® 


American i Teachen 


nies in Education; Education for Democracy 





b “OFFICIAL ORGAN, THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS 








7Vo. VI. No. 1 NEW YORK, JANUARY, 1917 One Dotan A YEAR 














N O W 


Now we shall convert our Naturat ‘Re 
sources into Foundations for the 


General Welfare, 


Not sources of private advantage. 


‘Now we shall make the Public Needs 
the Occasion for Public Service, 
Not sources of private advantage. 


Now we shall make Scientific Discoveries 
the Means of Life More Abundant, 


Not Sources of private advantage. 


Now we shall make the Learning of the 
Ages the Cherished Possession of all, 


Not sources of private advantage. 


Now we shall make the World into an 
unfenced Garden for Men, Women 


and Children, 


Not a Jungle surrounded by Waste. 














































THE HIGH COST OF LIVING AND STATIONARY SALARIES* 


J. Eowarp MayMAN 


Teachers are turning their attention 
from the study and discussion of pen- 
sions, promotions, ratings, and the like, 
to a very serious consideration of how 
to make both ends meet. It is not that 
these problems have been satisfactorily 
solved, nor that their significance and 
importance have diminished. Rather is 
it because maintaining a decent standard 
of living has become so arduous and ab- 
sorbing a task, these days, that there is 
neither time nor inclination to continue 
the usual lines of endeavor. We must 
suspend, but not discontinue, activities in 
one sector in order to marshal all our 
strength and resources to resist a frontal 
attack in another. All of us are subject 
to the attack. Hence it behooves us all 
to make a systematic study of the situa- 
tion in order to make an intelligent and 
effective counter-attack. 

Aside from our general impression 
that the cost of living has been, and still 
is, continually soaring, we have the more 
specific index fingers taken from Brad- 
street’s. These figures represent the aver- 
age cost per pound of 96 commonly used 
articles of food, clothing and shelter, 
for the years indicated. In the last two 
columns these figures are converted into 
a point system, with the average cost for 
1892-99 and 1900-09, respectively, taken 
as bases of 100. 


TABLE I—COURSE OF COMMODITY PRICES 
FROM 1892 TO 1916 


Index Numbers Based on 
Average for 


Eight years Decade 
Bradstreets 1892-99, 1900-09 
Year Prices inclusive inclusive 

Ds sé acces $7.78 114.1 .0 
BET op cvccee 6.12 91.0 76.5 
Bee ec ccecece 7.88 1144 96.2 
Weccceccice 8.90 123.8 104.1 
Saree 9.19 132.6 111.5 
aa 9.21 133.5 112.2 
BORG cc ccccecs 8.90 136.7 114.9 
IRS 9.85 148.8 125.1 
ee 11.66 171.1 143.8 





* Owing to limitations of apace many of the tables 

are condensed and all of the graphs are omitted. 

The Teachers’ Union of the City of New York will 

soon issue a complete report on the subject For 

most of the . here presented the writer is in- 

— to Mr. Earle Clark, of the Russel Sage Foun- 
ion. 


en 





~ 


e * a) 


Those of us who entered the service in 
1892-99 have to pay now an average of 
$11.66 for the same commodities that 
cost $9.19 in 1912, $8.90 in 1907, $7.88 
in 1902, $6.12 in 1897, and $7.78 in 18902. 
Viewing the same facts from the point 
system, we note that for the same group 
of teachers, the cost of living has gone 
up from 91 in 1897 to 171.1 in 1916. It 
might be argued that the majority of 
the teachers now in the service did not 
enter in 1892-99, and therefore that basis 
does not apply to them. While this is 
true it cannot be denied that a consider- 
able number of us did come in at that 
time, and that we have certain rights and 
privileges that must be respected and 
conserved. 

To avoid a protracted controversy, let 
us take the average cost during 1900-09, 
the period in which most of the teachers 
now employed entered the service,} as the 
base of 100. What do we find here? 
The last column which is worked out 
on this basis shows that for this group 
of teachers—the majority—the cost of 
living has risen from 96.2 in 1902 to 
143.8 in 1916. We see then that the high 
cost of living is affecting most vitally 
all of the teachers, and those longest in 
the service are hit the hardest. 

Lest it be said that the present diffi- 
culty is caused by the war and that it is 
temporary, let me cite the following 
from Senate Document No. 847—1911, 
in which war is not mentioned at all: 

“Among the many causes contributing 
to the advance in prices may be enw 
merated : 

“Ingreased cost of production of farm 
produtts. Shifting population from 
food-producing to food-consuming occu- 
pations and localities. Immigration to 
food-consuming localities. Reduced fer- 
tility of the land. Increased banking fa- 
cilities in agricultural areas. Cold stor- 
age plants. Increased cost of distribu: 
tion. Industrial combinations. Organiza- 
tions of producers or dealers. Advertis- 


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THE AMERICAN TEACHER 3 


ing. Increased money surplus. Over 
capitalization. High standard of living.” 

The high cost of living, then, is some- 
thing that has been threatening us for a 
long time. And there is no good reason 
to suppose that it will not continue to do 
so for a long time. The thing to do now 
is to seek relief. 

If the teachers unite in self-defense 
for the purpose of ameliorating an in- 
tolerable condition, are they justified? 
They are justified no more and no less 
than other members of society that face 
the same condition. In the industrial 
and commercial field the situation has 
not only been faced, but it has also been 
remedied to a gratifying extent. Such 
newspaper items as “More Pay for 
60,000,” “Banks Give Bonuses to their 
Employees,” “Standard Oil Raises Pay,” 
“$8,000,000 More Pay for 32,000 Tail- 
ors,” “Fifty Companies Give Workers 
Higher Pay,” and scores of others, are 
too recent to be forgotten. In addition 
to this we gather from the New York 
State Bureau of Labor Reports that the 
organized workers coped with the high 
cost of living by gaining actual increases, 
from year to year, in their weekly 
wages. Some of the net weekly wage 
increases are: 1901—$1.73, 1903—$1.79, 
1905—$1.80, 1907—$2.54, 1909—$1.70, 
1910—$2.45 and so on up to 1916. From 
1914 to 1916 there is increase to 22%. 
It should be borne in mind that these in- 
creases are weekly, and not monthly or 
annual. 

Salaried employees not only get very 
small monthly or annual increases, wher- 
ever such obtain, but their salaries are 
also stationary. In a recent letter to the 
writer Mr. Leonard W. Hatch, Chief 
Statistician ui the State Industrial Com- 
mission, says: 

“All the statistical evidence available tends en- 

tirely to confirm the prevailing impression that 

hey OS 
which mm teachers belong, oy unloubtedly 
been most severely affected. That is, they have 
been behind the other classes in securing an in- 
crease of income to meet the rising cost of living. 
In other words, at the present moment that class 


probably has the strongest ground of any for de- 
Manding a readjustment of compensation.” 


Being forced to maintain a standard 
of living usually higher than that of 
their neighbors on a similar salary, and 
having their salaries reduced by reason 
of the decline in the purchasing power 
of their dollar from 100 cents in 1900-09 
to 70 cents in 1916, the wonder is how 
the teachers manage to get along at all. 
A careful study of Table II will disclose 
some startling facts: 


TABLE II.—DECREASES IN SALARIES OC- 
CASIONED BY THE DECLINE IN THE 
PURCHASING POWER OF THE 
DOLLAR 


Equivalent Per cent 
salary in 1916 of increase 
to restore required to 
Actual original restore original 
Original purchasing purchasing purchasing 
Salary power 1916 power power 
1892-99 
$720 $418 $1,241 
1,000 580 1,724 
1,500 870 2,586 
2,000 1,160 3,448 72.4 
2,500 1,450 4,310 
3,000 1,740 5.172 
3,500 2,030 6,034 
1900-09 
720 504 1,029 
1,000 700 1,429 
1,500 1,050 2,143 
2,000 1,400 2,587 42.9 
2,500 1,750 3,571 
3,000 2,100 4,286 
3,500 2,450 5,000 
1912-16 
720 562 923 
1,000 780 1,282 
1,500 1,170 1,923 
2,000 1,560 2,564 28.2 
2,500 1,950 3,205 
3,000 2,340 3,846 
3,500 2,730 4,487 


Average 47.8 


In planning this table, three groups of 
teachers were kept in mind, viz., those 
who entered the service in 1892-99, those 
who entered in 1900-09, and those who 
entered in 1912, at the time the so-called 
equal pay law went into effect. 

By way of illustration let us follow 
the case of a teacher in each of the three 
groups. Miss A was in the service in 
1898. She was then receiving a maxi- 
mum salary of, say, $1500. While in the 
service she has been spending consider- 
able sums for courses, lectures, and other 
means of professional improvement. As 
a moderately progressive person, she was 
trying to keep up also with the changing 
standard of living. All these and many 
other necessary expenditures could not 
be curtailed without a loss in efficiency. 









































4 


In fact, as the years rolled on new ex- 
penses were thrust upon her. Today, 
she finds that she can hardly get along. 
For her salary of $1500 has shrunk to a 
purchasing power of exactly $870. In 
other words, with increasing experience 
and efficiency, and burdensome social ob- 
ligations, Miss A’s salary suffers periodic 
reductions until in 1916 there is a net 
reduction of $630. If society really 
wishes to protect Miss A and give her 
today an equivalent salary to restore the 
original purchasing power, it will in- 
increase her salary to $2,586, or an in- 
crease of 72.4 per cent. 

Mr. B, who is now supporting a grow- 
ing family contracted with the city under 
a schedule that paid a maximum of $2,500 
in 1908. The purchasing value of his 
salary today is $1,750—an actual decrease 
of $750. To enable him to enjoy the 
benefits of his original salary, he should 
now receive $3,571, or an increase of 
42.9 per cent. 

Miss C’s $1,000 in 1912 are fow worth 
only $780 and her salary should be in- 
creased to $1,282, or 28.2 per cent. 

By the use of this table the reader will 
readily determine for himself the value 
of his salary today, and the actual and 
the per cental amounts it should be in- 
creased to restore the original purchasing 
power. 

At this point the keepers of the city’s 
coffers respectfully remind us that we 
teachers are well protected against the 
high cost of living by a salary schedule 
that provides for automatic increases. In 
the first place, this is a specious argu- 
ment. Those who enter the city service 
are not attracted by the minimum salary 
offered, but by the maximum salary 
which they hope to reach as soon as they 
can. It is the higher maximum that real- 
ly persuades them. Surely, no one will 
be foolish enough to argue that the mu- 
nificent sum of $720 will attract capable 
men and women to the teaching service. 
Even the maximum salaries, which are 
widely advertised, fail to draw the de- 
sired material. 

Secondly, if we examine the average 


THE AMERICAN TEACHER 







increases in salaries of teachers for the 
past few years, and compare them with 
the average increases in the cost of living 
we find a noteworthy state of affairs. 
Table III presents facts that are taken 
from Superintendent Maxwell’s Annual 
Reports, and they cannot be denied. 

TABLE III.—AVERAGE INCREASES IN TEACH- 


ERS’ SALARIES COMPARED WITH AVERAGE 
INCREASES IN COST OF LIVING. 


Average 
Salary of Amount of Per Cent Per Cent 


Elementary Increase Increase Increase 

School in Average in Average in Cost of 

Year Teachers* Salary Salary Living 
BER. ccese $1,099.00 $27.00 2.5 0.9 
1912...... 1,190.00 90.00 8.2° 0.9 
1918...... 1,271.00 82.00 6.1 0.6 
1914...... 1,262.00 9.00”’ 0.7” 2.3 
1916...... 1,298.00 36.00 2.1 8.9 
1916...... 1,305.00 7.00 0.€ 14.9 


* Including substitutes. If the amount ay them 
were deducted, the average salary would less. 

°* On account of equal pay law. 

"" Decrease. 

Particular attention is called to the last 
two columns. Note that while the per 
cental increase in average salary is grow- 
ing markedly less from year to year, the 
per cental increase in cost of living from 
year to year is increasing at an alarming 
rate. Truly, the divergence in these two 
tendencies is staggering. Thoughtful peo- 
ple will increase their activities to find 
a solution. 

At various times various people pro- 
posed remedies to relieve the difficulty. 
Superintendent Carr summarized their 
recommendations as follows :* 

1. Keep down expenses, so that there may be 
funds for increasing teachers’ salaries. . . . 

2. Standardize expenses, and in many localities 
there will be sufficient funds to pay reasonable sal- 
aries. . . « 

8. Utilize the various teachers’ comnieetiove for 
the study of tax laws and the laws and practices for 
distributing school funds. . . . 2 

4. Organize and maintain educational publicity 
committees. . . . 

5. Lastly, let us go to our homes, formulate a 
reasonable salary schedule for the particular locality 
in which we live, and then see if we cannot get it 
adopted. 


Several committees of the Teachers’ 
Union of the City of New York are at 
work on the first four propositions, and 
their findings will undoubtedly accrue to 
the benefit of the entire city. The last 
point is being tackled now. Definite de- 
mands are being formulated, and in due 
time they will be presented to the author- 
ities. The campaign will be based on 
unimpeachable facts. 








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THE SCHOOL FORUM 


NATHAN WILINSKY 
Student, Bushwick High School, Brooklyn 


{How can we make the work in our schools 
seem real to our boys and girls? That we 
are in great measure failing to do so few will 
deny. That it is most difficult to do so with 
our present curriculum, which is so foreign 
to the life of the children, again few will 
deny, except perhaps those school superinten- 
dents who deny that education should be in- 
timately related to the life of the working 
world. Unless we do succeed in making our 
work seem real and alive to the children our 
schools will continue to be the failures which 
they are to a great extent. Our children— 
oe our teachers too—will continue to feel 
that the most worthwhile thing in our schools 
is the vacation. 

Our educational system is not so con- 
structed as to make use of the experience of 
teachers in vitalizing of the work of the 
school. Neither do teachers make use of the 
point of view of the pupils. Here lies dor- 
mant a fund of useful ideas and suggestions, 
which, if brought to bear on our daily work, 
would help to accomplish that for which we 
are all working. 

We are gratified to be able to present to 
our readers the suggestion contained in the 
communication we received from one of the 
students of the Bushwick High School. We 
are very much tempted to print the communi- 
cation in full, but the limitations of space 
make it impossible.—Eb.] 

There is a strong tendency, manifesting 
itself in divers places, to rectify, or at 
least to ameliorate the more evident 
evils of educational life. From all 


, quarters come forth cries of “pupil self- 


2”? (66. 


government,’ “more club-work,” “less 
extensive and more intensive work,” 
“concentrate work in school, abolish 
home work,” and more along these 
lines. Each has been tried, and either 
found entirely wanting, or its benefit 
has been so infinitesimal that its em- 
ployment ‘was inconsequential. Ex- 
periments, tests and inducements were 
tried upon the unsuspecting school hoy 
—none directed specifically but with 
that vague feeling that although they 
“know not whither they are going, they 
are surely on their way.” 

We have seen that the collapse of 
“fads” was due to the fact that their 


the student to conform to it, whereas 
human nature is dynamic and grows 
into forms, shortly transcending them. 
Accordingly, a project must conform 
with the laws of evolution. There is 
nothing so volatile and variable as 
mind and opinion. It is on this ground 
that reform must be inaugurated. 

To the teachers there comes a call 
from the social soul, which is sharp 
and definite, and its function is unmis- 
takable—this is the Forum. 

The Forum utilizes this principle 
enunciated above by stimulating 
thought and discussion among the stu- 
dents. Wherever tradition has tried 
repression, the Forum! encourages ex- 
pression; under these circumstances 
wherein reform urged mechanical pres- 
sure to compel conformity, the Forum 
feeds the mind, and watches it outgrow 
all conventionalities. What is 
the Forum? 

Formally, it is club work exalted; a 
combination of a political mass meet- 
ing and the gathering of the pre-Revo- 
lutionary New England townsmen. 
The students of the school convenient- 
ly grouped, assemble at a definite place, 
some time during the school day. The 
chairman opens the meeting and gives 
the floor for free discussion, with the 
one condition that every speaker must 
answer questions, if they are put to 
him. There is no limitation, no taboo 
placed on topics. 

The boys and girls do not fall over 
themselves in their eagerness to argue 
whether latitude as a concept is ap- 
plicable to reality ; nor do they care to 
summarize Shakespeare’s literary 


‘predecessors and give an account of his 


indebtedness to each. But they do 
question whether the present system 
of society is worth perpetuating; 
whether evolution makes necessary the 
renunciation of religion; whether man- 


exponents fixed a mold and expected ual-training is only a fraud game to 












































6 


kill their budding love for finer things 
or a convenient stepping stone to them. 

Here, as is not usually the case with 
the application of a far-reaching prin- 
ciple, the results are immediately evi- 
dent. Instead of indulging in theoreti- 
cal speculation, the temptation of every 
writer, we shall derive our conclusions 
from the results of the experiment in 
the Bushwick High School. 

The first open Forum was held two 
or three weeks before election day of 
1916. It was frankly “taking a chance” 
to those who were interested in the 
outcome. Objections on the score of 
immaturity had been made time and 
again. The pupils came together in 
one of the class rooms, every seat was 
taken, and there were pupils standing 
all around the class and even in the 
aisles. The discussion began, and 
surely enough, it followed in the way I 
have indicated above—a full twenty- 
minute discussion of Socialism—from 
almost every economic angle. 

The attendance was so large and the 
audience so enthusiastic that whereas 
it had been previously decided to hold 
but one meeting weekly, now one each 
day was inaugurated, and the interest 
increased in even greater proportion. 
Students stood in the corridors listen- 
ing to the arguments The ex- 
periment was a success. 


THE REACTION from the first observa- 
tion we have given our readers thru 
our Fluoroscope was very gratifying, al- 
tho for a time somewhat disconcert- 
ing. We learned in the first few days 
after the publication of the article that 
several principals had been cited as the 
specimen character by those who cham- 
pioned them as typical toughs for ty- 
ranny. But a second look thru the 
instrument must have given more exact 


THE AMERICAN TEACHER 





THE FLUOROSCOPE 












Now mark the change in the once 
apathetic students. One lad, after a 
meeting, in which the chairman treated 
the rise of Christianity in Rome in a 
quite unorthodox manner, said, “Gee, I 
didn’t know that there was so much in 
my Roman history. Now, I'll have 
something to think about.” Another 
chap, who disagreed, was spurred to 
further study to obtain negative proofs. 
At another time the chairman rendered 
a talk on the fourth dimension and an 
intelligent attitude toward physics and 
geometry ensued. Not because of the 
talk directly, but because of the con- 
flicting views expressed in the debate 
which followed. Each student yearns 
to make a convincing presentation of 
his own ideas, so his English is no lon- 
ger an “abstract” science but a course 
full of hints which he can utilize. 

I need not go any further with the 
exposition. The union of school and 
life work which has so long been the 
ideal of educators is almost completely 
realized, and the aim of education as a 
preparation for activities in the outside 
world is given its strongest impetus. 
No longer are the students ciphers on 
an adding machine, but intelligent fac- 
tors who, working with clear eyes, a 
keen mind and ready helping hands, 
co-operate toward the construction of 
the purer democracy. 


information, while lending a measure of 
grief that a better known personality had 
not been under the penetrating force of 
the merciless X-ray. 

In the school where the real specimen 
character flourishes genuine signs of in- 
terest developed. THE AMERICAN 
TEACHER representative felt himself 
shunned by everybody, except where 
privacy might prevail. In the teachers’ 


room when no more than two trusted 















THE AMERICAN TEACHER 7 


persons were present first indications of 
enthusiasm for the leading teachers’ 
magazine were manifested, and the 
money for new subscriptions was passed 
nay, pushed into the hands of the rep- 
resentative. Old subscribers renewed, 
and others wanted to see the “article that 
everybody is talking about.” 

Some affronted defenders of “Things 
as They Are” started a “protest” of 
some sort which was offered for signa- 
ture. What was protested against it 
has not been our pleasure to learn. But 
that is not nearly so important as is the 
fact that positive reaction was obtained 
from practically everyone immediately 
concerned in the conditions under which 
the school work is done. Those who 
react to a new movement in any way are 
captive ultimately. They have thought! 

The second of our series is from a 
contributor whose soul has been stirred 
by the performances of official examiners 
and by the workings of examination sys- 
tems. The system of examination for 
teachers is in a large measure responsible 
for the prevailing habit of looking for 
faults instead of building up ideals of 
value in teaching. As individuals the 
members of the Board of Examiners of 
New York City may or may not look 
ahead and think constructively. But 
neither as individuals nor as a Board, 
in a long history of twenty years, have 
they influenced in any important degree 
the development of better standards of 
teaching. This is a great pity, for they 
have had an open field and a fair op- 
portunity. 


II 


My dear Mr. Examiner: 
Some of us have had romantic dreams 
about you; others, less fortunate, rather 


morbid nightmares. At any rate, we 
acknowledge your prepotent influence on 
our haphazard destinies. May one who 
looks upon your omniscience with awe- 
inspired reverence vouchsafe to you what 


has never hitherto been revealed to your 
Worship? 

We teachers do not love you. That 
were preposterously human. We do not 
hate you. That were preposterously in- 
human. From the bottom of our intel- 
lects we pity you. Aye, pity’s the word. 
You must pretend to be competent in a 
hundred specialties. The pretence de- 
ludes no one but your pompous self. 
You pretend by magic intuition to probe 
in a trice the meaning of personality. 
Your judgments are so silly, they are no 
longer humorous; they are genuinely 
tragic. Why, in the name of modesty, 
do you bluff so unremittingly? A little 
intellectual honesty now and then is re- 
lished by the best of men. Why not 
confess your illimitable ignorance? Such 
healing good sense would lift the load of 
pretense from your craven soul and pre- 
pare you for the work-a-day humanities. 
Quit posing! Quit the foolish mas- 
querading ! 

You work faithfully—true. Exactly 
so did the inquisitors of another more 
shameful age. You mean to be fair- 
minded. Remember that hell is paved 
with good intentions. You aspire to be 
honorable, so was Brutus an honorable 
man. You do the best you can under the 
circumstances. Ah, there speaks the un- 
easy conscience. Do you? There are 
thousands of excellent men and women 
who think (who know!) that you have a 
genius for doing the very worst you can 
under the circumstances. 

How often after a week’s Reign of 
Error do you, oh magnanimous Judge, 
lie down on a pillow of doubt and soberly 
review the sins you have wilfully, oftimes 
ignorantly and meanly committed against 
victims too powerless to protest, too sen- 
sitive to rebel, too indignant to care, too 
hopeless to reply? What is your concep- - 
tion of your duty? Your power for 
mischief makes countless thousands 
mourn. Inglorious automaton, what to 
you are the elemental emotions of sym- 
pathy and fellow-realization? You don’t 
know it. Your humanity is being 





8 THE AMERICAN TEACHER 


crushed out of your anaemic heart by 
the impersonal grind of your too mono- 
tonous routines. 

Mr. Examiner, we pity you. You 
are like some totemistic pole, plastered 
over with mumbo-jumbo decorations, 
fearful to the innocent eye of supersti- 
tion, grotesquely absurd to the soph- 
isticated eye of intelligence. Like that 
ancient totemic symbol, you inspire either 
low-brow fear or derison. You can- 
not inspire affection. [I pity you. 

ZADIG, JR., 

A constant reader of THE AMERICAN 
TEACHER. 


THE TEACHER’S HEALTH 

THE PENSION situation in New York 
City has compelled us to give thought to 
our health and vitality as affected by 
our daily work. After a day’s exhaust- 
ing work, it is easy to convince our- 
selves that our lives are being rapidly 
worn out and that nervous breakdown 
and early death is our lot. So prevalent 
did this notion become that the Brook- 
lyn Teachers’ Association made an in- 
vestigation of the absence of New York 
City school teachers during the school 
year 1913-14 with the expectation of 
proving that the health conditions under 
which we labor are very bad. The Com- 
mittee of investigation failed to find such 
conditions. 

Now comes a report of a scientific 
study of the “Physical Disability of New 
York City School Teachers, a study of 
3,877 records of absence during the 
school year 1914-15,” by Louis I. Dub- 
lin, Statistician, Metropolitan Life In- 
surance Company, New York, published 
in School and Society, October, 1916. In 
his conclusions Dr. Dublin says that the 
facts brought to light in this survey 
warrants the conclusions that the 
occupation of teaching has no very 
deleterious effect upon the vitality of 
the teachers; that the death rate is un- 
disputably low; and that the sickness 
rate among teachers is likewise low. 


While there are — elements of sel 
tainty regarding the figures, it is obvious 
des han indicate a condition of marked 
healthfulness for the New York City 
teachers. 

Certain of Dr. Dublin’s recommenda- 
tions are of interest to teachers. The 
Board of Education should make a care- 
ful inspection of the school plants to 
determine whether conditions of venti- 
lation, heating, light, cubic air content, 
etc., are in accordance with the stand- 
ards determined upon by the best techni- 
cal information now available. He also 
recommends the rehabilitation of the 
Teachers’ Retirement Fund with provi- 
sion for the payment of benefits during 
illness so that teachers may not be tempt- 
ed to continue at work while sick. 

These reports of Dr. Dublin and of the 
Brooklyn Teachers’ Association were 
based upon studies of cases of sick-leave 
in New York City, and in neither in- 
stance was an attempt made to study the 
health of the teacher while on duty in 
the class room. Such an investigation 
has been made by the Commission on the 
Welfare of Teachers appointed in 1914 
by the New York State Teachers’ Asso- 
ciation. The object of the inquiry was 
to— 

“collect facts relative to health and living 
and teaching conditions of teachers in the 
state; to call attention to undesirable con- 
ditions which may lower the efficiency of 
teachers, and, hence the efficiency of 
education; to get opinions of teachers and 
supervisors regarding causes of conditions 
favorable and unfavorable to health and 
efficiency of teachers; and lastly to propose 
measures which may improve teachers’ wel- 
fare and efficiency.” 

It was found that more than one-third 
of the teachers reported upon “are nerv- 
ous, irritable, low in vitality, or other- 
wise handicapped.” Iii health is found 
to be the cause of most of the impaired 
efficiency, and ill health is found to be 
caused by insanitary conditions and ex- 
cessive demands of school work.” Add 

(Continued on page 13) 





American Ceacher 


Democracy in Education: Education for Democracy 


abt "tet = monthly, ay [ety os and Meant” mc. 
an Fitts Avenue, New York City r 
omens. R. MASON 











HENRY R. LINVILLE 
Editor-in-Chief 
BENJAMIN C. GRUENBERG 
Managing Editor 
Benjamin Glassberg Sam Schmalhausen 
J. EDWARD MAYMAN 
Business Manager 





At the time of expiration, a bill will be found in 
the copy, Subscribers are requested to give prompt 
notice of changes in address. 





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order 
York’ ge). 


order, draft, stamps or check (New 





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at the Post Office, s New York, N. Y.; under the 
Act of March 3, 1879. 








VOL. VI JANUARY, 1917 No. 1 








Officers of the American Federation of 
Teachers 
(Affiliated with American Federation of Labor) 
Cuas B Srititman, President 
1620 Lake Ave., Wilmette, III. 
Ina L M Fursman, Vice-President 
4465 N. Kildare Ave., Chicago. 
Mary F Dwyer, Rec. Secretary 
2817 Cambridge Ave., Chicago 
Marcaret Snopcrass, Corr. Sec. 
1061 Dakin St., Chicago 
F G Srecxer, Financial Sec. 
1618 Lake Ave., Wilmette, Iil. 
James A Meane, Treasurer 
2628 Sayre Ave., Chicago 
Marcaret A Hatey, Nat'l Organizer 
1331 Unity Building, Chicago 


Trustees 
Henry R. Linville George J Jones 
Anita Bailey Nora M O’Connor 
Amelia M Prendergast 








THE PENSION PROBLEM 


The fourth and last article in Mr. 
Studensky's series will be printed in the 
February number. 


WHY UNPROFESSIONAL? 


A CORRESPONDENT whose letter we 
publish in this number maintains that 
“a paper that indulges in personal at- 
tack of any fellow-worker or official” is 
guilty of “unprofessional and unethi- 
cal” conduct. There is no specification 
as to which of our articles deserves so 
severe a condemnation, and hence there 
is inadequate support given to the 
claim that our writing may be charac- 
terized as “unprofessional and uneth- 
ical.” But it seems that we have been 
deluding ourselves into thinking that 
THE AMERICAN TEACHER is about the 
most professional educational maga- 
zine there is. Anyway, we should like 
to know whose definition of profes- 
sional conduct is being used by the cor- 
respondent, and likewise, upon what 
basis, aside from the basis of truthful- 
ness, criticisms of “fellow-workers and 
officials” may be made safely and pro- 
fessionally. 

However, being in the business, we 
should know when we have made a 
personal attack. It is barely possible 
that our much-discussed “Fluoroscope” 
article in the November issue is re- 
sponsible for our losing this and some 
other subscriptions. 

In common with all good people, we 
deplore personal attacks, and regret 
sincerely that we have never learned 
of a way to bring crime home to the 
criminal, or to lay unfitness and vulgar 
incompetence at the door of a public 
servant, except by the method of telling 
the truth about the individuals who do 
these things to us. A regular incident 
in the procedure of the courts is the 
pointing of an unerring finger at the 
culprit, and the remark, “You, you, are 
the one who has committed this crime 
against humanity.” We shall assume 
that the courts have not established 































































10 THE AMERICAN TEACHER 


this custom because of a desire to in- 
dulge in personal attacks, but rather 
because of a desire to meet a social, as 
well as an official, obligation. The 
AMERICAN TEACHER could not escape 
general condemnation if it turned the 
penetrating rays of its figurative in- 
strument, the Fluoroscope, to any pur- 
pose other than that of carrying out its 
own honestly conceived social obliga- 
tion of showing up the evils in an edu- 
cational system, as they are worked out 
thru the agency of individuals, and at 
the same moment lighting up the way 
to better times and conditions. If any 
individual false to his trust, or his sup- 
porters good of intention but short of 
vision, feel offended it is within their 
right to cry out against “unprofessional 
conduct.” It would be natural for 
them to do so if they have no other de- 
fense. 

What must strike our readers as pe- 
culiar is the fact that anyone should 
stop a perfectly good subscription from 
going on, and doing still more good, 
merely because some indefinite person 
is stood up and searched with the X- 
rays. Was the light so cruel that it 
pictured a definite, recognizable per- 
son? If so, the light must have shown 
the truth. In that case the charge of 
unprofessional conduct does not mean 
bearing false witness or doing a dishon- 
orable thing. Therefore we rest con- 
tent. 

Finally, we should like our corre: 
spondent to ponder seriously over the 
social, and if she pleases, the profes- 
sional effect of joining hands with 
those whose “attacked” incompetence 
she does not take the precaution to ex- 
amine into or to deny. 


A LEGAL SCHOOL FOR COWARDICE 

Mempers of boards of educations have 
little use for teachers who maintain the 
role of “timid protesters in a far cor- 
ner,” and who will not come forward 
when they believe themselves to be 

















suffering from unfair treatment, and 
make a courageous statemént of the 
facts over their own signatures. No- 
body has much use for such. There are 
even signs that the teachers have little 
use for themselves. Hence the preva- 
lent lack of self-respect. 

If society followed the stimulus af- 
forded by feelings of that kind, teach- 
ers would be relegated to the position 
of menials. And teaching would be a 
menial job. With teaching as a menial 
job the education the children obtain 
will be of similar character. Therein 
lies the reason that boards of education 
should endeavor by every means within 
their power to break down the official 
barriers that protect injustice in the 
administration of any school. 

Suppose that a teacher is working in 
a school where the principal desires to 
adorn the rooms and the corridors with 
handsome reproductions of the best 
products of art. The Board of Educa- 
tion has no money to meet the keenly- 
felt need, but the teachers have money 
which can be obtained by an appeal to 
“professional spirit,” or by a simpler, 
more direct request to “come across.” 
The teachers who do pay without sign 
of unwillingness are often taking the 
easiest way out of the difficulty. They 
may have in mind any one of many 
reasons for not making objection to 
the official graft. No one ever knows 
whether such teachers are cowards or 
not. 

A teacher who will not submit to the 
official graft runs the risk of having his 
rating lowered or of being assigned un- 
desirable tasks. In many ways also he 
is liable to be made to feel that he is a 
“cheap skate” anyway If a teacher 
who does not pay brings his grievance 
to the Board of Education in the City 
of New York a preliminary inquiry 
may be held, but nothing final can be 
done, unless the teacher is willing to 
swear to his statement. A sworn state- 
ment is a public record, and as such 
should be effective in righting any 















S* 8s doe cy 





THE AMERICAN TEACHER 11 


wrong in the petty administration of a 
school. But the Board of Education 
committee that receives the statement 
files it, makes its decision, and forgets 
about it. But the principal against 
whom the statement may have been 
made is on the job all the time. He 
never forgets. Naturally, there are few 
sworn statements by teachers concern- 
ing acts of injustice committed by prin- 
cipals. But there are doubtless thou- 
sands of anonymous letters and iden- 
tifiable complaints by letter and by 
word of mouth brought to the atten- 
tion of members of the New York 
Board of Education every year, pur 
when the demand is made for evidence 
supported by oath, the kickers disap- 
pear like mist before the high wind. 
Not the least of the evil features of situ- 
ations of this kind is the fact that 
everyone concerned in considering the 
cases regards the complaining teachers 
as cowards. Possibly they are. But 
what shall we say of the Board of Edu- 
cation committee that washes its hands 
of all responsibility by expressing re- 
gret at the absence of oath-supported 
evidence, and makes no effort to get at 
the fact by means of its own unlimited 
power? 

Board of Education committees ap- 
pear to be constituted more as courts 
than as grand juries. This seems to us 
to be a serious mistake, assuming that 
the Board may become anxious to 
break down the official barriers that 
protect all manner of petty injustice in 
schools all thru the great city by dis- 
covering the guilt of those responsible 
for evil, and by indicting them before 
the people. 


SELF-RATING BY TEACHERS 
In School and Society for December 
30, Principal Alexander Fichandler 
gives an interesting account of an experi- 
ment in self-rating by teachers of a pub- 
lic school. Sixty-nine per cent of the 
teachers’ ratings were identical with 


those made by the principal. In the 
course of time experience in self-scrutiny 
should make possible the acceptance of 
the teachers’ own ratings as final, “with 
the possible checking up of doubtful 
cases by the supervising staff,” suggests 
the writer. 

The iurther suggestion is made that 
such ratings should be the result of co- 
operative study on the part of teachers 
and supervisors, which is in accord with 
the views put forth in the past by THE 
AMERICAN TEACHER. In conclusion Mr. 
Fichandler says : 


Unless the teacher acknowledges the jus- 
tice of his ratings, they become merely 
sources of irritation and unhappiness, and 
consequently a cause of diminished effi- 
ciency. Neglecting for the present the 
larger problem, whether such ratings are 
necessary in our profession, we may accept 
the principle that only intelligent self-criti- 
cism can lead to real and permanent im- 
provement. Whether the results of this 
experiment show that teachers have or have 
not the capacity for such intelligent self- 
criticism, it may be asserted that only thru 
continued and persistent practise of this 
kind will such capacity be developed. 


AN EDUCATIONAL CHAUTAUQUA 
A. H. ForEMAN 

Principal Mars (Pa.) High School 
There is a definite, dynamic purpose 
back of the American Federation of 
Teachers. There appears, however, to 
be no practical method for carrying its 
message to the thousands of teachers 
in this country. The American Teacher 
is, of course, doing pioneer work in its 
heroic efforts to make the teachers con- 
scious of their slavery, and to direct 
them into the kingdom of self-respect 
and power. And I believe that the 
great need in the movement is to get 
this earnest, purposeful magazine into 

the hands of teachers everywhere. 
But how shall we do this? How to 
get before the teachers the great, noble 
purpose of the American Federation of 





12 THE AMERICAN TEACHER 


Teachers is, it seems to me, a question 
pressing for an answer. Let us think 
about this matter. Let us think, dare, 
resolve to do something. I, for one, 
suggest the Teachers’ Chautauqua. 

This suggestion is based on the fact 
that to reach the people, leaders must 
go to the people, speak to them and 
with them inject spirit into their 
minds and hearts; fire, fuse, and so- 
lidify individual minds into conscious 
unity. 

How can this be done most effective- 
ly? How can the forces of the Federa- 
tion be organized to accomplish this 
great work? Is the scheme practical? 
Will it work? 


In the first place the Educational 
Chautauqua would mean the conven- 
tion of public school teachers at a des- 
ignated place and time for the definite 
purpose of learning about their own 
problems and how the American Fed- 
eration of Teachers proposes to serve 
them. This convention would be or- 


ganized by a dynamic leader, sent out 
under the auspices of the Federation. 
For rural teachers he might meet them 
at their annual institutes, explain the 
purpose of the Federation, and arrange 
for a meeting at the close of their insti- 


tute the next year. For city teachers 
other convenient times might be ar- 
ranged. 

This organizer would present at the 
firsc meeting a definite program, to be 
rendered in one afternoon and evening, 
at the close of the annual institute, by 
two or more strong leaders or other 
purposeful members of the Federation. 
Tickets at fifty cents each would be 
sold to the teachers, and subscriptions 
for THE AMERICAN TEACHER taken. 

The foregoing is a general idea of the 
Educational Chautauqua. I confess 
that the details should be somewhat 
more definite in the way of getting 
money to begin the work. Yet I believe 
the method will work out, if backed by 
the heart and will of the Federation. 








Official Section of the 
TEACHERS’ UNION OF THE 
CITY OF NEW YORK 








BEWARE THE BY-LAWS 

The by-laws of the Department of 
Education as interpreted by an author- 
ized committee prohibit the collection 
of funds from the teachers by princi- 
pals. The defense is commonly made 
that this custom of semi-official col- 
lecting is general, and so it is. Hun- 
dreds of dollars have been collected in 
single schools to buy presents for pro- 
moted or retiring principals, or to pay 
the fares of principals on vacation 
trips. Thus the milk of human kind- 
ness in education is kept sweet by the 
use of cash—the cash of teachers. 

It happens once in a while that 
school furnishings are not provided by 
the Department. Statuary, pictures, 
and even paintings of principals are 
needed, but the Department has no 
money to spare for them. In emer- 
gencies of this kind some generous soul 
among the teachers starts a subscrip- 
tion list. If it is known that the prin- 
cipal has benignly blessed the under- 
taking, the money is forthcoming. 
When the principal himself conceives 
the project of making up for the finan- 
cial inability of the city, and lets his 
desires be known, few are blind enough 
to hold back. Teachers believe with 
good reason that punishment for “lack 
of spirit” will be meted out in some 
form or other. Imposition of this kind 
is said to be rather common in the 
schools of New York City. But noth- 
ing can be done to help the teachers 
unless they themselves make the initial 
move. 

A case of systematic collecting was 
brought recently to the attention of 
The Teachers Union. Miss Ida L. 
Morrison, Principal of P. S. 174 





THE AMERICAN TEACHER 13 


Brooklyn, has been collecting money 
from the teachers of her school for the 
purpose of buying pictures. The walls 
were bare and needed decorating. Con- 
tributions to supply this need began in 
1913 and have continued up to the pres- 
ent time, nearly three and one-half 
years. The rate for a time was fifty 
cents a month for each teacher. Later 
the rate was reduced to twenty-five 
cents a month. At about that time the 
war in Europe broke out, and com- 
pelled retrenchment in all peaceful de- 
partments of life. 

Some of the teachers refused to con- 
tribute. Owing to this fact, The 
Teachers Union ultimately came into 
possession of information upon the 
basis of which a report of the case was 
made to Mr. William A. Willcox, Pres- 
ident of the Board of Education. The 
President referred the case to the Com- 
mittee on Elementary Schools. The 
President of The Teachers Union and 
the Principal of the school were sum- 
moned to appear before the Committee. 
Presumably the hearings of Board of 
Education committees are privileged 
proceedings. Nevertheless, the teach- 
ers of the system should know that the 
Board of Education will not overlook 
the infringement of this by-law. Nat- 
urally, the collecting of money to buy 
pictures in this particular school will 
cease. 


The 2oth century is an age of special- 
ization. The Street Cleaning Depart- 
ment has Ciean-up Day, the churches 
Church Sunday, the Health Depart- 
ment Fresh-air Week, etc. Why should 
not the Union emulate these worthy 
organizations? Your Press Represent- 
ative believes that January should 
usher in a vigorous campaign for mem- 
bers. January first is the day for new 
year resolves. What will be your re- 
solve? The editor makes the following 
resolution: I firmly resolve that I shall 
induce at least one teacher in the sys- 
tem to join the Union before the close 


of the school year or else go without 
dinners for one month and donate the 
sum thus saved to advance the cause of 
Unionism in New York. ° 

Do you realize what a firm adher- 
ence to the above resolution by all the 
union members means? It means the 
doubling of our membership, the 
strengthening of our treasury, the vic- 
tory of our pension fight, the increase 
of our salaries, and the ultimate tri- 
umph of the principles for which the 
Union stands. Isn’t this worth a little 
effort and sacrifice? Isn’t the campaign 
worth while even if all of us don’t suc- 
ceed? Come, be up and doing. Don’t 
be a parasite waiting for someone to do 
the things you ought to do. 

Christmas has taught you the joy of 
giving; let January teach you the joy 
of doing. Have you any persuasive 
ability? Have you will power? Have 
you persistence? Have you the prin- 
ciples of unionism really at heart? 
Prove it to your satisfaction and to 
ours by taking the membership resolve 
and by sticking to your self-assigned 
task until victory crowns your efforts 
as it surely will. 


THE GREATEST UNION EPIC 


On January one I firmly resolve, 

For one month to starve, 

If I cannot add one Name, 

To the membership list and gain fame: 

On the honor roll for February I’LL 
be, 

And show the Editor I love the Union 
as well as he. 

A, LEFKOWITz. 


THE TEACHER’S HEALTH 


(Continued from page 8) 
to this low salaries and we have before us 
the teacher’s trinity of evil. 

The commission makes a long list of 
recommendations, chief among which are 
improved sanitary conditions of schools, 
decreased demands upon time and 
strength of teachers for making reports 
and doing clerical and janitorial work, 















14 


improvement of standards for supervi- 
sion and criticism of teachers, reduc- 
tion of the size of classes when the num- 
ber exceeds twenty-five, better facilities 
for physical exercise and recreation for 
teachers, better salaries in the lower 
schedules, arrangements for health in- 
surance, sick leave when needed, pension 
provisions on a sound actuarial basis. 

The Commission points out some of 
the vital defects in the present educa- 
tional system and recommends import- 
ant remedial action. Some practical re- 
sults should be obtained. Other teachers’ 
organizations, including local ones, 
should continue the work here begun, 
make local investigations, and bring pres- 
sure to bear upon the proper authorities 
for measures of relief. 


A LETTER SENT TO EACH MEMBER OF 
CONGRESS 
Chicago, Illinois, 
January 3, 1917. 
Dear Sir— 

The American Federation of Teachers, 
affiliated with the American Federation 
of Labor, in convention assembled, in 
Chicago, on December 30, 1916, pro- 
tests against the injustice of the amend- 
ment to Section 6 of the District of 
Columbia Appropriation Bill (H. R. 
19119), proposed on December 21, 1916, 
by Congressman Page of North Carolina. 

The adoption of this amendment would 
deny to the pitifully underpaid teachers 
of the District of Columbia the increases 
in salaries granted to other public em- 
ployees of the District. By force of ex- 
ample, it would tend to lower the stand- 
ards of the teaching profession through- 
out the United States, thereby working 
serious injury to public education. 

The American Federation of Teachers 
therefore presents the following resolu- 
tion: 

“Be Ir REsSOLven that this body most 
earnestly asks the Congress of the United 
States to include the public school em- 
ployees in the benefits of increased sal- 


THE AMERICAN TEACHER 









aries granted to other employees of the 
District of Columbia.” 
Respectfully submitted, 
Cuas. B. STILLMAN, 
President. 
MARGARET SNODGRASS, 
Corresponding Secretary. 


RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED BY THE AMER- 
ICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS, 
IN CONVENTION DECEMBER, 1916 


Wuereas in the House of Representatives 
of the United States an amendment was pro- 
posed to the District Bill providing for in- 
creased salaries for employees of the District 
of Columbia, excepting school employees; 

Wuenreas this amendment was lost in the 
House on a point of order, but’ will come up 
after January 1, 1917, in the Senate, perhaps 
again excluding school employees; 

Wuereas teachers are also employees of 
the District Government and, like other 
people there, have to meet the greatly in- 
creased cost of living, which, while universal 
in this country, is nowhere more burdensome 
than in our National Capital; 

WuHereAs many teachers in the grades of 
the schools in the City of Washington re- 
ceive less than Six Hundred Dollars ($600.00) 
a year, which is not a living wage; 

Wuereas the salaries of the teachers thru- 
out the grades, and in the High Schools, are 
less than is paid by many other cities of this 
country ; 

Wuereas teachers should be free from 
financial worries, in order that they may de- 
vote all their time and energy in teaching and 
in directing the many student activities which 
are connected with modern schools; 

Wuenreas the Congress of the United States 
should take the lead in dignifying the work 
of the teacher, thus making it an attractive 
profession to our best young men . and 
women ; 

Whereas the future of this country will be 
determined by nothing more than by the qual+ 
ity of the teachers, who have in their hands 
to such a great degree the development of 
character in our children; 






















































| 









THE AMERICAN TEACHER 


Tuererore, Be It Resotven that this body, 
“The American Federation of Teachers,” 
most earnestly asks the Congress of the 
United States to include the public school 
employees in the benefits of increased salaries 
granted to other employees of the District of 
Columbia. 

Be Ir FurtrHer Resotvep that copies of 
these resolutions be sent at once to all mem- 
bers of the United States Congress at Wash- 
ington. 


WHAT THEY SAY 
To the Editors, Tae American TEACHER: 

I want, with this issue, my subscription to 
Tue AMERICAN TEACHER to stop. I have been 
interested ever since the paper started in some 
of its program. I cannot, however, support 
any paper that indulges in personal attack of 
any fellow-worker or official. It seems to me 
unprofessional and unethical. I can find no 
good philosophy or uplift in such material. 


15 


Since such publication is permitted in your 
paper, I do not care to support it even by re- 
ceiving it to the end of my subscription pe- 
riod. Myra T. Encerton. 

Jamaica High School. 


To the Editors, THe American TEACHER: 
Enclosed please find one dollar for two 
years’ subscription to THe AMERICAN 
TeacHer. Allow me to congratulate you on 
the November number. It is one of the 
strongest you have published. The articles on 
Teachers’ Unions and the Fluoroscope pleased 
me particularly. It seems to me that is the 
line of endeavor the paper should follow in 
the future. A. Kovar. 
P. S. 84, Brooklyn. 


SELF GOVERNMENT 


Children must learn to do by doing. 
Teachers must learn to do by being 
told. 











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Resolution adopted by the American Federation 
of Teachers in Convention Assembled, 
Chicago, December 30, 1916 


The American Federation of Teachers in Annual Convention assembled 
denounces a long continued tendency in educational administration 
to punish by dismissal teachers in universities, colleges and schools 
who have courageously expressed their deep-seated convictions on 
the professional, social and economic conditions of the present time. 


Within the past two years well-known violations of the principle of free- 
dom of speech and opinion have occurred in the summary dismissal 
of Professor Scott Nearing from the University of Pennsylvania, 
Professor Brewster of the University of Colorado, and Professor 
Knowlton of the University of Utah. 


As recently as June, 1916, sixty-eight teachers of the City of Chicago, 
recommended for reappointment by the Superintendent of Schools 
of Chicago, were refused reappointment by the Board of Education 
of that city. This act of tyranny was consummated without attempt 
at justification, without explanation, and in spite of the vigorous pro- 
test of a minority of the Board. 


The American Federation of Teachers condemns acts of the kind de- 
scribed as destructive of the foundations of character among enlight- 
ened teachers everywhere, tending to render them unfit for the task 
of developing moral character and high standards of citizenship 
among the youth of the land. 


The attention of the public is directed to the fact that another effect of 
the high-handed dismissal of teachers of independence of thought 
and judgment is to discourage from entering the profession many 
able young men and women who might otherwise be of inestimable 
value to the community as teachers. 


The American Federation of Teachers makes its appeal to the public- 
spirited men and women of this country to come to its aid in the 
present crisis, and to give effective support wherever possible in 
helping to reverse the acts of educational officials who in this man- 
ner have been faithless to the public welfare; and further, to. take 
steps which in the future will render similar acts impossible. 





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