Teachers $16; Barbers
$30
Two advertisements appeared lately in a New York newspaper—one
of them calling for a teacher of mathematics, history and psychology, at a
salary of $65 a month. The other one called for a colored barber at $30 a week.
There is no particular reason why the barber should not get
$30 a week. Milk wagon drivers are getting $35, and they do not need to know
more about driving than any farm boy knows. A quick, light-fingered barber
needs as much dexterity as a milk wagon driver, and deserves as good a salary.
But we are sorry for the teacher of mathematics and history.
$65 each calendar months means $15 a week. The barber who gets $30 for pruning
whiskers may be glad he knows nothing about mathematics or history. In
Washington a teacher has to work 25 years before qualifying for a wage of
$1,300 a year. In Chicago, a teacher cannot get $1,000 a year before putting in
17 years in the profession. In 23 states the teachers average less than $400 a
year.
And in Illinois a high school teacher who tried to persuade
one of his pupils to stay and finish his education was met with the irrefutable
argument. “I have a job in a mine,” said the boy, “I am making more money
without an education than you are making with one.”
We are told that sometimes teachers deserve no more than
they get. If this is true, it does not improve the situation; it only makes it
worse. If the type of education that a young American is getting is worth more
than is paid for it, so much the better for young America. We may sympathize
with the teachers, but we may rejoice that young America is receiving a high
standard of educational opportunity. If, however, the education received is
worthless, why not offer a price that will buy an education worth having?
At the present moment, the development of the rising
generation marks America’s greatest crisis. Unrestricted immigration has made
this country an ethnological freak show. By offering salaries which will
attract teachers whose personally (personality?) and attainments will be a
really uplifting force, we may guarantee to the America of the immediate future
the perpetuation of the ideals and standards which are at present in danger of
passing to the discard.
No comments:
Post a Comment