 
 and women who are graduates from our colleges and universities 
 entering the teaching profession. The records of the State Depart- 
 ment show that there were 6i8 college graduate limited and college 
 graduate professional licenses issued during the school year of 
 1913-14. There were 461 of such licenses issued during the school 
 year of 1918-19, and the indications are that there will be a greater 
 decrease during the present year. 
 
 There is no difficulty in locating the cause of this decrease in the 
 supply of teachers. College graduates of marked ability, confident 
 of their power to conquer, are naturally attracted to professions 
 and callings where the rewards are lucrative and the opportunities 
 for advancement are great. The desire to serve in a noble cause 
 still continues in many instances an impelling force, but it will not 
 suffice to overcome the irresistible attractiveness of other callings 
 and professions. 
 
 The State has spent millions of dollars in the construction and 
 maintenance of schools where teachers are trained in their profession. 
 We are asking now for other millions to be expended in replace- 
 ments, extensions and repairs. The State for many years has recog- 
 nized the absolute necessity of maintaining at state expense these 
 professional schools. The successful operation of our public school 
 system, especially our elementary schools, is 'largely dependent upon 
 the effective functioning of these institutions. And yet, notwith- 
 standing all that has been done and is being done to develop these 
 schools, it is a lamentable fact that the number of young men and 
 women who are availing themselves of the privilege of instruction 
 therein is gradually falling off. During the school year of 1914-15 
 
the attendance of students in the ten normal schools of the State was 
 about 3000, while the present enrolment of students in such schools 
 is exactly 2000, a decrease in five years of about one-third. 
 
 It appears, therefore, that there has been substantially a one-third 
 depreciation in our source of supply of teachers for our public 
 schools. There is nothing, therefore, to meet the increased demand 
 for instruction in the regular day schools which our children are 
 compelled to attend and in the other fields of educational endeavor 
 which are now being opened and developed. From discussions in 
 educational conferences, both state and national, from what we read 
 in the public press and in our magazines, we know well enough that 
 the situation which we have here described is not peculiar to the 
 State of New York. It prevails generally throughout the United 
 States. A 10 per cent loss by the diversion of teachers to other 
 callings would be a national calamity. And yet it appears from the 
 bulletin on teachers' salaries and salary schedules prepared by Doctor 
 Evenden for the National Education Association that during the 
 school year of 1918-19 45^ per cent of the teachers employed in the 
 cities and districts covered by the survey withdrew from their 
 positions for some purpose. If the losses continue at this rate, 
 largely attributed to withdrawals because of the attractiveness of 
 other vocations and professions, and if the supply continues to 
 decrease at the same rate, the public school system will be confronted 
 with a condition spelling not only danger to the system but actual 
 destruction. 
 
 The public must be made to realize this situation. Boards of 
 education, superintendents, teachers and all others interested in edu- 
 cational problems are well aware of existing conditions. Some- 
 thing must be done of a radical nature to meet the situation. Some- 
 thing has been done to better teaching conditions, but much remains 
 to be done before we reach anywhere near a solution of the problem. 
 We who are engaged in educational work think and talk much of 
 the dignity and nobility of the service that is being rendered. It is a 
 real public service — a service that appeals strongly to those who have 
 serious thought of the future welfare and prosperity of our country. 
 As Theodore Roosevelt once declared at a meeting of the National 
 Education Association, 
 
 " You teachers make the whole world your debtor, and of you 
 it can be said, as it can be said of no other profession save the 
 profession of the ministers of the Gospel themselves, that if 
 you did not do your work well this Republic would not outlast 
 the span of a generation." 
 
While the service, even at its best, means a sacrifice and those 
 who enter upon it must necessarily think of more than the compensa- 
 tion which they receive, yet there comes a time when public service 
 becomes irksome because of lack of appreciation in the only way in 
 which the public may show it. If the service rendered is of value 
 to the public because of its tendency to preserve the public from 
 future ills and troubles, then the public should willingly meet its 
 obligation to compensate adequately those who render the service. 
 
 It is unnecessary at this time to show the discrimination against 
 teachers in the matter of compensation. The evidence of this dis- 
 crimination is conclusive. According to prevailing rates of com- 
 pensation in every known profession or vocation and the increase in 
 the actual cost of the necessaries of life, the teacher today is the 
 poorest paid of all workers who require any degree of preparation 
 for their vocations. Since December 1914, the average increase in 
 retail food prices in the United States is about 83 per cent. In 
 November 1914, the average weekly earnings of about 600,000 of 
 the factory works in the State of New York were $12.32, while in 
 November 191 9, the average weekly wage of such workers was 
 $25.37. The employees in factories manufacturing women's clothing, 
 a large percentage of whom are women and girls, received in October 
 1914, an average weekly wage of $14.52, while in October 1919, 
 employees in such factories received an average weekly wage of 
 $27.18. I know of no city or school district in the State of New 
 York where there has been even a 50 per cent increase in the salaries 
 of teachers during the periods covered by the statistics above referred 
 to. The medium salary of all teachers in the elementary and high 
 schools in 392 cities of the United States, as shown by the statistics 
 obtained by Doctor Evenden and published in the bulletin before 
 referred to, was, for the school year of 1918-19, $917. In arriving 
 at this average the salaries of teachers in the grades, in the high 
 schools, special teachers, supervisors, heads of departments and 
 principals, were considered. This median salary is 40 per cent below 
 that paid to the skilled and unskilled laborers and employees in 
 factories and shops where the greater number employed are women 
 and girls. 
 
 If money is all that is sought for, there is no incentive for the 
 teacher to remain in the school. It is probable that when all is done 
 that can be done in the way of compensation there will still be a 
 disparity between the wages of the skilled worker in the shop and 
 the salary of the teacher. It may therefore be assumed that the 
 teacher in making her determination will be controlled by her indi- 
 
8 
 
 vidual necessities. It will be a physical impossibility for the teacher 
 to enter upon her work or remain in her position if she is not paid 
 enough to meet living conditions. The minimum salary, therefore, 
 in any schedule must be based upon the amount which is required to 
 pay actual living costs. It is obviously unfair to fix this minimum 
 at a sum barely sufficient to pay the cost of actual necessities. A 
 teacher is not a machine, the same today, tomorrow and the year 
 after — but to accomplish her purpose in life she must read and study 
 so as to grow in her profession. This requires time and money, and 
 she can not accomplish it unless her compensation is sufficient to pay 
 more than the bare costs of existence. The personality of the 
 teacher is an important element in her success. A teacher oppressed 
 by poverty, worried by fear of the future and burdened by the 
 thought of debt, may not be expected to contribute much in the way 
 of an attractive personality to those who come under her influence. 
 The teacher therefore, as a minimum requirement, is entitled to a 
 living wage, and in addition thereto an amount sufficient to enable 
 her to meet her obligations with increasing f orcefulness and a smiling 
 face. 
 
 This in itself will not be sufficient to solve our problem. There 
 must be added to the minimum an amount sufficient to attract men 
 and women of forceful influence and marked ability into the pro- 
 fession. There must be some definite and assured means of recog- 
 nizing successful experience. The teacher must be made to feel that 
 as she grows in proficiency her compensation will be increased. The 
 annual increment and the attainable maximum must be sufficient to 
 induce the teacher to continue her work. 
 
 The statute recently enacted in this State, being chapter 645 of 
 the Laws of 1919, has, so far as cities are concerned, determined the 
 minimum salaries of teachers in elementary schools and high schools 
 and specified the number of annual increments to be paid to attain 
 the maximum. The minimum thus prescribed is small enough, but 
 the minimum salaries do not bind boards of education. The law 
 gives to the teacher in every case at least the amount specified, but 
 it in no way aflfects the power of the board of education to prescribe 
 a minimum salary above that fixed in the statute. In a number of 
 our cities boards of education have disregarded the prescribed mini- 
 mum salaries and fixed such salaries in a larger sum. 
 
 The law imposes upon boards of education the duty of fixing the 
 salaries of all members of the supervising and teaching staff. Such 
 salaries are to be included in uniform schedules containing the sala- 
 ries as so fixed. The law seems to contemplate that as to principals. 
 
heads of departments and teachers in elementary and high schools 
 there shall be a certain minimum with a prescribed number of incre- 
 ments, reaching a certain maximum. The boards of education of 
 the several cities of the State are burdened with the responsibility of 
 determining the amounts to be paid to the teachers. This responsi- 
 bility is not a light one. On the one hand they are met with the 
 distressful wail of the taxpayers of the city, who are already bur- 
 dened with ever increasing taxes. On the other hand there is the 
 absolute need of maintaining instructional standards, which can be 
 accomplished only by paying the teachers materially increased com- 
 pensation. The wise and thoughtful board, in determining the ques- 
 tion of teachers' compensation, will not be influenced by the wails 
 and groans of the individual taxpayer. Intelligent discrimination 
 and investigation will disclose the fact that the public at large are 
 willing and anxious that the public school system be maintained with 
 the highest degree of efficiency. There will be public complaint and 
 severe arraignment of school authorities if the schools are endangered 
 by a niggardly policy in respect to teachers' compensation. We can 
 say, therefore, with assurance that there is now and will be over- 
 whelming popular support of a policy favoring such an increase in 
 the salaries of teachers as will not only suffice to meet existing living 
 conditions but will also bring and keep in the schools well-qualified 
 teachers of high standing and influence. The schools must be main- 
 tained and for this purpose teachers must be paid adequate compen- 
 sation. The cost is great, the tax will burden, but the people will 
 pay until it hurts. 
 
 The teachers' salary law of 191 9 has, as I have said, done some- 
 thing to relieve the situation. Uniform minimum salaries for 90 
 per cent of the teachers in our city systems have been fixed, control- 
 ling the action of school authorities. The salaries so fixed are in 
 many instances in excess of those which would have been paid if the 
 law had not been enacted. Recognition of past experience in the 
 same or other systems has been given in nearly every case. It is 
 impossible at this time to state definitely the percentage of increase 
 in salaries brought about under the new schedules. Nearly all the 
 cities have filed their schedules as required by the new law, but the 
 information furnished is not sufficient to furnish a basis of compari- 
 son. One of the purposes of the law was to obtain some uniformity 
 of compensation for teachers in the same grades of service in cities 
 of the same class, so that there might be some relief from harmful 
 competition. This is, in the main, a worthy object. But where 
 there is the willingness and ability to pay, there should be no restric- 
 
tion. If the teachers' cause is sustained by an enlightened public 
 opinion in a locality, favoring a liberal increase in the teachers' com- 
 pensation, the school authorities should give proper expression of 
 such opinion, and not be influenced by the lov^^ering tendencies in 
 other localities w^here the public is not fully aw^ake to the emergencies 
 of the situation. An examination of the schedules discloses that 
 there has been too much subservience to uniformity. The teachers 
 in their eflForts to obtain adequate and suitable compensation for their 
 services have been too often confronted with the argument that the 
 board is doing as much for them as is done in other city districts. 
 
 In twenty-one of the forty-one cities of the third class, the mini- 
 mum salaries of teachers in the elementary schools are those pre- 
 scribed by the law, that is, $720 a year ; in five of them the minimum 
 is placed at $750; in thirteen, at $800 and less than $900; while in 
 two of them it is $1000. For elementary teachers the prevailing 
 annual increment is $50 ; there are eight with less than $50, and 
 eleven with more than $50. The maximum salaries for such teachers 
 vary from $900 in Corning, Dunkirk and Norwich, to $1600 in New 
 Rochelle and White Plains, the prevailing rate being from $1120 
 to $1200. 
 
 In the high school schedules of cities of the third class we find a 
 greater tendency to increase the statutory minimal salaries. In thir- 
 teen the minimum of $840 is prescribed, while in nine the minimum 
 is $900, in eight it is $1000, and in two $1200 or better. The average 
 annual increment for such teachers varies from $40 in Norwich to 
 $100 in Niagara Falls, New Rochelle and White Plains. 
 
 The minimum salaries of high school principals are not fixed by the 
 statute. It has been generally understood that the schedules are to 
 fix the minimum salaries of such principals and determine the num- 
 ber and amount of annual increments. The schedules filed show 
 great variance in such salaries and increments. In cities of the third 
 class having less than twenty-five thousand population the average 
 minimum salary is about $1800, while the average maximum salary, 
 reached usually in eight years, is about $2500. In cities of the third 
 class having over 25,000 population, the average minimum salary of 
 high school principals is $2575 and the average maximum salary is 
 about $3400. 
 
 The figures which are here given are not very elucidating, but they 
 give a notion of the operation of the new law. While in my judg- 
 ment the salaries and annual increments fixed in the schedules, 
 especially for elementary and high school teachers, are yet too low, 
 they indicate a willingness on the part of city boards of education to 
 
do something to alleviate the present crying needs of our teachers. 
 What remains to be done must be accomplished by the local boards, 
 and we may well leave with them the settlement of the troublous prob- 
 lems. Responsible for the successful administration of the systems 
 under their jurisdiction, to the people whom they serve, knowing as 
 they must the limitations that control them and appreciating the faith- 
 ful service of the teachers, it must be assumed that they will deal 
 fairly with all concerned in this important question. 
 
 Our boards of education are, for the most part, made up of men 
 and women who have been trained in affairs ; the members are repre- 
 sentative citizens usually selected because of their interest in public 
 affairs and especially in educational matters. They serve unselfishly 
 without compensation. Their only official functions relate to school 
 administration and maintenance. They dispose of matters within 
 their control unaffected by the demands of other municipal and 
 political interests. This is as it should be. There is nothing so 
 opposed to the best interests of our public school system as the possi- 
 bility of political interference. The doctrine of independence of our 
 educational system is fundamental. The American system of public 
 schools depends upon an entire separation of the control and manage- 
 ment of our public schools from, the administration of other local 
 affairs. Educational experts and all others interested in the cause of 
 education recognize the importance of such a separation. The people, 
 recognizing the vital importance of good schools, will always resent 
 with compelling emphasis any intermingling of school affairs with 
 the affairs of the municipality. 
 
 The people of the State gave expression to this principle when 
 they declared in the Constitution that 
 
 " The Legislature shall provide for the maintenance and support 
 
 of a system of free common schools wherein all the children of 
 
 this State may be educated." 
 
 It is here prescribed that the education of the children of the State 
 
 is a matter of state concern and is not to be controlled by limitation 
 
 or otherwise by the will of municipal authorities. 
 
 The State in carrying into effect this constitutional mandate has 
 made substantial contributions to the support of local school systems. 
 It has been provided by the law that local agencies shall be utilized 
 in making provision for the education of our children. It has been 
 deemed wise to impose upon localities a considerable share of the 
 burden of school support. The organization of the system is, how- 
 ever, made dependent upon separate school units consisting of city, 
 union free school and common school districts, the schools in which 
 
are to be managed and controlled by separate and independent 
 agencies responsible alone to the people in such cities and dis- 
 tricts for school administration. All these districts are independent 
 political subdivisions of the State, established and maintained for the 
 sole purpose of school administration. 
 
 It is provided in section 887 of the Education Law, as added by 
 the teachers' salary law of 191 9, that 
 
 " The board of education in each city of the State shall fix 
 the salaries and annual salary increments of all members of the 
 supervising and teaching staffs and of all principals, teachers, 
 supervisors or other employees, whose salaries are not fixed by 
 the provisions of this act." 
 This provision is general in its application, and applies to every city 
 of the State. In certain cities of the second class, under section 872 
 of the city school law, enacted in 191 7, it was provided that the 
 salaries of the members of the supervising and teaching staffs were 
 to be fixed in the same manner and under the same provisions of law 
 as such salaries were fixed prior to the taking effect of the city school 
 law, under city charters. This provision was included in the city 
 school law against the protest of those seeking its enactment and was 
 in the nature of a compromise. It was insisted then by those familiar 
 with and interested in our city school systems that it was a serious 
 mistake to leave the matter of the salaries of teachers and school 
 employees to be regulated and controlled by city authorities in the 
 same manner as other city officers and employees. It was contended 
 then, as it always has been contended, that the only proper method of 
 school administration is to leave with the authorities responsible for 
 such administration the determination of the amount to be paid to 
 teachers and others engaged in school service. The Legislature of 
 1919, when it enacted section 887 above referred to, admitted that 
 a mistake had been made and recognizing the poor principle of school 
 administration, conferred upon boards of education independent and 
 exclusive power of determining the salaries of members of super- 
 vising and teaching staffs and other school employees. 
 
 We hear now from different sources the proposal that this power 
 be taken away from boards of education and be conferred upon local 
 city authorities. It is contended that, since the moneys required for 
 school maintenance are raised by city tax, the officers who levy the 
 tax should control the amount to be raised. This contention has no 
 basis unless it be assumed that the board of education in each city of 
 the State is a city board responsible to city authorities and not to the 
 people of the city as a separate school unit. 
 
13 
 
 This idea is opposed directly to the theory upon which our school 
 system is based. If the school system is a state system, as the Con- 
 stitution declares that it shall be and as the courts have held that it is, 
 then the board of education, however it may be chosen, is an inde- 
 pendent agency of the State representing the people of the city school 
 district and responsible for the support and maintenance of the schools 
 therein. // anything is to he done by way of amendment to the 
 teachers' salary law or the city school law, it should he with the pur- 
 pose of making clear and distinct the independent existence of our 
 hoards oj education. To entangle and intermingle the powers of 
 hoards of education with those of city authorities as to city matters 
 will breed confusion, tend to the politic alising of our school system, 
 and ultimately result in the subordination of the people's schools to 
 other municipal interests in which those having the control of our 
 city governments may he selfishly concerned. 
 
 It seems clear that the teachers' interests will be affected vitally 
 by this proposed change of control. Teachers may not have always 
 obtained what they have thought they were entitled to receive at the 
 hands of boards of education, but one thing is certain, such boards 
 in considering the claims and requests of teachers have not been 
 troubled with the insistent demands from other sources. The issue 
 as between the teachers and the board is clearly defined, but it would 
 not be so if the teachers were compelled to present their claims to 
 city authorities having to do at the same time with the equally per- 
 sistent demands of policemen, firemen, street cleaners, and others 
 engaged in the city service. Public opinion is back of any reason- 
 able movement to obtain adequate compensation for our teachers. 
 Persons engaged in other public service are also entitled to fair con- 
 sideration. But the teachers' cause should stand alone and be dis- 
 posed of in accordance with its merits, before a tribunal whose chief 
 concern is the effective maintenance of the public schools of the city 
 or district. 
 
 If there be, as is insisted, a transfer of the power to fix the salaries 
 of teachers and others engaged in school service, to city authorities, 
 and the Legislature by enacting to this effect recognizes that a tax 
 for the support of schools is a city tax, then in every city of the State 
 which is subject to the provisions of section lo of article 8 of the 
 constitution, there will be a limitation imposed upon the power to 
 raise taxes for city school purposes. The constitutional provision 
 here referred to is to the effect that in a city of this State having a 
 population of over 100,000, the aggregate tax for city purposes shall 
 not exceed in any one year 2 per cent of the assessed valuation of 
 
14 
 
 the taxable property of such city. In practically every city which is 
 now subject to this constitutional provision, city expenditures are 
 nearing the tax limit. If salaries of teachers and other school 
 employees are to be fixed in the same manner as the salaries of other 
 city officers and employees, it obviously leads to the conclusion that 
 taxes levied for the payment of such salaries are taxes for city pur- 
 poses and must be considered in determining whether the tax limit 
 has been exceeded. 
 
 If the Legislature determines that the schools in a city are city 
 institutions, and that expenditures therefor are to be controlled by 
 city authorities in the same manner and under the same conditions 
 as other city expenditures, it will thus declare, subject to constitu- 
 tional restriction, that a city does not exist as a separate, independent 
 school district. As a result the teachers will be met, as they now are 
 in at least three of the cities subject to the constitutional tax limita- 
 tion, by the demand of municipal authorities that increases in teachers* 
 compensation be curtailed in the same manner and for the same 
 reason that other city expenditures are to be restricted. There can 
 be no reasonable justification of this insistence upon the part of 
 municipal authorities that our city schools be controlled, in the same 
 manner as purely municipal activities, other than that it is. their desire 
 to subject the schools to the same manipulation, political or other- 
 wise, as exists in the case of the police, fire, and public works 
 departments. 
 
 It is our contention that the people of our cities do not desire such 
 an intermingling of municipal and school affairs. Experience has 
 shown that it will spell disaster to the public school system. The 
 constitution speaks for a state and not a local system of public 
 schools. The cities, so far as schools are concerned, are city school 
 districts, and as such are political subdivisions of the State, created 
 and constituent parts of our state school organization. Taxes for 
 the support of the schools therein are city school district taxes, and 
 not city taxes raised for city purposes. The fact that the amount 
 required for school purposes is certified by the boards of education 
 of such city school districts to the fiscal authorities of the city, whose 
 boundaries happen to be coterminous with the city school district, 
 for the purpose of tax levy, does not constitute the tax raised for the 
 support of schools a tax for city purpose. The State in making 
 provision for the support of a state system of public schools, as 
 required by the constitution, has merely availed itself of municipal 
 machinery to carry into eflfect a state purpose. The financial officers 
 of the city become for this purpose an agency of the State. 
 
IS 
 
 Let there be no misunderstanding as to the present existence of a 
 real public crisis because of teacher scarcity. Without immediate 
 and considerable accession to the ranks of public school teachers, 
 public education approaches disaster, which will ultimately assume 
 the character of a public calamity. The teaching service under exist- 
 ing conditions can be made attractive only by substantial increase in 
 compensation. The teacher problem is exclusively one for boards 
 having to do with school administration. The only safe way to 
 preserve and protect the people's schools is to leave with school 
 authorities, who are responsible to the people of the several districts 
 for the successful operation of such schools, the determination of all 
 questions pertaining to teachers' qualifications and compensation, 
 reserving to the State the establishment of a minimum standard of 
 qualifications and a minimum living wage. 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
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