FFB 1R 1920 ist | a7 ONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION RESEARCH BULLETIN VOL. XVII - No. 1 JANUARY - 1939 The Rural Teacher's Economic Status Published by the RESEARCH DIVISION of the NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION of the UNITED STATES 1201 Sixteenth Street, N. W., Washington, D. C. Published five times each year in January, March, May, September, and November President, REUBEN T. SHAW RESEARCH BULLETIN o¢ 1: NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION Executive Secretary, WILLARD E. GIVEN Director of Research: William G. Carr; Associate Director: Frank \W. Hubbard Assistant Directors: Richard R. Foster, lvan A. Booker, Hazel Davis, Charles R. Tupper Research Assistants and Section Heads: Frances G. Bradley, Louise B. Sease, Helen H. Cox, Anna Haddow, Madaline K. Remmlein, Mildred Wharton, and Theo C. Hartman Executive and Editorial Offices 1201 Sixteenth Street, N. W., Washington, D. C. Copyright, 1939, by the National Education Association of the United States Entered as second-class matter February 10, 1923, at the Post Office at Washington, D. C., under Act of August 24, 1912. Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in Section 1103, Act of October 3, 1917, authorized February 10, 1923. Subscriptions The payment of the $5 membership fee of the National Education Association entitles one to receive for one year the Research Bulletin, the Journal, the An- nual Volume of Addresses and Proceed- ings, and certain other publications of the Association. One dollar of each $5 mem- bership fee is for a year’s subscription to the Research Bulletin. The Research Bulletin may be received regularly thru a special subscription at $l per year. Many of the early issues of the Research Bulletin are already out of print. The special subscription at $1 per year offers an opportunity to maintain a complete file of future Research Bulletins. 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In other cases appli- cation for the release of materials is re- quired. Address communications to the Research Division, National Education Association, 1201 Sixteenth Street, N. W., Washington, D. C. ; CONTENTS Page FoREWORD 4 { [NTRODUCTION 5 I. SCHOOL SALARIES AND OTHER INCOME 6 Sources of Income 7 School Salaries in Relation to Various Factors 7 Il. Uses oF INCOME i4 Comparison of Single Women and Married Men in Certain Living Arrangements 15 Comparison of Teachers in Different Types of School 19 Comparison of Teachers at Different Income Levels 21 Comparison of Teachers with Different Numbers of Dependents 21 Comparison of Teachers with Different Amounts of Experience 22 Variations in Amounts Used for Specific Purposes by Individual Teachers 22 III. VALUE OF PROPERTY AND EXTENT OF INDEBTEDNESS 25 Amounts Reported for Each Type of Property and Indebtedness 25 Fotal Assets and Liabilities of Teachers Having Different Amounts of Experience 26 Total Assets and Liabilities in Relation to Home Maintenance and Ownership 29 IV. WHAT RuRAL TEACHERS THINK ABOUT THEIR ECONOMIC STATUS 30) Teacher A 3() Teacher B 31 Teacher C 31 Teacher D 32 Teacher E ae 33 Teacher F ; 34 Teacher G 35 Teacher H 35 Teacher | 36 Teacher J 37 Teacher K 38 4 : Teacher L 39 V. SUMMARY OF FACTS AND CONCLUSIONS 40 A Composite Picture of the Rural Teacher 40 Differences According to Type of Rural School 41 Outstanding Points and Their Significance 41 APPENDIX 47 : A. Scope and Procedure of the Study 49 B. Copy of Questionnaire Sent to Teachers 55 C. List of Tables and Figures 61 [3] : FOREWORD OR MANY YEARS the National Education Association has been actively interested in improving the economic status of teachers. The Association's committees on salaries, tenure, and retirement allowances have contributed much to the development of basic principles and the formation of public opin- ion in these fields. In 1935 the Committee on the Economic Status of the ‘Teacher issued a comprehensive report on the economic position of teachers in city school systems. The Research Division, ever since its establishment in 1922, has devoted a major share of its resources to studies of teacher welfare. Recently the Association has given special attention to the economic prob- lems of teachers in rural areas—those in the open country and in towns under 2500 in population. Leading the way in a study of these problems has been the Committee on the Economic Status of the Rural Teacher, consisting of William McKinley Robinson, Kalamazoo, Michigan (chairman); L. V. Cavins, Charleston, West Virginia; Frank W. Cyr, New York, New York; Walter H. Gaumnitz, Washington, D. C.; A. R. Mead, Gainesville, Florida; L. P. Terrebonne, Plaquemine, Louisiana; and Kate V. Wofford, Buffalo, New York. With the assistance of the Research Division, this Committee has just completed its survey of conditions among rural teachers, and will soon publish a complete report of its findings. To bring the principal facts and conclusions immediately to the attention of educational leaders, the Committee has coop- erated in the publication of certain parts of its report in this issue of the Research Bulletin. A study of this kind does not serve its ultimate purpose unless its findings are placed before schoolbéards, legislators, lay organizations, and citizens generally in such a way as to arouse them to appropriate action. To accomplish this pur- pose, the Committee expects to issue one or more small pamphlets showing the outstanding facts and implications of the study in graphic, dramatic fashion. Readers of this bulletin are urged to make use of these supplementary materials in their own states and local communities. This foreword would not be adequate without special mention of two impor- tant sources of help in making this study: (1) the General Education Board, whose grant of $1500 enabled the Committee to include a wider sampling of teachers in the southern states than would otherwise have been possible, and (2) the thousands of teachers who furnished information about themselves and about the conditions under which they live and work. Let us see to it that the facts revealed by these cooperative efforts are used to raise the status of teachers in rural communities. WIxtarp E. Givens, Executive Secretary National Education Association [4] a nectar areata aalra 32 8, CNMI a tl Introduction Nearly half of the pupils, and more than half f the teachers, principals, and supervisors in the public day schools of the United States are located in rural areas—that is, in the open coun or in towns under 2500 in population.' This fact alone indicates the high relative importance of rural teaching in the nation’s total educa tional task. When the irked rural-to-urban shifting which has al one considers also most continuously characterized our popula tion,” it is clear that the quality of instruction in rural schools is hardly less important to city dwellers than to those who remain in small towns or on farms. In other words, the status of rural teachers should be of genuine concern to all persons who are interested in improving the social, cultural, and economic life of the communities in which they live. That the status of rural teachers generally is far below that of city teachers is not news either to the teachers themselves or to students of school administration. Such knowledge on the part of the educational profession is not sufficient, however. Only as the public comes to understand more fully the conditions unde1 which rural teachers live and work, can there be hope for significant improvement in rural education. Capable persons entering this field are not likely to regard it as a permanent career worthy of their best efforts unless they can see in it a chance to earn a reasonable wage, to maintain an appropriate standard of living, to keep abreast of professional progress, and to enjoy the cultural and social opportunities es- sential to effective work as a teacher. The sur- vey on which this bulletin is based sought to obtain a variety of significant facts about rural teachers, with a view to giving those facts wide publicity among laymen as well as teachers. Specific Purposes and Procedures of the Survey The purposes and procedures of the survey Ap pendix at the end of this bulletin. It is sufficient a whole are reviewed in detail in the as at this point to indicate the general types ot information obtained from the rural teachers, »\ as follows: (1) their professional status ; their family responsibilities and living condi tions; (3) their transportation facilities; (+) their cultural, recreational, and economic op portunities; and (5) their financial status, in cluding amounts of school salary and other in come received, uses of income during a twelv: month period, amounts of property and of in debtedness accumulated, and reactions of the teachers to their financial problems. Scope of This Bulletin Owing to the length of the complete survey report, only a part of it can be included in the Research Bulletin. After consultation with the committee in charge of the survey, the sect dealing with the financial status of white teach ers were chosen as being best suited to separate presentation. Detailed information for whi ¢ teachers on the other topics listed above, s well as all the data for Negro teachers, will be found in the complete committee report. While the detailed data in this bulletin are limited to the financial aspects of teacher status, the closing section summarizes the entire survey so far as the white teachers are concerned. ‘This arrangement Research Bulletin readers who do not purchase the longer report to become familiar with many of its outstand ing facts and implications.‘ will enable ' Blose, David T., and Alves, Henry F. ‘Statistics of State School Systems, 1935-36." Biennial Survey of Education in th United States: 1934-36. U. S. Dept. of the Interior, Office of Education, Bulletin, 1937, No. 2. Washington, D. C.: Government Printing Office, 1938. Vol. II, p. 49. (Advance pages.) Se National Education Association, Research Division. “Population Trends and Their Educational Implicatior Research Bulletin 16: 13, 45; January 1938. *The complete report, of approximately 125 printed pages, may be obtained from the National Education Association about March 15, 1939, *To help arouse interest and appropriate action among lay individuals and groups thruout the nation, the Committee on the Economic Status of the Rural Teacher expects to issue, within the next few months, one or more popular leaflets based on the findings of this survey. I. School Salaries ‘That the salaries of rural teachers generally are very low in comparison with those of city teachers is well known. There has been, how- ever, a lack of information concerning the rela- tion of rural teachers’ salaries to their income from other sources and to such factors as sex, marital status, general section of the nation, size and location of school, training and expe- rience of teachers, type of position held, and number of the teachers’ dependents. This sec- tion of the bulletin presents data for white teachers on all these points. Sources of Income ‘The cooperating teachers were asked to re- port the current income which they received from June 1, 1936, to May 31, 1937, under the following headings: 1. Money received as salary for school services (including any salary paid into, or deducted for, a teachers’ retirement or insurance fund) 2. Estimated value of commodities ceived as partial payment for school services 3. Earnings from other kinds of work (including estimated money value of commodities produced for one’s own consumption) money re- 4. Income contributed by relatives living in same household with teacher (including money value of commodities received from such relatives) and Other Income including 5. Other income borrowed or withdrawn from savings) current (not mor 6. Total current income (sum of items 1 to 5 Table 1 for the entire 9822 teachers, the number receiving differen: amounts under each of the above headings, well as the mean amount received under ea heading. There was a wide range in the amoun: of money received as school salary, 22 te: getting less than $200 and 160 teachers gettin, $2000 or more. A similar situation existed wit! respect to total income, 11 teachers receiy less than $200 and 337 receiving $2000 more. Under each of the other types of incom: relatively few teachers received as much $200, and a very large majority received not! ing. shows, group iche The average total income of all these teac! ers was $967, of which $867 came in the for of money for school services. Of the remaining $100, only $9 represented commodities received , as part payment for school services. All told about 9 percent of the average income cany ’ from sources other than the public schools. In Table 2 average total income received from various sources by the teachers of each sex and marital! are given the proportions of Status. Including the money value of commod ities received in return for school service, th TABLE 1—AMOUNTS OF INCOME RECEIVED FROM VARIOUS SOURCES BY THE ENTIRE GROUP OF TEACHERS School salary ~ Contribu- Money tions from value of relatives Amount commodi- in Other Total Money ties re- Other teacher's current current received ceived earnings household income income 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 2.000 and over 160 1 9 9 3 33 1,800-1,999 115 és 8 189 1,600-1,799 177 1 1 | 266 1,400-1,599 319 3 12 6 476 1,200-1,399 635 5 28 817 1,000-1,199 1,053 ‘ 21 27 5 1,323 800-999 2,807 2 13 37 10 2.661 600-799 2,640 5 38 72 16 2.270 400-599 1.676 10 99 134 37 1,334 200-399 218 53 418 416 127 138 1-199 22 321 1,700 1.253 493 11 None 9,430 7.515 7.825 9.124 Total number reporting 9,822 9,822 9.822 9.822 9.822 9.822 Mean amount.. $867 $9 $35 $44 $12 $967 Read table as follows: Of the 9,822 teachers reporting, 160 received at least $2,000 in money for school services; 115 rece $1,800 to $1,999 from this source; etc., the mean amount thus received being $867. [6] —— TABLE 2.—PERCENT OF MEAN TOTAL INCOME RECEIVED FROM EACH SOURCE BY THE TEACHERS OF EACH SEX AND MARITAL STATUS Nature of income 1 Money received as s ] l Money value of commodities received for school sery r earnings 4. Contributions from relatives in teache isehold 5. Other current income Irrent income I 1 number reporting Read table as follows: Of the mean total income of $1 oney for school service; 1.0 percent represented commoditi: Men Women Both Single Married Single Married sexes 2 3 4 5 6 10 6 86.5 3 4 89 1.0 11 0.8 0.8 0.9 5 8.4 1.4 4 4.6 4 c.2 $3 4.¢ 0.8 1.6 = 1 i $1.003 $1,397 $84? $001 SOK 8 1.530 5 803 1.61 1 e 6 ngle me I ( eived f } ri ice et mean school salary ranged from 83 percent of total income among the married women to 94 percent of total income among the single women (see also Figure 1). While the percent earned in other kinds of work was higher among the men than among the women, the percent contributed by relatives was higher among the women. Among the married women, 13 percent of the average income was received from relatives living with the teacher. The significance of the figures for married women is not entirely clear, as one cannot be sure how completely these teachers included the incomes of their husbands under “income contributed by relatives.” It is not unlikely that in some cases, only money actually turned over to the teacher by her husband was reported } ider this heading. If all or nearly all amounts earned by husbands and used for family put poses were correctly reported, the married women teachers obviously were bearing most of the burden of supporting their families. The relation between the size of income and the percent received from various sources is shown in Table 3. Here one notes a steady de- crease in the percent representing school salary, and a corresponding increase in the percents trom other sources, as the total income in- creases. The proportion received from all sources except the schools ranged from 3.5 per- cent in the group receiving incomes under $800, to 21.3 percent in the group receiving $1600 or more, It may be inferred from these facts that the economic desires, needs, or responsibilities of rural teachers increase more rapidly than do their school salaries, thus necessitating ever [7] larger additions to income from other sources in spite of increases in salary. It is pertinent to inquire whether any teacher should have to supplement his school salary by means of in come from other sources. School Salaries in Relation to Various Factors Type of school, general area, and sex—The prevailing rate of pay for teaching in a rural school depends in part upon the size and loca- tion of the school. As shown in Table 4, the teachers in one-teacher schools received the lowest salaries, on the average, while those in town schools received the highest. This was TABLE 3.—PERCENT OF MEAN TOTAL INCOME RECEIVED FROM EACH SOURCE BY THE TEACHERS AT FOUR INCOME LEVELS Income levels $800 $1,200 $1,600 ‘ der Nature of income — to to and $1,199 $1,509 over 1 2 3 4 5 1. Money received as school salary 95.5 9? 3 . 5 77.7 2. Money value of com modities received tor school service 1.0 0.8 0.9 1.0 3. Other earnings 1.3 ee 4.7 7.4 4. Contributions from rel- atives in teacher's household... 1.9 3.2 2a 10.8 5. Other current income 0.3 1.0 1.4 3.1 Total current income $618 $951 $1,355 $2,069 Total number reporting 3,753 3,984 1,293 792 Read table as follows: Of the mean total income of $618 received by the 3,753 teachers who had incomes under $800 95.5 percent consisted of money for school service; 1.0 percent represented commodities received for school service: et FIGURE I MEAN ANNUAL INCOMES OF WHITE RURAL TEACHERS, 1936 - 37 92% Single Men Married Men 94% 6% Single Women Po 83% 11% Married Women Pe | 0 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200 INCOME IN DOLLARS KEY a School salary, including estimated money value of commodities received as part payment for school service. M0 All other income. Based on Table 2 Research Division, National Education Association FIGURE II MEAN SCHOOL SALARIES OF WHITE RURAL TEACHERS IN DIFFERENT AREAS AND TYPES OF SCHOOL, 1936 - 37 NORTHERN STATES Town schools 2-or-more-teacher schools 1-teacher schools SOUTHERN STATES Town schools 2-or-more-teacher schools 1-teacher schools Note: Town schools are located in places under 2,500 in population. A\li other schools are in the open country. Research Division, Nationa! Education Association TABLE 4.—MEAN SCHOOL SALARIES OF THE MEN AND WOMEN TEACHERS IN DIFFERENT AREAS AND TYPES OF SCHOOL Men Women Type of school Northern* Southern’ Northern* Southern 2 3 under 2,500 in population Mean school salary® Number of teachers reporting more-teacher schools in open count Mean school salary 110 $1 .007 Number of teachers reporting 332 384 icher schools in open country Mean school salary® 723 $575 $669 Number of teachers reporting 3 (78 2,050 Read table as follows: Of the men reporting from the states designated as ‘‘northern.”’ those in town schoo ol salary of $1,323; those in two-or-more-teacher schools in the open country received a mean salary of 11 « California, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, New Mexico, North ind Pennsylvania. » Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina, So Includes estimated money value of commodities received a partial payment for s« hool service th Carolina, and Texa true for both men and women, and for teach- porting from each of the twenty states included ers in both the northern and the southern states. in the survey. The states are listed in descend Figure II pictures the situation without dif ing order according to the size of the average ferentiating the sexes. salary for both sexes combined. While this rank For each sex and each type of school, the order is probably somewhat in error because of average amount paid to teachers in the southern the inadequate sampling of teachers in some states was somewhat less than that paid to those _ states, it nevertheless gives a rather good gen in the other states. Within each general area’ eral picture of the differences to be found and each type of school, the men received larger among states. average salaries than did the women (except in ‘The averages for men and women combined one-teacher schools of the South, where the sam- ranged from $559 in Georgia to $1501 in Cali pling of men was too small to yield a reliable fornia—a difference of 169 percent. None of average). The differentials between men and _ the seven southern states was among the high women were greatest in the town schools and __ est five, and only one of them was among the smallest in the one-teacher schools. lowest five. Florida, Louisiana, and Texas were Excluding the small group of men in south- in the second highest five, while North Caro ern one-teacher schools, the average salaries lina, Kentucky, and South Carolina were in the shown in Table 4 ranged from $621 for the third five. Of significance also is the fact that women in one-teacher schools of the South, to three central or north central states—Kansas, $1323 for the men in town schools of the Iowa, and North Dakota—stood among the North, lowest five, while another—Michigan—was The unusually low salaries of teachers in next to last in the third group of five. one-teacher schools assume special significance In the foregoing comparison it is likely that when one considers that there are approxi- the average salaries, and possibly the ranks, of mately 130,000 such teachers, comprising more some southern states are too high, and that the than a fourth of all the rural teachers in the figures for some of the other states are too low. United States. Is it possible to provide adequate As shown in the Appendix, there is evidence educational programs for children when their that the total sample from southern states con teachers are paid such salaries as these? tained a disproportionately large number of School location by states—The effect of teachers in town schools, while the total sample school location upon the salaries of rural teach- from other states contained relatively too many ers is shown in greater detail in Table 5, which teachers in one-teacher country schools. It is gives mean salaries for the men and women re-__ not possible, however, to determine in which [9] TABLE 5—MEAN SCHOOL SALARIES OF MEN AND WOMEN TEACHERS InN if TWENTY STATES | Men Women Both sexes States Mean Number Mean Number Mean Number school of school of school of salary® teachers salary* teachers salary* teachers ) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 a ti 1. California $1,908 82 $1,414 383 $1,501 465 2. Connecticut 1,438 14 1,106 155 1,134 169 3. Indiana 1,175 187 986 254 1,065 441 : 4. New Mexico 1,208 29 931 56 1,025 85 5. Pennsylvania 1,140 415 911 922 982 1,337 rl 6. Florida 1,280 158 882 540 972 698 ot 7. Louisiana 1,284 184 812 632 918 Si¢ eX 8. Oregon 1,137 105 836 299 913 404 9. Idaho 1,022 63 796 149 864 21 tl 10. Texas 1,021 81 782 177 857 258 de 11. Colorado 1,047 56 779 175 844 23 ot 12. North Carolina 997 131 779 424 830 555 f 13. Kentucky 922 202 779 529 819 731 ™ 14. Michigan 1,016 142 746 452 810 594 15. South Carolina 1,169 94 702 400 791 494 ) W) 16. Kansas 1,043 94 598 239 724 333 of 17. lowa : e 1,090 110 627 706 690 816 ; 18. Maine 948 39 558 126 651 165 in 19. North Dakota 845 138 560 506 621 644 e 20. Georgia 817 83 486 291 559 374 tri $$ sal All twenty states $1,113 2,407 $799 7,415 $876 9,822 ; e Read table as follows: Among the men teac hers, those in California received a mean school salary of $1,908: those in C th necticut received a mean salary of $1,438: etc. * Includes estimated money value of commodities received as partial payment for school services. an ex) st scl TABLE 6.—MEAN SCHOOL SALARIES OF TEACHERS WITH DIFFERENT AMOUNTS OF TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE be am College or normal school work vei High-school —__— a All wn Length of service graduation Two years Graduation Some training la or less Less than butless than from 4-year graduate levels® tol 2 years graduation course work . hss. as + as en 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 20 or more years: T/ Mean school salary» er oe $829 $847 $937 $1,139 $1,388 $1,024 Number of teachers reporting. ....... (36) (163) (367) (66) (178) (837 10 to 19 years: Mean school salary> ee $778 $753 $860 $984 $1,353 $980 Number of teachers reporting........ ; (45) (306) (1,203) (246) (607) (2,438 Less than 10 years: Mean school salary. . Sa - $490 $555 $737 $902 $1,122 $821 Number of teachers reporting....... (176) (772) (2,783) (1, 266) (1,319) (6,341 All service levels:¢ 1. } Mean school salary» ewe $584 $642 $787 $922 $1,208 $876 Number of teachers reporting. . . (267) (1,274) (4,426) (1,607) (2,124) (9,822 2.7 Read table as follows: Of the teacher whose training was represented by high-school graduation or less, those with 20 or more , . years of school service received a mean salary of $829; those with 10 to 19 years of service received a mean salary of $778: et 5 | "Includes teachers who failed to indicate training levels. » Includes estimated money value of commodities received as partial payment for school services. © Includes teachers who failed to indicate years of service. aial [10] ‘ndividual states this kind of selection occurred. For this reason, as well as because of the small number of teachers reporting from some states, representativeness is not high degree of claimed for the individual state figures in Table 5. Undoubtedly the women combined are more reliable than those averages for men and for either sex alone. How much increase in salary, on the average, can Training and experience of teachers rural teachers expect to receive for increments of successful experience? How much can they expect to receive for increments of suitable training? Upon the answers to these questions depends, in no small measure, the willingness of many able young people to make a career of teaching in rural areas. Table 6 gives the mean salary of teachers with different amounts of experience at each of five levels of training. In general, the salaries increased with increases in either experience or training. However, the differences in average salary between the lowest and highest training levels were, on the whole, much greater than the differences in salary between the lowest and highest experience levels. For example, among the teachers with less than ten years of experience, the average salary ranged from $490 for those with no training beyond high school, to $1122 for those with some training beyond college graduation. On the other hand, among the teachers who had had at least two vears of college training but who had not grad- uated, the average salary increased from $737 for those with less than ten years of experi- ence, to only $937 for those with twenty or more years of experience. In the latter case, the increase of $200 would amount to exactly $8 per year if distributed evenly over a twenty five-year period. Apparently persons beginning to teach in rural areas cannot generally expect their sal aries to increase much as a result of added ex perience alone. ‘They can usually obtain larger salary increments by raising the level of their training than by merely gaining additional ex perience. Even among the teachers who had done some graduate work and who had served more years, how , It is in the schools for twenty o1 ever, the average salary was only $1388 f this schools or in probable, moreover, that most ¢ group were teaching either in town large open-country schools. “The small open low k forward to receiving as much as $1400 per year country school in which a teacher can is a rarity in most parts of the nation. In addition to size and location of the school, there are other factors, such as sex of the teacher, type of school position held, general section of the country, and wealth of the school district, which may affect the amount of salary that a teacher at any given level of training and experience may expect to receive in a rural school. ‘To analyze the group of reporting teachers on the basis of all such factors simul- taneously, however, would be impracticable in view of the very small numbers of cases which would be found in many of the subordinate groups. Type of school position—Table 7 the mean salaries reported by the men and the presents women in five types of school position. Among TABLE 7.—MEAN SCHOOL SALARIES OF MEN AND WOMEN TEACHERS IN DIFFERENT TYPES OF SCHOOL POSITION Men Women Both sexes Mean Number Mean Number Mean Number Type of position school of school of school of salary* teachers salary* teachers salary* teachers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1. Non-teaching principal, supervisor, or su perintendent 5 $2,047 51 $1,342 17 $1.871 68 2. Teaching principal, supervisor, or super- intendent 1.349 836 993 315 1.252 1.151 3. High-school teacher only 1,151 499 985 845 1.047 1,344 4. Both elementary- and high-school teacher 1,017 169 816 387 877 55 5. Elementary-school teacher only 756 770 756 5.730 756 6.500 Read table as follows: Among the men reporting, those who were non-teaching principals, supervisor ww superintendents received a mean school salary of $2,047; those w.o were salary of $1,349; etc. teaching principals, supervisors, or superintendents re ed a mean * Includes estimated money value of commodities received as partial payment for school services [11] the men, these averages ranged from $756 for those who were elementary-school teachers only, to $2047 for non-teaching principals, super- visors, and superintendents. The rank of the five types of position according to salary was the same among the women as among the men, the averages for women ranging from $756 to $1342. The average salaries of the men and the women teaching exclusively in elementary schools were identical. In every other type of position the men’s average exceeded the women’s average by a substantial amount, espe- cially in the better paid administrative or super- visory positions. The relatively low average for the men engaged exclusively in elementary classroom teaching was probably due largely to the fact that a majority of these men were em- ployed in one-teacher schools, while a majority of the women in such positions were located in the town or the larger open-country schools. Number of dependents—The number of per- sons dependent upon a teacher seldom has a direct influence upon the size of his salary, altho dependents undoubtedly have an indirect effect upon the average salaries of men and women teachers because of the tendency of married men to have more dependents than do single women. Obviously, the number of dependents is an important factor in determin- ing the teacher’s economic needs and the ade- quacy of the salary which he receives. For this reason the average salaries of rural teachers 1A “dependency unit” being counted having different numbers of dependency uni: are compared in Table 8. This table shows that the average salary the men increased steadily from $920 for th: with no dependents to $1320 for those w 3.5 or more dependency units, while no su trend occurred among the women. In fact, ex- cept for the group with no dependents, the average salary of the women declined slight! as the amount of dependency increased. ‘This situation was probably due largely to the fo! lowing series of factors: (1) nearly two-third of the men teachers were married, while almost four-fifths of the women were single; (2) the: was a substantial positive relationship betwee: size of family and length of service in the case of the married men, while this relationship was much less marked among the single women: and (3) there was a tendency, especially among the men, for the teachers with the longer ser ice records to receive somewhat larger salaries than did those with less experience. With these points in mind, it is not surprising that the men teachers with the most dependents were get ting the largest salaries, on the average, while the relationship between salaries and depend ents among the women was slight and incon sistent. Table 8 also shows, however, that among the men as well as among the women, those wit! the larger numbers of dependents were less wel! off, with respect to adequacy of salaries, than were those with fewer dependents. For th represents one person wholly dependent or two persons partially dependent, the teacher himself 1 TABLE 8—MEAN SCHOOL SALARIES OF MEN AND WOMEN TEACHERS WITH DIFFERENT NUMBERS OF DEPENDENTS Mean school salary Dependency units* 5 or more 5-3.0 5-2.0 5-1.0 None Read table as follows: Among the men teachers, size of familye Men» Women* Mean salary per family member Mean size of family Mean school salary! Mean salary per family member' Mean 4 5 $236 319 396 5°8 920 $792 818 823 831 772 those with 3.5 or more dependency units received a mean school salary $1,320: the mean size of their families (including themselves) was 5.6; and their mean salary per family member was $2 Similarly read figures for women teachers, and for those with different numbers of dependents. * A “dependency unit” is one person wholly dependent or two persons partially dependent, not counting the teacher > The smallest group of men contains 357 cases, and the largest group, 606 cases. © The smallest group of women contains 237 cases, and the largest group, 2,698 cases. 4 Includes estimated money value of commodities received as part payment for school services © Computed by adding 1 (the teacher) to the mean number of dependency units for each group. f Mean school salary divided by the mean size of family for each group. {1 2) the average amount of salary per family ver (counting the teacher as a member) creased from $920 in the group having no lependents to $236 in the group having 3.5 or re dependency units. The corresponding sunt for the women dropped from $772 in he group without dependents to $141 in the sroup with the most dependents. In every de pendency group the women teachers received substantially less salary per family than did the men teachers. While it is not claimed that a proportionat ncrease in income is needed to care adequately member for each increase in the size of a family, the rural teachers with the larger numbers of de- pendents are obviously in an inferior economic position. Their position could be greatly im- proved, so far as the men are concerned, by providing larger salary increments than are now given for increased experience. ‘Vhis pro cedure apparently would not improve the sit uation so much among the single women, be cause the family responsibilities of the younge: single women are likely to be almost as great as those of the older ones. Evidently, however, in addition to the need for raising the genera level of rural teachers’ salaries, | there is a need | for some kind of salary adjustment to avo penalizing teachers for having dependents, The question of how to make such adjustments fairly whether the teachers be men or women. and efficiently deserves careful consideration by schoolboards and administrative officers, and it will no doubt require further research. 2 Further evidence on this point is given in the next section EW PUBLIC QUESTIONS are more fundamental than the framing of policies on teachers’ salaries. The payment of a fair remuneration to teachers is part of the larger national problem of a fair wage for all workers. ‘Teachers constitute an important section of the gainfully employed in the United States ; their salaries have an especially significant influence on the national welfare because of the strategic place occupied by education in the further improvement of our American Democracy. The economic position of teachers is also impor tant in the recruitment of future members of the profession. It is too much to expect that a sufficient number of young men and women of the highest intel lectual and personal qualities will be attracted to a profession which cannot offer them the security, comfort, and independence promised by other lines of work.—National Education Association, Research Bulletin, January 1936, p. 4. In exploring the economic status of an indi- vidual or group, it is essential to learn not only the amount of income received by that indi- vidual or group, but also the way in which the income is used. How much is devoted to cur- rent living expenses? What proportion is spent for betterments, including professional activi- ties, other education, and recreation? How much is donated to institutions or to persons outside the teacher’s family? Is anything left for saving or investment, and if so, how is it distributed among such items as life insurance, real estate, bank deposits, and other forms of investment ? ‘To obtain such information from the coop- erating teachers, the questionnaire called for their best estimates of the amounts of money (including the money value of commodities re- ceived without cost to the teachers) which they used from June 1, 1936, to May 31, 1937, for the purposes listed below: 1. Food—All meals and food supplies for the teacher and dependents living with him. 2. Housing—Rent for living quarters of the teacher and dependents living with him; or taxes, interest, and upkeep if he owned or was buying his home (payments of principal on a home to be omitted here). 3. House operation and furnishings—Everything used to clean, heat, light, and furnish the teacher’s living quarters (including musical instruments). 4. Sum of food, housing, and house operation— To be reported only if items 1, 2, afd 3 could not be answered separately. 5. Clothing—Purchase, repair, and cleaning of clothing for the teacher and his dependents. 6. Health—Medical and dental care, hospital or nursing service, medicines, health appliances, and accident or health insurance for the teacher and his dependents, 7. Transportation and travel—Carfare, railway or bus fare, and payments for purchase and opera- tion of automobile for the teacher and his de- pendents. 8. Allowances or gifts of money to dependents— Dependents living with the teacher, and dependent children, parents, brothers, or sisters living else- where. 9. Other donations—To persons not dependent on the teacher, and to churches, charitable institutions, and relief or character-building agencies. 10. Miscellaneous personal items—(Other than those listed above and below) including barber service, toilet articles, tobacco, stationery, children’s toys, etc., for the teacher and his dependents. reports which were unusable for various reasons II. Uses of Income t The remaining 5 percent of the white teachers either failed to report anything about their uses of money, or submitted [14] 11. Professional activities of the teacher—Prof sional literature, membership in professional orga zations, professional courses, etc. (cost of travel ¢ be omitted here). 12. Recreation and nonprofessional education All social, recreational, and educational expenses for the teacher and his dependents, except expen: included under item 11 above (cost of travel to omitted here). 13. School or classroom supplies—Furnished the teacher’s expense because of the school distri: failure to provide them. 14. Life insurance and annuity premiums—F, the teacher and his dependents (including amounts paid into, or deducted for, a teachers’ retirement fund). 15. Payments of principal on a real estate—For the teacher and his dependents. home or oth 16. All other amounts saved or invested durir the year—For the teacher and his dependents banks, stocks, bonds, loans to others, etc.). 17. Repayment of old debt—Payments of princi; and interest on debt incurred in a previous year for the teacher and his dependents (except payments on a home or other real estate). It was realized that many of these items would be difficult or impossible for most teach ers to report with perfect accuracy, and that some teachers would be able to give only rough estimates. ‘To provide a partial check on thi point, each teacher’s report was examined with respect to the amount of discrepancy between the sum of the above items (total money spent or saved) and the total receipts for the yea: (receipts including money borrowed or with drawn from earlier savings, as well as current income from all sources). In 52 percent of the white teachers’ reports this discrepancy (it any) was not more than 5 percent of the total receipts; in 12 percent of the cases it was be- tween 5 and 10 percent of the total receipts; and in 31 percent of the cases it was more than 10 percent of the total receipts.! A comparison then between the total amount of money the average total receipts reported by each of these was made average spent or saved and three groups. The difference between these averages was less than 3 percent for the teach- ers whose individual reports showed discrep- ancies of 10 percent or less, while it was about 10 percent for the teachers whose individual reports showed discrepancies of more than 10 percent. It was therefore decided to include the exclude rts of the former group, and t those of the latter group, in tabulating the data on uses of income for presentation in this port. This procedure reduced the number of ivailable cases materially, but it is believed that the increased accuracy of the data pre sented fully justifies the exclusion of nearly a third of the teachers’ reports. Most of the information in this section con cerns four principal groups of teachers: (1) single women living with relatives at less than usual rates for room and board, (2) single women rooming and boarding at usual rates, 3) single women renting homes personally, and (4+) married men renting homes person ally.2 As a rule, data for single men and mar ried women are not included for two reasons: |) the number of usable reports from each of these groups was too small to justify a sep arate presentation of results; and (2) there Not sharing the operating costs with any other persor TABLE 9—MEAN AMOUNTS OF INCO MEN AND WOMEN TEACHERS IN was little ditterence between the results Tt men and women having the same marital status and similar living arrangements. To show the relation between use of income 1 and several factors other than sex, marital status, and living arrangements, the group of single women rooming and boarding is used because it is the largest. Data for this vroup are shown according to type of school, size of income, number of dependents, and length of school service. For the other three frroups o! teachers no differentiation is made on the basis of these factors. Comparison of Single Women and Mar- ried Men in Certain Living Arrangements Amounts used for specific purposes—TVable 9 shows both the amounts and the percents of mean income used for each of thirteen specific purposes by the four groups of teachers men ME USED FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES BY VARIOUS LIVING ARRANGEMENTS Single women living with Married men renting homes Single women renting homes Single women rooming and Use of income relatives® boarding personally personally Amount Percent Amount Percent Amount Percent Amount Percent l 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1. Food $155 16.7 $179 1 5 $258! 5 8 $358 25.3 2. Housing 50 5.4 86° 10.3 150! 15.0 182s 12.8 3. House operation 60 6.5 17* 2.4 69ot 6.9 1508 10 ¢ Total for tood, housing, and house operation 265 28.6 282) 33.9 477 a7 2 690 18 4. Clothing 130 14.0 140 16.8 111 11.1 128 9 0 5. Health 47 5.0 40 48 74 7.4 88 6.2 6. Transportation 153 16.5 4 10.1 110 11.0 0 14.6 Money to dependents 31 3.3 10 1.8 45 15 37 » ¢ 8. Miscellaneous personal items »9 3.1 29 3.5 23 *.3 43 3.0 9. Professional activities 33 3.6 »? > 7 28 2.8 34 > 4 10. Other education and recreation 33 3.6 26 31 1 > 4 36 ( 11. Donations to nondependents 40 43 40 4.8 29 2.9 +6 ri 12. School supplies 11 a 9 R 9 0.9 10 0 13. Surplus? 156 16.8 120 14.4 73 7.3 10 ( Total current income $928 100.0 $832 100.0 $1.000 100.0 $1,416 100.0 Number of teachers 264 1.733 152 S76 Mean number of dependency units 0.6 0.5 1.2 2.4 Read table as follows: The single women living with relatives who reported their expenditures received a mean of which $155 or 16.7 perceni was used for food, $50 or 5.4 percent for housing, $60 or 6.5 percent for house operation, et Phe mean number of dependency units for this group was 0.6 * At less than usual rates for room and board ° » At usual rates © Not sharing the cost of maintaining the home with any other person 4 Estimated on basis of only 125 cases in which th tem was reported separately * Estimated on basis of only 618 cases in which this item was reported separately f Estimated on basis of only 127 cases in which this item was reported separately * Estimated on basis of only 549 cases in which this item was reported separately » Excess of mean total income over the sum of mean current expenditures 74 ; ! Based on only 241 cases in which this item was reported } Based on only 1,487 cases in which this item was reporte k Based on only 145 cases in which this item was reported ! Based on only 565 cases in which this item was reported ad 15 ] tioned above. Before comparing these figures for the different groups, it should be noted that the average income ranged from $832 for the single women rooming and boarding to $1416 for the married men renting homes, and that the average number of dependency units ranged from 0.5 in the former group to 2.4 in the latter group. Both of these factors have an important bearing upon the use of income. It should be noted also that the separate figures for food, housing, and house operation are less reliable than the figures for these three items combined, especially in the case of single women not maintaining homes, because not all of the teachers were able to report the three items separately. In spite of their larger incomes, both the single women and married men renting homes used a considerably larger proportion of in- come for food, housing, and house operation than did the single women living with relatives or rooming and boarding. This may be ac- counted for largely by the much greater re- sponsibility for dependents and the larger living quarters of the teachers renting homes. How- ever, the men renting homes used only a slightly larger proportion of income for the three items than did the women renting homes, altho the families of the former were half again as large as those of the latter, on the average. This sit- uation apparently would not have been possible had not the men received an average salary which exceeded that of the women renting homes by about $400, or 40 percent. For clothing, the single women living with relatives and those rooming and boarding spent more money, in spite of their smaller incomes, than did the teachers who rented homes. They also spent more than the single women renting homes for donations to nondependents, mis- cellaneous personal items, and recreation or nonprofessional education, while devoting less to health care and allowances to dependents. ‘The transportation expenses of the women liv- ing with relatives were much higher than those of any other group except the men renting homes. Subtracting the average current expenditures for all purposes from the average current in- come of each group, we find that the average surplus was greater for both groups of teachers not maintaining homes than for either group renting homes, in spite of the higher inc: of the renters. The difference was greatest tween the single women living with relat and the single women renting homes, the | mer having an average surplus of $156 as « pared with only $73 for the latter. Four major uses of income—The pro, tions of income devoted to four major purp —living expenses, betterments, giving, saving (surplus) may serve as a rough meas) of the degree of balance in an individual’s p of living. While there is no absolute stand. for the wise use of money, current living e) penses obviously should not be so large, or « rent income so low, as to prevent the allocatic, of reasonable amounts to betterments, givi: and saving. As shown in Figure III, the ay age living expenses of the four groups of teac! ers ranged from about 70 to 84 percent of thy average incomes. The percent so used was hi est in the two groups of home renters, and lov est in the group of single women living wit relatives. Conversely, both groups not mai taining homes devoted slightly larger propo: tions to betterments and to giving, and mu larger proportions to saving, than did the hom: renters. The average amount for betterment: ranged from 5 to 7 percent; for giving, fro 3 to 6 percent; and for surplus, from 7 to percent. The proportion of annual income saved n be appraised in terms of the retirement incon which it will provide if continued thruout t! teacher’s period of active service. Compoun interest and life annuity tables show that man must invest approximately 20 percent ot his income at 3 percent annual compound in terest each year for thirty-two years in ord: to provide himself with a life annuity at a fifty-five equal to 80 percent of his averay: income during the period of saving. A womai would have to invest a similar amount fo: somewhat longer period to achieve the sam: result, because the life expectancy of middl: aged women is greater than that of men. Suc! a standard for saving was not being maintained by any group of teachers represented in Figure III, and it was not even closely approached b those maintaining homes. Attention should be directed also to the mea ger amounts spent for betterments (profession! activities, other education, and recreation ® Davis, Horace W. Money Sense. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1934. p. 168-70, 242, 246. [16] unounts ranged, on the average, trom the group ot single women rooming and ng to $70 in the group of married men r homes. It is difficult to see how a teacher eep well informed professionally and at ime time provide adequate cultural and eational opportunities for himself and _ his ndents without spending larger sums than se. Did the teachers use so much of their in mes for living expenses because of unwise spending habits or because of inadequate in omes? While there may have been room for mprovement in money management, the in omes of most rural teachers can hardly be con sidered sufficient to provide a well-balanced program of living. The situation was appat ently least satisfactory among those who were enting homes, whether married men or single women, altho their average incomes were highe than those of single women living with rela tives or rooming and boarding. The difference n income was not enough to compet the ditterenc the family respon groups. ; este Inalysis Of Saving, ini ment of devt part ot paid out for living expenses, How do rural TEAC her their incomes which is not <« betterments Oo! ‘71\ ing? ‘Table LO itemizes the average amount which the four groups of teachers said they de 1 voted to (1) life insurance and annuity pre principal or and (4 on debt incurred in a previous yeat ii n debt in | | roup is larger than the averag: surpius miums, ( payments of estate, (3) other savings, of these reported amounts for each considerably shown in the two preceding tables, because the iverage surplus is a net figure in which the surpluses of some teachers are partially offset by the deficits of teachers whose current e) ditures exceeded their incomes. These det must have been met either by borrowin, withdrawing from savings accumul money FIGURE III 10% Single women living with relatives at less than usual rates for room and board Single women rooming and boarding at usual rates Single women renting homes personally Married men renting homes personally USES OF INCOME BY WHITE RURAL TEACHERS, 1936 - 37 5% 3% = B% o 0 400 INCOME IN DOLLARS KEY cellaneous personal items. a Based on Table 9 Surplus: Excess of current income over the sum of “living expenses, 7,000 7,200 1,400 1.600 Living expenses: food, housing, house operation, clothing, health care, transportation, allowances to dependents, and mis Betterments: professional activities, other education, and recreation. Giving: donations to nondependents, churches, charitable institutions, etc., and purchase of school supplies for pupils ” “betterments,”” and “giving.” Research Division, National Educat earlier. In addition, some teachers found it nec- essary to borrow in order to meet life insur- ance or real estate payments. Table 10 there- fore shows also the average amount borrowed or withdrawn from earlier savings—a figure which must be subtracted from the average total amount saved, invested, and repaid, in order to obtain the average net increase in sav- ings (the average surplus). While the net increase in savings is the most significant single figure, the gross amounts re- ported as saved or repaid under various head- ings are of interest for comparative purposes. For example, the average amount invested in life insurance or annuities ranged from $39 or 5 percent of income for the single women room- ing and boarding, to $99 or 7 percent of income for the married men renting homes. Amounts as large as or larger than those for life insur- ance or annuities were used to reduce outstand- ing debts other than on real estate. Very on the average, was paid as principal o1 estate. Among the single women not maint ing homes, about one-half of the average | savings or repayments was classified as ‘“‘ot| savings,” while a much smaller proportion \ reported under this heading by the tea who were renting homes. The average total of reported savings o1 payments varied from $189 or 23 percent income for single women rooming and bo ing, to $262 or 18 percent of income for n ried men renting homes. These amounts offset, however, by average borrowings or wit drawals ranging from $69 or 8 percent of come in the former group to $155 or 11 perce: of income in the latter group. ‘The resulti: figures for average surplus, or net increase savings, have been discussed in connection wit earlier tables. TABLE 10.—MEAN AMOUNTS SAVED OR INVESTED, PAID ON OLD DEBT, AND BORROWED OR WITHDRAWN FROM EARLIER SAVINGS DURING THE YEAR BY MEN AND WOMEN TEACHERS IN VARIOUS LIVING ARRANGE. MENTS Single women living with Single women Married men renting homes Single women rooming and renting homes relatives® boarding» personally° personally* Financial items biideitaiemadimsaiitingiin wnidenendisliiabiianinalisiemenme ; Percent Percent Percent Percent Mean of Mean of Mean of Mean of amount income amount income amount income amount income 1 2 3 4 5 ' 6 7 8 oa 1. Saved, invested, or repaid: (a) Life insurance and annuity premiums aye . $41 4.4 $39 4.7 $61 6.1 $99 7. (b) Real estate payments (prin- cipal only) 13 1.4 11 t.3 11 1.1 15 1.0 (c) Other savings ‘ 120 13.0 91 10.9 52 §.2 49 Ba (d) Payments on old debt 53 7 48 5.8 68 6.8 99 7.0 Total wees 227 24.5 $189 22.7 $192 19.2 $262 18 2. Borrowed or withdrawn from ear- SF GR a civicwaxctus —71 —7.7 —69 —8.3 —119 —11.9 —155 —10.9 Net increase in savings (surplus)4¢ $156 16.8 $120 14.4 $73 Pe $107 7.¢ Total current income $928 100.0 $832 100.0 $1,000 100.0 $1,416 100.0 Number of teachers 264 , 733 152 576 Mean number of dependency units 0.68 0.5° 1.26 2.45 Read table as follows: The single women living with relatives reported a mean income of $928, of which $41 or 4.4 percent was used for life insurance or annuity premiums, $13 or 1.4 percent for payments on real estate, etc., the total amount saved invested, or repaid being $227 or 24.5 percent of income. However, this group borrowed or withdrew from earlier savings $71 the average, thus leaving a net increase in savings of $156 or 16.8 percent of income. * At less than usual rates for room and board. >» At usual rates. © Not sharing the cost of home maintenance with any other person. 4 Excess of total amount saved, invested, and repaid over the total amount borrowed or withdrawn from earlier savings. This net figure is the same as the excess of current income over total current expenditures, shown as “‘Surplus’”’ in Table 9. © Based on only 241 cases in which this item was reported f Based on only 1,487 cases in which this item was reported. ® Based on only 145 cases in which this item was reported. » Based on only 565 cases in which this item was reported. [18 ] ND HE 3E- nt Comparison of Teachers in Different Types of School Tables 11 and 12 show the average amounts ind percents of income used for various put noses by single women teachers rooming and hoarding who were employed in three types of school. The outstanding point in Table 11 is that the higher incomes of teachers in the large: schools were paralleled by larger expenditures for certain important items, so that the propor tions of income devoted to such items by these teachers were about as large as, and in some cases larger than, those used by teachers in the smaller schools. For example, the average total mount spent for food, housing, and house op eration was $90 higher for the teachers in town schools than for those in one-teacher schools. \s a result, the percent of income used for these tems by the town teachers (33.6) was prac tically the same as that used by the other group, iltho the average income of the town teachers was the higher by $273. For clothing, the town teachers spent 68 percent more dollars than did TABLE 11—MEAN AMOUNTS OF INCOME USED FOR SPECIFIC those in one-teacher schools, and therefore use 18 percent of their average income for this pur pose as compared to only 15 percent of income in the case of the teachers in one-teache schools. Both groups had the same aver ie number of dependents. ‘Table 12 summarizes, for these same groups of teachers, the percents of average income de voted to living expenses, betterments, giving, and surplus. Like Table 11, it shows no tend ency for the teachers in the larger schools to use smaller proportions of their incomes for current expenses than did the teachers in one teacher schools, even tho incomes in the larger schools were considerably higher. ‘Uhis fact leads to one or both of the followin y conclu sions: (1 that the costs ot identi i voods and services were generally highet fol the Teac het 1 in town and larger open-country schools than for those in one-teacher schools; (2) that the standards of living maintained by the teachers in town and larger open-country schools were te ache rs in higher than those maintained by PURPOSES BY SINGLE WOMEN TEACHERS ROOMING AND BOARDING WHO WERE LOCATED IN DIFFERENT TYPES OF SCHOOL 1-teacher schools in open country Use of income 2-or-more- teacher schools in open country Towns under 2,500 in population Amount Percent Amount Percent Amount Percent 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1. Food $1365 20.8 $178 21.1 $20 1.8 Housing 66" 10.1 00 10.7 j 0.1 House operation 208 3.0 20 2.4 1¢ 1 Total for food, housing. and house oper tion 222 23 9 IR 34.2 312 ( Clothing : ; 98 15.0 138 16.4 165 5. Health 36 5.5 42 5.0 42 { Transportation 65 9.9 5S 11.3 Re Money to depe ndents 30 16 53 6.3 41 14 8. Miscellaneous personal items 23 3.5 30 3.6 33 4 ». Professional activities 18 » & »? » 6 4 10. Other education and recreation 18 2.8 3 Fe | 31 ’ 11. Donations to nondependents 31 ‘S, 10 t+ 8 } +9 12. School supplies 11 ee | 10 ‘4 9 1.0 3. Surplus?. .. 102 15.6 100 11.9 139 50 Total current income $654 100.0 $841 100.0 $9? 100.0 Number of teachers...... . 484 383 840 Mean number of dependency units 0.5 0.7? 0.5 Read table as follows: The single women rooming and boarding who were located in one-teacher schools received mean ncome of $654, of which $136 or 20.8 percent was used for food, $66 or 10.1 percent for rent, $20 or 3.0 percent for house opera tion, etc. The mean number of dependency units for this group was 0.5 * Estimated on basis of only 118 cases in which this item was reported separately > Estimated on basis of only 131 cases in which this item was reported separately © Estimated on basis of only 358 cases in which this item was reported separately 4 Excess of mean total income over the sum of mean current ¢ Based on only 440 cases in which this item was reported f Based on only 321 cases in which this item was reported ® Based on only 704 cases in which this item was reported expenditures the smaller schools. l 'nfortunately P data are not available for determining precisely the relative influence of these two factors. It is reasonably certain, however, that many goods purchased in stores were bought in the same stores by teachers from all types of school. Moreover, other data obtained in this survey indicate that housing conditions were generally better among teachers in the town and larger open-country -chools than among those in one-teacher schools. For these reasons it seems likely that the larger expenditures of the teachers in the larger schools were due more to higher living stand- ards than to higher costs of identical commo- dities, altho the latter no doubt exerted some influence, especially in the case of expenditures tor tood. It will be noted also that while the percent ot average income available as surplus was no vreater among the town teachers than among those in one-teacher schools, the amount of money available under this heading was larger tor the former group than for the latter. In general, therefore, there is little reason to doubt that the larger incomes of the single women teachers in the larger schools gave them a real economic advantage over those in the smaller schools. On the other hand, the incomes of the tormer were not large enough to permit them to achieve a better balance in their use of in- come than did the latter, because of the what standards and among the teachers in the larger schools. higher costs of Comparison of Teachers at Differen: Income Levels Under similar conditions with respect to of living and number of dependents, one w: expect the percent of income used for li, expenses to decrease rapidly as the income it increases beyond the level necessary to pro a reasonably good standard of living fo: | class of persons under consideration. “That . large majority of the single women teac! : who were rooming and boarding were p: ze ably not able to maintain such a standard indicated in Table 13, which compares t ” teachers at four income levels with respect s the proportions of income used for living e 1 penses, betterments, giving, and surplus. |] - proportion for living expenses dropped from cn percent for the teachers receiving less than SS8\) ne to 71 percent for those receiving $1600 or m« $ The smallness of this decrease was undoubt: due largely to a combination of higher stand ” ards and costs of living among the teachers I ceiving the higher incomes, since these teache 7 had little if any greater responsibility fo: pendents than did those with the smaller comes. If the higher-paid teachers had felt sat TABLE 12.—MEAN AMOUNTS OF INCOME USED FOR FOUR MAJOR PURPOSES BY SINGLE WOMEN TEACHERS ROOMING AND BOARDING WHO WER! LOCATED IN DIFFERENT TYPES OF SCHOOL 2-or-more- teacher schools in open country 1-teacher schools in open country Use of income ——_- Towns under 2,500 in population Amount Percent Amount Percent Amount Percent 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1. Living expenses*® $474 72.4 $646 76.8 $679 73.2 », Betterments' 36 56 45 5.3 55 5.9 s. Giving 4? 6.4 50 6.0 54 5.9 4. Surplus 102 15.6 100 11.9 139 15.0 Total current income $o54 100.0 $841 100.0 $927 100.0 Number of teachers : 484 / 383 840 Mean number of dependency units 05° 0.75 0.5« Read table as follows: The single women rooming and boarding who were located in one-teacher schools received a ncome of $654, of which $474 or 72.4 percent was used for living expenses, $36 or 5.6 percent for betterments, etc. The number of dependency units for this group was 0.5 * Includes food, housing, house operation, clothing, health, transportation, money to dependents, and miscellaneous pet tems » Includes professional activities, other education, and recreation. © Includes donations to institutions and to nondependent persons, and cost of school supplies furnished by teacher 4 Excess of mean current income over the sum of mean current expenditures. * Based on only 440 cases in which this item was reported. * Based on only 321 cases in which this item was reported. * Based on only 704 cases in which this item was reported. { 20 ] th the physical standards of living which be maintained at the lower income levels, s likely that they would have used con- 7 ly smaller proportions for living ex and larger proportions for betterments x, or saving. While the percent saved in sed from 12 to 21, the proportions used for : erments and giving either remained con or decreased slightly as income increased. Since the lower-paid teachers were located re often in the smaller open-country schools may be contended that they did not need to iintain as high standards of living as did the | cher-paid teachers in the larger schools. This tention may be true so far as the require ents of the community were concerned. It ' is little validity, however, so far as the di ires and the welfare of the teachers were mcerned. If teachers in small open-country chools cannot improve their standards of liv Q/) ng where they are, many of them, as in the ist, will seek better-paying positions elsewhere " TABLE 13—PERCENTS OF MEAN INCOME USED FOR FOUR MAJOR PURPOSES BY SINGLE WOMEN TEACHERS ROOMING AND BOARD- ING WHO RECEIVED DIFFERENT AMOUNTS OF INCOME Income level ES $800 $1,200 $1,600 2 | Use of income Below to to or $800 $1,199 $1,599 more —_ 1 2 3 4 5 ng expenses® 75.3 73.5 73.6 1 tterments 5 8 5 8 5 9 3.9 riving® 6.5 5.8 5.3 4 Surplus® 12.4 14.9 15.2 0.8 urrent it $615 $942 $1,332 $1,879 ber of teachers 847 702 159 5 n number of depend y units ene 0.5°¢ 0.5 0 Se 0 ud table as follows: The single women rooming and board ho received incomes below $800 had a mean in ne f which 75.3 percent was used for living exper t for betterments, etc. The mean number de or this group was 0.5 Includes food, housing, house « peration thins health I ation, money to dependents, and miscellaneous per | items Includes professional activities, other education and re | Includes donations to institutions and to nondependent ms, and cost of school supplies furnished by teacher Excess of mean total income over the of mean current enditures Based on only 715 cases in which this item was reported * Based on only 614 cases in which this item was reported * Based on only 134 cases in which this item was reported Based on only 24 cases in which this item was reported as soon as they can quality themselves for such positions, Comparison of Teachers with Different Numbers of Dependents Other factors being equal, one would expect the proportion of income used for livin penses to increase, and the proportion ava for betterments, giving, and saving to decrease, as the number of dependents grows larger. ‘J able among the 1+ shows a tendency in this dit single women teachers who were rooming and boarding. The percent devoted to living expenses rose from 69 in the group having no dependents to 82 in the group havin, 1.5 of It failed to rise in the group having 2.5 2.0 dependency units. any higher, however, or more units of dependency. Variations in in come cannot have aftected this trend mate ially, as the mean incomes of all four groups of teach ers were between $800 and $875, and there was no clear-cut relation between number of de pendents and size of average income. As the number of dependents increased, there was a slight drop in the proportion of income spent for betterments, a slightly larger decrease TABLE 14.—PERCENTS OF MEAN INCOME USED FOR FOUR MAJOR PURPOSES BY SINGLE WOMEN TEACHERS ROOMING AND BOARD- ING WHO HAD DIFFERENT NUM- BERS OF DEPENDENTS Dependency units Use of income 2.5 or None 0.5-1.0 1.5-2.0 more 1 2 3 $ 5 . 4 iW ex a 69.0 9.2 81 5 I rmer 6.2 5.3 4 5 ( 6 4.2 4 4 1 _ 1 2 11.3 } ( t t $22? $874 $ $80 ber of te er 861 419 130 M | ncy unit 0.0 0 1 { Read table as follow The single womer o had no dependents received a me which ¢ percent was used for living expe bette ts, et Includes food, housing, house ope portation oney to dependents, and 1 ellane | " te » Includes professional activities, other educa and recrea n Includes donations to institutions and to nondependent persons, and cost of school supplies furnished teacher 4 Excess of expenditures mean total income over the sum ean current [ 21 ] in the proportion for giving, and a considerable drop in the percent available as surplus, espe- cially between the group with no dependents and that with 0.5 or 1.0 dependent. These data support the conclusion that, be- cause their incomes were little if any higher, on the average, the single women teachers who had dependents were at a distinct disadvantage eco- nomically in comparison with those who had no dependents. This disadvantage was appar- ently felt with respect to both the amounts of money saved and the standards of living main- tained by the teachers with dependents. The balance between the amounts used for living expenses and those available for betterments, giving, and saving was also less satisfactory among the teachers with dependents than among those without dependents. Comparison of Teachers with Different Amounts of Experience Table 15 shows that while the older and more experienced teachers among the single women rooming and boarding received higher incomes than did the younger ones, they failed to achieve a satisfactory distribution of income among the four purposes listed. Practically all of their additional income was used for living expenses; little or none of it was devoted to hetterments, giving, or saving. This situation TABLE 15.—-MEAN AMOUNTS OF INCOME USED FOR FOUR MAJOR PURPOSES BY SINGLE WOMEN TEACHERS ROOMING AND BOARDING WHO HAD SPENT DIFFERENT PERIODS OF TIME IN SCHOOL SERVICE may be attributed in part to the fact that th, older teachers had slightly greater responsi ties for dependents. It indicates also that stan ards or costs of living on the material side we; probably somewhat higher among the ol«d; teachers. Whatever their causes, the highe: ing expenses of these teachers resulted in poorer balance between such expenses and ¢! amounts used for other purposes than was fou among the younger teachers. It may be co: cluded, therefore, that the economic advantag of the older single women was, to say the kk far from commensurate with their longer ex; rience in teaching. Variations in Amounts Used for Specific Purposes by Individual Teachers The information thus far presented on use of teachers’ incomes has been in the for of averages only. Some idea of the variability i: the amounts used for specific purposes by ind vidual teachers who were rooming and board ing is given in Table 16. For example, in ¢! case of food, housing, and house operation con bined, the amounts ranged from less than $5 to more than $500, the median being $27! Twenty-two percent of the teachers spent les than $200 while 18 percent spent $400 or mo for these items. For every other purpose except clothing ar ) Below 10 years Use of income - Length of school service 10 to 19 years 20 or more years Amount Percent Amount Percent Amount Percent 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1. Living expenses* $591 3.2 $702 76.6 $743 ae.8 2. Betterments>. 49 6.1 $1 5.5 43 4.5 3. Giving... . 48 6.0 52 $.9 58 6.0 4. Surplus*. . 119 14.7 112 12.2 119 12.4 Total current income $807 100.0 $917 100.0 $963 100.0 Number of teachers. . — eT ee 1,329 288 aint 71 Mean number of dependency units ee SS SS =r mean number of dependency units for this group was 0.5. * Includes food, housing, house operation, clothing, health, transportation, money to dependents, and miscellaneous person items. > Includes professional activities, other education, and recreation. © Includes donations to institutions and to nondependent persons, and cost of school supplies furnished by teacher. 4 Excess of mean total income over the sum of mean current expenditures. * Based on only 1,136 cases in which this item was reported. f Based on only 253 cases in which this item was reported. ® Based on only 65 cases in which this item was reported. Read table as follows: The single women rooming and boarding who had spent less than 10 years in school service received mean income of $807, of which $591 or 73.2 percent was used for living expenses, $49 or 6.1 percent for betterments, etc. T! Ay} 't$ 97$ O6F I roll FOI Z 677 IZ be Ist 6s Tt ROI iI C w9l cl St 9 $ < t9Y t w tl t s 9 tl 97 t SI oI el 1q9p sjuoul sjuowAed plo jo -}S9AUl 278189 juourseg pue jeoy s2uraevs 1290 ZI surnruraid Ayinuue pue aouvinsut aT S7z$ ses 7e$ 67$ Ie$ ees Rss OST é Iss 1 It I ie | OFL I 1t9 1 1zo'l bt Ltt Of SLI SLE 9ST Lot é ttt 68 I 6s ro eli i os 0 $ 11 OS TO! Sl 1 FI r S 78 Z t $ st 6t 9 ‘ I ol 9S Zz I t OF ‘ I i gt I t 1Z I ; II 9oL Il ol 6 s L 9 s sotjddns Sjuepued UO0veIIe1 SaTIATIR sure}! sjuspued wuonejiod jooyIS -epuou pue jBuoIssey jeuosied -ap 0} -suvly 0} uoneonpe -Old snoour] Aauow suoneu0g IMO -[99S1A wv » WWeeH IpIpaU at 671$ 6L7$ sol L BLS Si #SS Sst OF Oos Be Sit Lol Ore 89 r7Zt 8T RE tl OF! ¢ ( $ ool £ Zz Zul uoneiedo “W019 esnoy JUNOUTL URIPY|T oF 66 orl 661 OFZ 667 ort 66 OFF 66F a1OUul 10 junoury 0 OSs 001 Ost O07 OSZ OOF OSt “ OOF OSt oos$ AANOW AO SLNNOWYV OL DNIGHOOOV DNIGHYVOd ANV DNINOOA SAAHOVAL ‘fic SaSOdaNd OIAIOddS AOH GAasn ) JIN) t + Ol Ss et | i¢ ( il AD 10 j v6'2 JO NOILNAINLSIG—9I AIAVL it transportation, a majority of the teachers used less than $50. However, for each purpose ex- cept miscellaneous personal items, professional acti it ies, ot her educat ion and recreat ion, do- nations to nondependents, and school supplies, a few teachers reported amounts of $500 or more. ‘The proportion of teachers devoting less that $50 to each item was as follows: food, housing, and house operation combined, 0.3 percent; clothing, 9 percent; health, 74 per- cent ; transportation, 46 percent ; money to de- pendents, 75 percent; miscellaneous personal items, 80 percent; professional activities,’ 86 percent; other education and recreation, 79 percent; donations to nondependents, 72 per- cent ; school supplies, 98 percent ; life insurance and annuity premiums, 71 percent; real-estate payments, 96 percent ; other savings and i: ments, 53 percent ; and payment of old de percent. The wide spread of individual expend for these purposes reflects to some extent varied desires and needs of rural teache well as differences in cost of living betw different areas and types of community. marily, however, the variation in expendit is undoubtedly due to differences in the amo of income received. While there probab! ways will be, and should be, considerable \ tion in the salaries paid to individual tea for a variety of reasons, it is unfortunate the schools that so many teachers have so lit: money for purposes which are essential well-rounded program of living. EISURE, itself a by-product of money, is absolutely essential to mental and physical vigor. The teacher must have time for reading and study, time for recreation and diversion, time for cultural interests, and time for travel. If the teacher’s salary is so low that she must either devote her out-of-school hours to making her own clothes, doing her own laundry, cooking, and cleaning, or else take on odd jobs to help defray expenses, she will have little time and less energy for those outside interests which would contribute to her effectiveness in the classroom. Teachers whose nerves are worn to a fine edge by mental and physical exhaustion, by too much routine and too little diversion, cannot have the patience, the tolerance, and the infinite sympathy which are essential to successful work with children.—Elsbree, Willard S., Teachers’ Salaries, Teach- ers College, Columbia University, 1931, p. 4. III. Value of Property and Extent of Indebtedness of the most important aspects of an jual’s economic status is the amount of vealth which he has accumulated for use in attetr a significant measure of such encies or reaching the retirement lo obtain th, it is necessary to consider both the value roperty and the extent of indebtedness ac ulated by the individual. The cooperating hers were therefore asked for the follow ing ms of information as of April 1, 1937: herty owned 1. Total estimated market value of home and er real estate owned by the teacher and his de jents (full market value regardless of mort iges on the property 2. Total present value of personal property bi nging to the teacher and his dependents (house iid goods, clothing, automobile, etc but not in uding bank deposits, insurance policies, or other stments). Total present value of all savings and invest ents, such as bank deposits, stocks, bonds, notes, tirement deposits, etc., for the endents (except life insurance policies). +. Total face value of life insurance policies in teacher and his ce for the teacher and his dependents (value if he insured person should di ndebtedness 1. Total amount of indebtedness accumulated by e teacher and his dependents (including money TABLE 17.—NUMBER OF TEACHERS orrowed but not repaid up to April 1, 1937, except imounts owed on real-estate mortgag 2. Total amount still owed on real-estat nort by the teacher and his dependents gages thus obtained for white rural Lhe data te ichers are presented in the follow gy pages Amounts Reported for Each Type of Property and Indebtedness Table 17 imount reported tor each tvpe of property and shows, in addition to the meat the number of teachers reporting Lh meal amounts for the four tvpes of propert ranved indebtedness, each amount listed in column 1. ind invest from $350 in the case of saving ments other than life insurance, to $1454 in th case of life insurance policies. On the othe hand, the teachers owed an average of $243 o1 real-estate mortgages, and had other debts aver aging $201. Obviously, these figures do not indicate a very high degree of economic security for rural teachers as a group. ‘The averages, of course, do not tell the whole story. Nearly three-fourths of the teachers had no real estate. Only 22 percent had as much as $1000, and only 5 percent reported $5000 o1 more under this heading. In the case of personal HAVING DIFFERENT AMOUNTS OF PROPERTY AND INDEBTEDNESS Property Indebtedness Personal Amount property Savings and Life (except investments insurance Money owed Balance owed Real savings and except life policies except on on real-estate estate* investments insurance face value real estate mortgages 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 $5,000 or more 436 43 71 604 11 48 $,.000—4,999 171 22 41 233 5 6 +,000-3 999 320 109 62 516 21 68 ?,000-2.999 444 370 180 1,254 52 +3 000-1,999 588 1,412 445 ?. 488 234 5 800-999 98 180 136 38 123 600-799 69 740 238 63 215 ) 400-599 144 1.433 571 71 519 144 00-399 95 1.810 1,123 10? 1.040 16 1-199 59 1,258 1,724 74 1,359 9 6.609 1.35 4.445 3.391 5.460 S5¢ | number reporting 0) 033 9 034 9 036 » O34 9 049 34 M umount $876 $638 $350 $1,454 $201 $24 Read table as follows: Of the 9 teachers reporting on 1¢ question, 436 reported real estate valued at re l reported real estate valued at $4,000 to $4,999; etc., the mean amount of such property being $8 * Total estimated market value regardless of mortgages on the property. property other than savings and investments, 71 percent of the teachers reported amounts of at least $200, but 15 percent had nothing and nearly one-half had less than $400. About one- half had no savings or investments (other than life insurance), and only 19 percent reported as much as $400 in this category. Life insur- ance shows up somewhat better, but can hardly be considered adequate for the protection of the teachers’ dependents. While more than half of the teachers had policies of at least $1000, only 15 percent had as much as $3000 and 7 percent had $5000 or more of insurance. The proportion without any life insurance—38 per- cent—corresponds closely with the proportion having no dependents. The other side of the picture shows that 40 percent of these teachers had debts (other than amounts owed on real-estate mortgages), and that a majority of those having such debts owed at least $200. Real-estate mortgages were re- ported by 13 percent of the teachers, and in about half of such cases the amount still owed was $1000 or more. Table 18 presents, for the teachers of each sex and marital status, the mean amount of property and indebtedness of each type, of all types combined, and of total net assets except life insurance. Life insurance was not included in the computation of net assets because only the face value, and not the cash surrender valyy of insurance policies was known. With respect to these averages, the tot group of men stood uniformly higher than ¢| total group of women, altho the differen were not especially striking except in the cas of life insurance. In general, the differences }y tween the single and the married teachers each sex were much larger than those betwee; the sexes, due probably to the fact that the ma; ried teachers had been in school service mu longer, on the average, than had the sing! ones. The average assets of the married teac! ers were the higher except in the case of mone saved or invested by the women, and in +! case the difference was very small. Of special interest are the figures for lif insurance and for total net assets other th insurance. The average face value of insuran policies ranged from $986 for single women t $3101 for married men, while the net total o! other assets ranged from $992 for single me to $2176 for married women. Total Assets and Liabilities of Teachers Having Different Amounts of Experience As shown in Table 19 and Figure IV, lengt! of teaching service was a much more influenti factor than sex in determining total net asset TABLE 18—MEAN AMOUNTS OF PROPERTY AND INDEBTEDNESS ACCUMU. TA LATED BY THE TEACHERS OF EACH SEX AND MARITAL STATUS : Men Women " Type of property or indebtedness -- —- —- All All Both t| Single Married Single Married men women sexes ‘ 1 2 3 4 Ss 6 7 8 4 Property : h 1. Home and other real estate* $563 $1,225 $630 $1,591 $986 $838 $876 2. Personal property (except savings and in- vestments) aie whe 609 ,035 447 937 881 553 638 3. Money saved or invested (except in life insurance) back 288 419 347 322 372 342 350 4. Life insurance policies (face value) 1,643 ,101 986 1,337 2,574 Indebtedness: 1. Money owed (except on real-estate mort- ED so id ek Gla Bo ac Biiais $267 $357 $142 $213 $325 $157 $201 2. Balance due on real-estate mortgages , 201 381 150 461 316 217 243 Total property (except life insurance) $1,460 $2,679 $1,424 $2,850 $2,239 $1,733 $1,864 Total indebtedness — 468 —738 —292 —674 —641 —374 —444 Total net assets (except life insurance). $992 $1,941 $1,132 $2,176 $1,598 $1,359 $1,420 Minimum number reporting on any type! 846 1,497 5,238 1,450 2,343 6.689 9,033 Read table as follows: Among the single men reporting on these questions, the mean amount of teal estate owned was $5¢ the mean amount of personal property (except savings and investments) was $609; etc. ® Total estimated market value regardless of mortgages on the property. > A few teachers reported on some types of property or indebtedness but not on others. [ 26 ] TABLE 19—MEAN AMOUNTS OF PROPERTY AND INDEBTEDNESS ACCUMU- LATED BY MEN AND WOMEN TEACHERS WITH DIFFERENT AMOUNTS OF EXPERIENCE Men Women lto9 10 to 19 20 to 29 300rmore| Il1to9 10 to 19 20 to 29 30 o0r more Property or indebtedness years’ years’ years’ years’ years’ years’ years’ years’ service service service service service service service service | i . an uieeesimaaies 1 2 3 4 s | 6 7 4 9 | property (except life insurance) $1,452 $3,199 $4,857 $4,784 $1,206 $2,359 $3 841 $4,224 I indebtedness 505 843 1,063 760 309 468 631 351 Total net assets (except life insur e) : 947 2,356 3,794 4,024 897 1,891 3210 3 873 e insurance policies (face value) 1,995 3,765 3,863 2.190 SR8 1,403 1.576 879 Minimum number reporting on any yne® 1.500 573 189 55 4,298 1.702 148 95 Read table as follows: Among the men with 1 to 9 years of school service who reported on these questions, the - slue o property (except life insurance) was $1,452; the mean total indebtedness was $505: et« «A few teacher reported on some types oO! property or indebtedness but not on others. other than life insurance. Among both the men _ tributing causes: (1) older persons generally and the women, the average amount of such have less need for life insurance than do those issets increased steadily with length of service. in the intermediate age range because of thei: In each case the teachers with 30 or more years decreased responsibility for dependents; and of service had more than four times as much (2) when the older teachers were at the not wealth, excluding insurance, as did those with mal ages for buying life insurance, this form only 1 to 9 years of service. of protection was not so popular as it has be The face value of insurance policies showed come in recent years. 1 sharp increase from the first ten-year service Probably the most important conclusion to period to the second, but only a very slight in be drawn from the data just presented is that crease from the second period to the third, and the assets of even the older teachers were in a sharp decline for the teachers of 30 or more adequate as a basis for retirement from teach vears of service. The latter group (among the ing. The average net cash value of all asset men as well as the women) reported little or possessed by the wealthiest group of men in no more insurance, on the average, than did ‘Table 19 could hardly have exceeded $6000. the group with only 1 to 9 years’ service. At while the corresponding amount for the women each service level except the highest, the aver- could hardly have been more than $4500. At age value of insurance reported by the men was present rates the former amount at age sixty higher than the average net total of their other will purchase a straight life annuity of about assets. On the other hand, the value of insur- $485 per year for a man, while the latte: ance held by the women was lower at each amount will purchase an annuity of about $325 service level than the net total of their other per year for a woman at the same age.’ ‘These assets. annuities are far below the average yearly The small number of teachers with 30 or amounts used for current expenses by the mar more years of service raises a question as to the ried men and single women teachers, respec reliability of the averages for such teachers. tively, as shown in the preceding section of this However, the consistency of the trends for men bulletin. Moreover, it is difficult to see how and for women indicates that the figures prob- rural teachers could provide themselves with ably have considerable significance. The rela- adequate retirement incomes on the average tively small amounts of insurance carried by salaries reported in this survey, even by the the older teachers may have at least two con- most careful management of their money. . 1 Based on data furnished by a large mutual life insurance company. The yearly payments include estimated dividends for the first five years. { 27 ] FIGURE IV MEAN FINANCIAL ASSETS OF WHITE RURAL TEACHERS ON APRIL 1, 1937 30 or more years’ service WAT Wa 1] HTH HH H} 20 to 29 years’ service LULL Hil il] Ll WU tl DL ANANTH i| WAHT HiI|| Hil HHI | 10 to 19 years’ service Ih HA I HI | HANA Hl —4 HA 1 to 9 years’ service 30 or more years’ service ARN 20 to 29 years’ service ‘en 10 to 19 years’ service 1 to 9 years’ service ma: a ee i Ta a — 300 1,000 1.500 2,000 2,500 3,000 3,500 4,000 4,500 ASSETS IN DOLLARS Or KEY || Net assets (value of property minus indebtedness) except life insurance. Ni Face value of life insurance policies. Based on Table 19. Research Division, National Education Association Total Assets and Liabilities in Relation to Home Maintenance and Ownership nteresting to compare also the average of teachers in different situations with to home maintenance and ownership. 20 shows that average net assets other life insurance varied from $876 for the not maintaining homes, to $4089 for the ichers who owned their own homes clear of it. Of the two groups falling between these rywo extremes, the teachers with mortgages on their homes had net assets about two and one- lf times as great as those of the teachers who iintained homes but neither owned nor were wing their homes. In each of the three groups naintaining homes, the average face value of fe insurance policies was close to $2000, while mong the teachers not maintaining homes it was approximately $1000. Evidently the average teacher who neithe: wwned nor was buying a home could not afford to buy such property if he so desired. Even those who owned or were buying homes appar- ently found it necessary to hold their purchases if life insurance to a very low figure, consider ng the number of dependents for which they were responsible. One wonders how, except for having a roof over their heads and the small cash value of their insurance policies, thes teachers could hope to meet serious emergencies in the present or to live comfortably after re- tiring from active service. TABLE 20—MEAN AMOUNTS OF PROPERTY AND INDEBTEDNESS ACCUMULATED BY TEACHERS IN VARIOUS SITUATIONS WITH RE- SPECT TO HOME MAINTENANCE AND OWNERSHIP Teachers maintaining homes Owning With Not Teach homes mort- owning ers not Property or indebtedness clear gages or main of on buying taining debt homes homes homes J d 5 tal property surance tal indebte ta) net isset le insurance insurance } value 596 follows Among who answered perty (except life it ndebtedness was $328; et ® A few teachers reported on some types ol debtedness but not on others EACHERS ORGANIZATIONS should have a definite program in which all of the factors affecting the economic welfare of teachers are taken into account. It is not sufficient to concentrate upon the problem of teachers’ salaries or some other one phase of financial security. Attention should be given to ways and means of improving the status of salaries, insuring continuous em ployment during efficiency, budgeting one’s income wisely, saving money and investing it soundly, providing protection against loss of earning power, pro- viding access to credit facilities at reasonable cost, and protecting one’s property against loss. All of these topics may profitably be made subjects for group study in local associations, and some of them offer splendid opportunity for the estab lishment of actual plans for the relief of teachers in economic need.—National Education Association, Department of Classroom Teachers, Sixth Yearbook, p. 180. IV. What Rural Teachers Think about Their Economic Status In planning this survey, the Committee felt that the statistical picture of economic condi- tions among rural teachers, as given in the pre- ceding sections of this bulletin, would be clearer and more significant if it could be viewed against a background of the teachers’ own re- Conse- quently, the final page of the questionnaire was actions to their economic problems. set aside for teachers’ comments on, and inter- pretations of, the facts reported in the earlier pages of the blank. The teachers were asked to indicate, especially, any advantages which they were unable to afford and which they “missed keenly” in 1936-37, including: 1. Material things, such as better clothing, an automobile, ete. 2. Professional advantages, such as attendance at summer school, professional books or magazines, etc. 3. Cultural advantages, such as nonprofessional books or magazines, educational trips, attendance at theaters, concerts, etc. About half of the teachers made use of the space reserved for this purpose. Some of their statements were too brief to throw much light on the teachers’ individual problems; were perfunctory in tone and failed to carry some conviction; but others lent color and reality to the factual data reported. While space per- mits the inclusion of only a few of these state- ments, it is believed that those reproduced be- low will give the reader a better understanding of the difficulties with which rural teachers were confronted in the year 1936-37. Each of the twelve statements included here is accompanied by certain basic facts drawn from the teacher’s detailed report. Teacher A This teacher was a young unmarried woman with six years of teaching experience, of which only one had been spent in her 1936-37 posi- tion in a one-teacher school. She had had some professional training at the college level but not as much as two full years, the completion of which would entitle her to “life” certifica- tion. Her school salary was $440—the only in- come which she received from any source. Out of this amount she managed not only to pay for her board, room, and other living expenses during the school year, but also to give a little ‘ Excess of property over indebtedness. money to her parents and younger brothers sisters, with whom she lived on week-end during the summer. This left little or no gin for recreation or for professional impr ment. She was not a member of any p sional association. In 1936-37 she distributed her incom: the following items: Food and housing $195 Clothing ‘ se ee Health 14 Transportation 22 Cash allowances to de- pendents 45 Miscellaneous _ personal items 15 | Living expenses 83 percent of come Professional activities 5 . i *tterments Other education and | Betterment recreation 25 | cent of incom: J School supplies not fur- } nished by school dis- | i trict 6 + Giving 2 peri Other donations to non- of income dependents 3 | Surplus = { 35 J Excess of current income over current expendi- tures 8 perce of income Total current in- come $440 Net assets’ other than life insurance Face value of life insurance policies 1 The teacher’s own account of her difficulties is brief but convincing. Teacher's own statement—I am the oldes of eleven children. The family is on relief and the relief payments are so inadequate that | must supplement them as far as I can. Last summer we did not get relief and, in spite ot what I could contribute, we did not have enough to eat. I am trying to pay for the educational ad vantages which I have had, by helping th younger members of the family. They must have clothes and I have saved $35 for this purpose. This is not enough, but it is all that I have been able to put aside up to the present. I myself need glasses and dental work, which I must do without in order to eat. | ought to take out health insurance, for I have no one to fall back on in case of sickness. As far as professional growth is concerned [ 30] ] am standing still, which probably is not con al ducive to my continued success as a teacher. If sale | could have atterded summer school last ymmer, and again this summer, I could qual- ra “standard” certificate. ‘his certificate issued on a “‘life’” basis and would afford me + least a measure of security for the future. Teacher B Widowed at twenty-four years of age, and with two children to support, this teacher has ontinued her professional education thruout nany years of school service. She completed the requirements for her bachelor’s degree in 934 and did some work at the graduate level. She was a member of her state and local edu cation associations in 1936-37. In that year, as a teacher of English in a llage high school on a salary of $720, she was thankful to be able to maintain a home for het children and contribute to the support of her parents and an aged grandparent. During the ? summer she earned an additional $72, thus ringing her total current sources up to $792 for the year. However, cur- income from all rent expenditures of $1037, plus the retirement f previously contracted indebtedness to the extent of $250, made necessary the incurrence f new indebtedness and a withdrawal from cumulated savings which together totaled $495, The teacher’s expenditures in 1936-37 were is follows: house $460 Clothing 200 Health $5 l'ransportation 75 Food, housing, and )peration Living expenses 126 percent Cash allowances to depend- of income ents 65 Miscellaneous personal items activities Betterments 4 education and recrea- Professional Othe percent of in tion come Donations to nondepend- ents cent of income Giving 1 per- Excess of current expendi- meee Deficit cent of income , = 31 per current in- -245 over come Total current income $792 Net liabilities * (disregarding life insurance) $ 550 Face value of life insurance policies 3 * Excess of indebtedness over value of property. According to this teacher's own statement, given below, she and her children lived mod estly but happily on their meager income. She took a philosophical view of a situation which compelled continued borrowing in order t make ends meet. I began teaching 1918, when | S21 a Teacher's own statement in a one-teacher school in was seventeen years of age, at a salary of month. This was in an old, dilapidated church where it was necessary to open an umbrella when it rained. Next | obtained a position in a two-teacher school at $35, and later at $50 per month. | continued to teach, altho I was married in the meantime, until the spring of 1921, a few months before my daughter was born. My son 1922, and before he was born in November was two months old my husband, who was also ill and | his place as principal of a two-teacher school a teacher, was taken seriously took He never regained his health, and | continued to teach in rural schools until his death in 1925 when | found myself twenty-four years old, with two children to rear, and practically no education beyond high school. By borrowing money I was able to go to summer school each year until I had earned my B.A. degree in 1934. For two years before that I had served as principal of an eight teacher consolidated junior high school. After obtaining my degree 1 was given a place as supervisor with the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, and took some postgraduate work in social service. On being dismissed from the FERA, I was elected as teacher of English in the high school of this town. For the first time, I was able to take my children with me. The girl is now a junior, and the boy a sopho more, in high school. We have a very modest little apartment. | have to help support my parents and grand father; therefore, with my meager salary, we have to be more than economical. But we aré very happy and have few troubles other than financial ones. My philosophy is, “If you can help a thing, do it; otherwise, don’t worry, about it.”’ Teacher C ‘This teacher was a married woman who had completed twenty-eight years of teaching ex perience by the end of 1936-37. She had had more than two years of college training for her work, but not enough to fulfil the require- ments for a degree. She was a member of her state and local education associations. In her position as teacher of both high-school and ele- mentary grades, which she had held for ten vears, she received an annual salary of $1080. Her husband, a disabled war veteran, received a yearly pension of $600, bringing their joint income up to $1680. They had two children. In 1936-37 they were making payments on the home in which they lived. In addition to her schoolwork, the teacher had the entire care of the home and of the personal needs of her tamily. She owned an automobile of ancient vintage, in which she traveled the six miles between her home and her school, sharing the operating expense with others. That little be- yond the bare necessities was available for the family of four is evident from the expenditure data summarized below. These show a deficit of $225 in income as compared with current expenditures. This deficit was met by borrow- ing $200 and withdrawing $25 mulated savings. from accu- Food, housing, and house operation $1,000 Clothing 200 Health 400 | Transportation 125 > Cash allowances to de- of pendents 30 Miscellaneous personal Living expenses 108 percent income items 60 Professional activities 10) Betterments = 3 Other education and recre- } percent of in- ation 50 } come Donations to nondepend- | Giving = 2 per- ents f cent of income 4 Excess of current expendi- current in- | Deficit = 13 per- { cent of income come -—225 iy tures over 7? Total current income $1,680 $2,300 1,000 Net assets other than life insurance Face value of life insurance policies The greatest concern of this teacher, as shown by her statement below, was a lack of money to provide educational advantages for herself and her children. A relatively large part of the family budget necessarily consisted of expenses for medical care and medicines. Teacher's own statement—l am a woman with two children. My husband a small pension. He is a disabled soldie: able to do chores about the home. As | afford to hire help, I have taught scho cared for my home and children, w ironing, sewing, and even gardening summer. Many of the items of expenditure w have reported are higher than they wo if my husband were teaching and if | we to devote all my time to the house. \] as well as my husband, has been sick a deal, requiring medical care, expensive cines, and special foods. ‘This means less n for meeting other needs. I am at a disadvant because I cannot dress properly, and I have : had a vacation in eighteen years. I had no money for college in the first , and what college training I have had \ gained by teaching for a while and then att ing school. I want to take a course in sun school to bring myself up to date with res) to teaching methods in my field, but fo: past eight years I have been unable to even a correspondence course because | co not spare the small sum required. | have t: all my life to get a degree. Since I have tau successfully in larger cities, | could obtai: position, I feel sure, as head of a departm: in a larger system if only I had a degree. | want, more than anything else, to send n children to college. But the question is, ho Teacher D An unmarried man in his second yea: school service, this teacher in 1936-37 ear: a salary of $765 a year in a village high scho On this salary he was able to live and to ; off a part of his previously incurred indebt ness, as well as to give a little financial assist ance to two partial dependents. He four however, that he was unable to afford suita clothing, or an automobile in which to “‘escap occasionally from the community in which | was teaching. He had a college degree, b stated his intention of postponing further ed cation until he was free from debt. He did no! belong to a national, state, or local educati association. A summary of his expenditures in 1936-3) follows: [32] and housing ng sportation Living expenses illowances to depend 68 S ) ot personal percent income cellaneous Betterments fessional activities percent of in come less Giving Donations to nondepend than 1 cent ot per ents ; income of income lus 29 current Excess current ver expendi percent of in »”? s 23 come Total current income $765 $ 235 1,000 Net liabilities (disregarding life insurance) Face value of life insurance policies Of the $223 surplus of income over current expenditures, $205 was used to repay previ ously incurred indebtedness, $11 was used to pay an insurance premium, and the remaining $7 was saved. In his statement, which follows, the teacher expressed his dissatisfaction with the level of living which he could afford to maintain, and his sense of isolation from other parts of the state. -On salary | can buy only the cheapest kind of clothing. | Teacher's own statement my have been unable to repay money which I bor- rowed in order to attend summer school last year ; therefore, I do not intend to go to school any more until | am out of debt. As for a car, to say that I have missed hay ing one would be putting it mildly. There is no bus service thru this town, and only two trains stop here. One of these trains goes east at 5 o'clock in the morning, and the other goes west at 12:15 at night. From this you can see how much I have wanted a car. However, the ailroad section hands have cars. It begins to | ook as if a college education is a luxury from which one can expect no financial return. Theoretically, a teacher should receive a salary large enough to enable him to live a cul tural life. Salaries paid teachers in this town are barely sufficient to provide the everyday necessities. Teacher E This was a married woman who, in 1936-37, had completed ten years of teaching service. For a number of years she had been unable to 2 2 3 had attord summer school attendance, and she completed something less than two full years ot at She w member of three professional education associa local, Her teaching position, which she had held training the college level. as tions state, and national. in a one-teacher school, where of S810. Het health was poor, but he was able to work a Tor SiX Vears, Was husband's b she received a salary put the farm, and during the summer of did some outside work for which he w | trom the tot il $120. A net income of $20 was realize the farm during the year, bringing joint income of husband and wife up to $950 They had one child. Altho paying tor a fa: of their own, they 1936-37, Il rented tarm in be lived on a in order that the teache might near her school. Vhe rented house contained a central heating plant but few other con veniences. Expenditures reported by the teacher are summarized below: house $545 RO and Food, operation housing, Clothing Health lransportation 235 | Living expenses 2/ 3 1Q 125 percent Cash allowances to depend of income ents Miscellaneous personal items Betterments } percent oi Professional activities Othe ation education and recre in come fur school district to nonde- School nished by Other pendents supplies not Giving 1 per donations cent of income Excess of current expendi - : Deficit 30 per in- —288 tures over current cent of income come Total current income $950 Total net assets (no life insurance $1,325 In addition to spending their current income of $950, the family borrowed and withdrew from savings a total of $548 during 1936-37. Of this amount, $288 was used to pay current expenses in excess of income, and the remainde: was applied on the purchase of the farm, on the payment of other debt, and on the purchase of new farm machinery and livestock. These people were forced to do without They expected to improve their situation somewhat many material and cultural advantages. by moving soon to their own farm 7 | Teacher's own statement—We have been living on a small rented farm for the past six years. In August 1935 we made a first payment on a farm of our own—sixty acres—but have not lived there because snow is too deep in win- ter to permit me to travel as far as my present school. Now, however, I have secured a school only a quarter of a mile from our own place, so we will have no rent to pay next year. We have been paying $60 rent each year, as well as $35 in taxes on our own farm. My husband worked out last summer, mak- ing $120. We keep four or five cows, some pigs, chickens, and two horses. Last year we sold $300 worth of cream, but as we fed the cows ninety sacks of oats and fifteen tons of hay, we really made very little on them. Of course we had our own milk, butter, and eggs. Our little boy had to be operated on for appendicitis last summer at a cost of $150, with hospital expenses of $50. He is not strong; neither is my husband. So we have lots of extras to buy, such as cod liver oil and oranges, which may seem to be luxuries but which I consider necessities. My husband hasn’t had a new suit for six vears. We drive a Model A 1929 Ford, which we bought this winter for $175 and then spent $40 to repair. I have not been able to save money for summer school since 1933, when I last attended. We should like to give our little boy—eight years old—music and books, but cannot afford it. Teacher F A school principal who received a salary of $1400 in 1936-37 found it insufficient for meet- ing the needs of himself, his wife, and one child. He was forced to supplement this salary with $550 earned during the summer months. He also added to his available funds by borrowing. Of his seven years in school service, two had been spent in the position which he held in 1936-37. He had a college degree and had com- pleted some professional training beyond col- lege graduation. He was a member of his state teachers association. The family lived in a rented home which was centrally heated and provided with elec- tric current, but which was without running water and all other modern conveniences. The principal was paying installments on an automobile which he used in connection with his schoolwork. His expenditures were reported as follows Food, housing, and house ) operation $ 527 Clothing 150 Health 50 | Living expenses Transportation 788 + = 89 Cash allowances to de- pendents . Miscellaneous personal items pers € of income 125 | Betterments percent of | Professional activities 50>) Other education and recre- . ation 100 J come School supplies not fur- ) nished by school district 10 | Other donations to nonde- f pendents 25) Giving = 2 pe cent of incom: Excess of current income ) over current expendi- \ 28 Surplus = 1 pe tures J cent of incon Total current income $1,950 Net assets other than life insurance Face value of life insurance policies While the current expenditures of this pri: cipal’s family came within his total income ot $1950 (but not within his school salary ot $1400), he had to borrow to meet obligations previously incurred, including insurance pr miums. Of the $227 borrowed, $205 was used in meeting these obligations. According to his statement below, this pri cipal, like others in the same section, con tributed large amounts to the local school sys tem in the form of transportation expense. He also pointed out that the state in which he wa employed made no provision for the economic security of teachers after retirement or for thei: security of tenure during active service. Teacher's own statement—While | need to go to summer school and have desired, for the past four or five years, to improve further m\ professional qualifications, | have had to work whenever | could find an opportunity in orde: to keep living. I have denied myself and m) family clothes, entertainment, and many o! the better things of life in order to pay for an automobile which I use a great deal for the school. I spend far more in transportation than for any other item. Half of this travel is fo: the school, for which I do not get a cent. Altho this travel is not absolutely required, all othe: principals in this locality do it, and it seems necessary in order to keep the job going. If al! [ 34] tems of expense for the school were taken care of, it would mean a substantial saving to me. One of my greatest criticisms of the school -ystem in this state is that there is no provi- son for old-age pensions and no tenure law. As a result, many teachers work for a year in one place, and then have to move on to an other. All the teacher gets is what he is paid while he works. Young men are taken into the profession, used as long as they are useful, and then turned out, after giving the best years of their life to the service, to try to find some other means of livelihood. It takes all I can make, winter and summer, to live. What will become of me when | am no longer wanted as a teacher? The only thing to do, as far as I can see, is to get into some other profession in which | can work for a longer period, and in which I can save some thing for the future. Teacher G This is the case of a young unmarried woman with two years of teaching experience, both of which had been spent in the same one-teacher school. Altho the possessor of a bachelor’s de- gree, she received a salary of only $450 in 1936- 37. An additional $35 was earned during the summer vacation, and this gave her a total in- $485. She lived within this income, paid off a part of the indebtedness previously contracted for the purpose of ob- come for the year of taining an education, made annuity deposits n the state teachers retirement system, and paid the premium on a $1000 life insurance policy. She received no financial help from her family or from any other source. During the school year she rented a room in a house lo- cated one-half mile from her school. This house provided no modern conveniences. This teacher’s expenditures in 1936-37 were as follows: Food and housing $185 Clothing 30 Health 50 | Transportation 70 | Miscellaneous | items Living expenses 70 percent | of income persona J Betterments = 1 percent of in- come Professional activities Other education and recrea- tion Donations to ents nondepend- _ Giving = 3 per- 15 | cent of income Excess of current income Surplus 26 over current expendi- tures 128 percent of in- come Total current income $485 Net liabilities I ace disregarding life insurance value of life insurance policies The $128 surplus, shown above, included $50 used for the repayment of debt previously contracted, $56 for annuity deposits and an in surance premium, and $22 for other savings. In her own statement the teacher contrasted the living standards which she would like to maintain with her actual way of life, in which she was unable to afford suitable clothing to wear to the district teachers meeting. She was a member of the local teachers association only. Teacher's own statement—Sometime I hope to have a little home. There will be a piano to practice on and no one to be disturbed by the noise. ‘here will be a bed with a mattress and springs, instead of a straw tick on wooden slats. There will be built-in bookcases, instead of books piled on the floor. Last year I saved $4 and bought an unpainted chest of drawers. That will be there, too, and it will contain unbleached muslin and cotton prints to be made into school clothes—and yes, even some better cloth so that I can go to the district teachers meeting. I went thru college wearing any,old clothes that came my way, but I’m not going to any- thing bigger than a county institute until I can look fairly respectable. I hope sometime to have a car in the low- price field, money enough to run it, and even enough money for a little recreation. In the last two years I’ve gone nowhere that required money, and about the only things I’ve bought which could have been avoided were the chest of drawers mentioned above, a one dollar plant for my grandmother who was sick, an Easter lily for an aunt who is seventy years old, and a ten dollar violin for a girl who had a chance to obtain lessons free. Teacher H This woman teacher was divorced and had She had the schools of her state for more than twenty years, one son to support. taught in and had held the same position as elementary- school teacher in a village of less than 1000 inhabitants for almost eighteen years. [ 35 ] She did not have a college degree but had completed more than two vears of training at the college level. She was a member of her state teachers association. Her salary in 1936-37 was $75 per month for nine months, or $675 for the whole year. Except for about $50 in food products from her mother’s farm, she received no income from any source other than her school salary. The teacher and her son lived in a rented home, with no conveniences except electricity. Following is a summary of the expenditure data which she reported : Food, housing, and house operation $400 Clothing 75 Health 350 | Living expenses I ransportation 30 | 129 percent Cash allowances to depend- of income ents 15 Miscellaneous personal items 65 J Betterments = 1 Professional activities 6. percent of in- } come School supplies not fur- Givi ‘ . . . siving 3 per- nished by school district 5 dpi te er cent of in- Other donations to nonde- come pendents 18 | Deficit — 33 percent of in- Excess of current expendi- tures over current income —239 > J come Total current income. $725 $ 300 1,700 Net liabilities (disregarding life insurance) Face value of life insurance policies To meet the current deficit of $239 and to pay the premium on a life insurance policy, the teacher borrowed and withdrew from her savings a total of $364. Her inability to meet the unexpected cost of illness without borrow- ing produced a feeling of anxiety which was undoubtedly detrimental to both her health and her teaching. Teacher's own statement—It would be im- possible for me to attend summer school in view of the other demands made upon my meager salary. During the past year my son, who is in high school, had acute diabetes and was in a hospital for one month, critically ill. I myself have arthritis and am under a doctor’s and a dentist’s care. My drug bill for insulin alone is $1.25 per week, not including alcohol, cotton, and hypodermic needles. The bill for medicine for both myself and my son averages [ 36 ] about $3 per week. My eyes failed this and so I have had still another expense. Hospital, doctor, and dentist bills hav: about robbed us of clothes and a livable | The meager salary which teachers receive not permit provision for meeting emer; expenses. Many uneducated laborers are b paid than teachers. Teachers, harassed financial worries, do not have a chance to their best, which I am sure they all want t: I am now forty-seven years old and | been teaching for more than twenty yea: have been economical, have cut expenses and there, have lived in a home without n ern conveniences, and have denied myself m cultural advantages. Now, after all the st: gle, | am in debt. This is a hasty explanation from a depres and worried teacher whose son wants to go t college next year. I still hope to see him g: uate, and to see the day when I shall ow small home with modern conveniences. Teacher I A married man with fifteen years of scho teacher was employed 1936-37 in a six-teacher school located in th: open country. He held a master’s degree ani was a member of his state teachers associatior experience, this He received a school salary of $1100, which h had to supplement with income earned during the summer vacation in order to provide fo the needs of himself and his wife and chil In the summer of 1936 he earned $350, thu: bringing his income for 1936-37 up to $145! The family managed to live within this in come, but their rented house was without co: veniences except for electric current, and the) did without many of the things which help t make life worthwhile. The teacher was fre from debt, except for doctor and hospital bills of $150. Data on the family expenditures are give: below: Food, housing, and house | operation $ 825 | Clothing 125 | Health 150 Living expenses Transportation 100 > = 87 percent Cash allowances to de- of income pendents 50 Miscellaneous personal items , 15 | ch SI} m mal activities 1 Betterments 2 education and rec- percent of in mn 15 come S supplies not fur- ed by school district 5 Giving 2 per- donations to nonde- cent of income lents 25 Excess of current income ; . Surplus 9 per- current expendi- : » cent of incomes es 130 lotal current income $1,450 Net assets other than life insurance > 35 value of life insurance policies 2,000 [he teacher questioned whether he and thers similarly situated could be expected to maintain a proper professional spirit when practically all their time and attention were taken up with the struggle for existence. His statement follows. Teacher's for me to find work during the summer in own statement—lt is necessary rder to provide fuel to keep my home warm winter, and sufficient clothing for me to wear when I am teaching. My current expenses eep me at the task so continually that travel r further education during the summer months s out of the question. Fortunately, I received my master’s degree in 1933; I do not believe that 1 could afford the time or money to attend school now for that purpose. For the past two ears I have been unable to reduce further the loctor and hospital bills which I incurred in the summer of 1934. The supply of current magazines and pro- tessional literature in my house is at a mini um, and many other worthwhile things must entirely eliminated. My car now is six vears old and badly needs replacing. These material things may seem unnecessary, and each one alone would possibly be insignificant. Collectively, however, they are of the utmost importance in the life of a teacher. It appears to me that not only I, but also other teachers similarly situated, are having a very hard strug- gle to retain the spirit and self-respect that a member of the teaching profession should have. Teacher J This teacher, a married woman with three children, received $720 during the school year 1936-37 for teaching in a one-teacher school She earned an extra $170 by teaching in sum- mer school during the vacation months. Her [ 3 / husband's earnings amounted to $1000, thus increasing the current family income Tor the vear to $1890. pai , nae 4 Ihe family expenditures durin 136-3 ire summarized below: Food, housing, and house operation $1.1 Clothing 150 Health 10 | ny xpenses Transportation 300 101 percent Cash allowances to de of income pendents 350 Miscellaneous personal items 5 Professional activities 2 Betterments 1 Other education and rec percent of it reation 15 ( I School supplies not fur- nished by school district § | Giving 1 per Other donations to nonde cent of income pendents 10 Excess of current expendi- . Dx cit 5 pe tures over current In on cent of income come a/ Total current income $1,890 Net assets other than life insurance $1,851 Face value of life insurance policies +, ‘To meet the excess of current expenditures over income, and to pay the premiums on life insurance, $97 was withdrawn from the fam ily’s accumulated savings. As shown above, the total income of this family from all sources was more than double How ( 41890) the amount of the teacher’s own salary. ever, while both the family income and the family expenditures ($1947) were con siderably above the average for rural teachers’ families in 1936-37, this teacher's statement indicates that her family was not able to in dulge in many luxuries. She expected to move soon to another state, and to leave the teach ing profession permanently because she believed that economies effected as a result of her full time the home would management of more than offset the loss of her salary as a rural teacher. -We have not had in food or good times that we Teacher's own statement the “extras” needed. We have not been cold or wet for lack of clothing, but I would have liked silk stock ings occasionally instead of cotton, and bette: than homemade cotton dresses for myself and the girls (two in high school). My boy, also in high school, wore overalls all winter while many of his classmates had tweeds or “‘cords.”’ I am not going to teach next year, nor again at all. My husband has gone to an adjoining state and found steady work at better pay. | have liked teaching and hate to leave the pro- fession, but I think I can earn more by staying home and keeping chickens and a cow or two, by canning fruits and vegetables, and by having time to provide my family with more home- made luxuries. Teacher K This teacher was an unmarried woman who taught high-school grades in a_ six-or-more- teacher school in the open country. She was a member of both the local and the state asso- ciations of teachers. Altho she had completed three years of graduate study and had had previous experience in college teaching, she received only $1120 during the school year 1936-37. By money earned in summer school teaching, she brought her total receipts from teaching up to $1200. She reported having one total dependent and one partial dependent, the latter contributing $300 to the family income and thus raising it to a total of $1500. The teacher’s home, which was equipped with all modern conveniences, had once been fully paid for, but was again encumbered with debt in 1936-37, and she was struggling to pay off this debt. She owned no automobile and traveled the twenty miles between her home and her school by motor bus. Her expenditures for the year were as follows: Food, housing, and house operation Clothing Health Living expenses Transportation ‘ = 84 percent Cash allowances of income pendents Miscellaneous personal items to de- Betterments = 3 percent of in- come Professional activities Other education and rec- reation Giving = 1 per- cent of income Donations to nondepend- ents Surplus = 12 percent of in- come Excess of current income over current expendi- tures : 180 Total current income $1,500 Net assets other than life insurance Face value of life insurance policies Of the surplus shown above, $165 was vested in life insurance. The remainder, con bined with $85 withdrawn from savings, w, used to pay $100 on the indebtedness on +} home. This teacher blamed public selfishness an stupidity, as well as a shortsighted school ad ministrative policy, for the economic situatio; of teachers in her community. Teacher's own statement—Il appreciate ¢| opportunity to present a few statements co; cerning conditions which are typical not on! of my own situation, but also of the situation other teachers of my acquaintance. First, we live in an area where the ric! of the land produce fine crops and livesto rather than fine intellects. The mental sel; satisfaction of the district results in the co struction of school buildings which are bea tiful to look at. Splendid efforts are made pay off the debt on these buildings, but salary cut of the depression has not been stored to teachers and prices are about t! same, locally, as in pre-depression years. In a community as rich as this, an income o! $1120 is completely inadequate for the maint: nance of a family and the pursuit of such ; tivities as give even a minimum of intellectu: growth and self-respect. If 1 had not alread finished three years of graduate study I woul be even worse off, for I could not now reser\ enough money to pay the expense of summ school attendance. I, like some of the me: have a family to support. It cannot be done or a basis of security at the present level of sa aries. | am unable to afford an automobil (and so waste time waiting for buses) ; or cook, to take over the household duties whi members of my family are unable adequate! to assume; or trips, to provide the recreatior needed to stimulate my mind and (very in portant) my disposition and nerves. There is little hope of cutting off the debt on my home altho home ownership provides the most ec: nomical means of housing my family. In short the administrative policy and low salary lev: in this district create a sense of futility and loss of self-respect. A brilliant young woman of my acquain tance who loved her own community but whi was free to get away, did so when a position [ 38] opened which had a future. The community Sevelin lost one of its greatest assets. ‘This -ounty does not realize that it is driving away ts most valuable human assets by its policy of maintaining fine buildings at the expense of its teachers, who are mere “slaves” to the com- munity. Unfortunately some school adminis- rrators are willing to sacrifice their faculties in ‘der to cater to public popularity by exhibiting evidences of so-called thrift. The above is offered as an unexaggerated statement of a situation as shameful as it is commonplace in our public schools. It is my earnest hope that the National Education Asso- ciation will find interest in forcefully attacking these problems in communities where they exist. Teachers acting as individuals without protection, who are dependent upon arbitrary employment for even the necessities of life, are helpless. The National Education Association, like the American Association of University Professors, can be beneficial as an instrument for publicizing unfair practices. Teacher L A young unmarried woman, this teacher in 1936-37 earned $464 teaching in an elementary school in a village of less than 1000 inhabitants. She had completed two years of college train- ng and was working toward a degree. She was imember of her state and local teachers asso- iations. For support she depended only partially on ‘r salary from teaching. During the year she eceived $300 from her mother, $210 of which was in the form of free board and lodging. The school district provided her with free trans- portation between her home and her school which was five miles away. Following is a summary of the expenditure data which she reported in 1936-37: Food and housing Clothing Health Transportation Living expenses 73 percent of income Miscellaneous personal items Professional activities Bette rments Other education and recrea- 17 percent of tion income Donations to nondepend- Giving § pei ents cent of income Excess of current income Sur is expendi- : tures 39 cent of income 5 per over current $764 ° Total current income Net liabilities (no life insurance) $113 The figures reported by the teacher show an excess of $39 in current income over current expenditures. ‘his surplus was used toward the repayment of previously contracted in debtedness. Because of the financial aid received from a relative, this teacher did not lack material com forts. She found her income insufficient, how ever, to provide for the professional develop ment which she desired, or to permit saving for future economic security. Teacher's own statement—lI cannot say that I especially missed any material advantages dui ing the past year. Living with my mother, | do not pay for board or laundry, and simply try to stretch my income to cover my othe expenses. I attend one summer school term each year and would like to attend two so that I might get my degree more quickly. When I get my degree, I can draw a larger salary. I am still in debt for my teacher training and am anxious to get that paid off. Thus far in my career I have been unable to make any savings or investments for sickness, accident, or old age. V. Summary of Facts and Conclusions The survey on which this bulletin is based obtained information from rural teachers in twenty representative states for the year 1936- 37. The following aspects of teacher status were investigated: (1) professional status; (2) family responsibilities and living conditions; (3) transportation facilities; (4) cultural, rec- reational, and economic opportunities; and (5) financial status, including school salaries and other income, uses of income, value of prop- erty, extent of indebtedness, and reactions of individual teachers to their financial problems. The preceding sections’ of the bulletin have presented detailed information for white teach- ers on the last of these topics—financial status. This concluding section summarizes the find- ings for these teachers under all five of the topics mentioned above. The summary is ar- ranged in three parts: (1) a brief, generalized picture of the rural teacher and his environ- ment, (2) a tabular review of differences in teacher status according to type of rural school, and (3) a discussion of outstanding points and their implications. A Composite Picture of the Rural Teacher The following description of the white rural teacher is based very largely on the responses of the entire reporting group. It does not usu- ally take account of differences associated with such factors as sex, marital status, and type of rural school. Moreover, the reader should bear in mind that where averages are given, there are usually wide individual variations above and below the average. The white teacher in rural areas is three times as likely to be a woman as a man. For for about seven years, and in his present tion for three years, on the average. He us has had at least two years of college or n school training, and in two cases out o| he has a degree from a four-year college. This teacher usually belongs to his teachers association, and he is more likel) not to belong to a local or county teache; sociation also. Seldom, however, is he a n ber of a national organization of teachers rarely desires to leave teaching for ano: gainful occupation, and he would gene: prefer to continue teaching in rural scho: salaries there were the same as in city scho If there were no difference in salaries, he wi more often than not, prefer to remain 1 same general type of rural community in \ he is now located—that is, either in the oj country or in a town under 2500 in po; tion. If he teaches in a one-teacher sch however, he has a 4-to-1 preference for a larg school. Family responsibilities and living condit —Altho the rural teacher is twice as likely) be single as married, he has, on the averag the equivalent of one other person wholly pendent upon him for support. In two out five cases he maintains a home either persona!! or in cooperation with someone else, but as rule he neither owns nor is buying a hon Rooming and boarding is nearly as frequent the maintenance of a home, while in only or case out of five does the teacher live with re! tives at less than usual rates for room board. His residence on week-ends is usual! the same as during the school week. The availability of modern facilities at + teacher’s living quarters varies according convenience, however, the masculine pronoun is generally used in referring to this composite teacher. Professional status—The rural teacher is more likely to be employed in an open-country school than in a town school. If he works in the type of facility. The teacher usually has may azines, newspapers, and a radio. A little mor often than not he also has electric current, ru: ning water, a bathtub or shower, and an indoo: toilet. On the other hand, the chances against his having a telephone, central heating open country, the chances are about even that he is the only teacher in his school. In two cases out of three, the teacher is em- ployed solely to teach children in the elemen- tary grades. The chances are 7 to | against his having the title of principal, supervisor, or superintendent. He has served in the schools a heated bedroom, and gas for cooking o: heating. Transportation facilities—The chances nearly 2 to 1 that the rural teacher owns « is buying an automobile. However, since lives only about one mile from his school, the average, he is as likely to walk as to rid [40 ] | from school. When he rides, he usually in his own car or in that of a friend; ely uses a bus or a train. iltural, recreational, and economic oppor ties—In two cases out of five the rural cner does not have access to a good library ring the school week, and in only one case t of three does he have access to a collection f 1000 books or more. He usually subscribes it least one professional magazine, and is nore likely than not to subscribe for at least ne nonprofessional magazine. ‘he chances are nly 50-50 that he will buy any professional ooks during the year, and they are 2 to | wainst his buying books of any other kind. On the average, this teacher attends a total of 83 group gatherings of various types during the vear. Of these, 38 are religious services ; 20 ire commercial affairs of a recreational or edu cational nature; 16 are social events of a non- commercial character; and 9 are professional meetings of teachers. Three times during the school year, on the werage, the teacher takes a trip of at least fifty miles outside his school community, not includ- ng week-end visits to relatives. He spends the ummer vacation in a variety of activities, of which working at his own or his parents’ home without pay occupies the most time, with at- tendance at college summer school not far hind. In one case out of six he devotes a part the summer to working for pay at an occu ition other than teaching. He often spends ome time either resting or traveling, but rarely sives such activities more than a minor fraction t his time. Financial status—On the average, the rural total which $876 or 91 percent is his salary for teacher receives a income of $967, of school service. ‘The remainder consists largely of contributions from relatives who live with him, and of his own earnings from work othe than teaching. The single woman teacher rooming and boarding has an average total income of $832, of which 74 percent is used for living expenses, 6 percent for betterments (professional activ- ities, other education, and recreation), 6 per cent for donations to institutions or to persons not dependent on the teacher, and 14 percent tor saving or for payment of old debt. The married man teacher who rents a home per- sonally has an average total income of $1416, of which 84 percent is used for living expenses, 5 percent for betterments, 3 percent for tions, and 8 percent for saving or tor of old debt. After serving in the schools for sever on the average, our composite rural owns property (other than life insurance ing an average value of $1864, and he has a: S444. thus iverage indebtedness of His total net assets other than insurance amount to $1420. In addition, he has life Mmsurance pol icles with a total face value of about $1500 Differences According to Type of Rural School Since the foregoing picture of the composite rural teacher does not show differences in her Status teac according to type of rural school, ‘Table 21 summarizes certain findings for white teachers in three types of school: (1 (2) schools in the open country, and (3) schools one-teacher schools, two-or-more-teache! in towns under 2500 in population. ‘The rela tive importance of these three groups is indi cated by the fact that of all the white rural teachers employed in the United States, ay proximately 26 percent are in the first group, 33 percent in the second group, and 41 percent in the third group. Outstanding Points and Their Significance 1. While the rural teachers are by no means ideal, they are professional qualifications of high enough to justify the payment of larger these teachers now receive. A large majority of teachers in salaries, on the average, than rural schools have had previous teaching ex perience. Nearly all of them have had at least two years of college or normal school training, and nearly 40 percent are graduates of four vear colleges. Many belong to local or county them are They are not, as a rule, interested in leaving the field to enter other teachers associations, and most of members of state education associations. educational occupations. Neither would they prefer positions in urban schools if salaries in rural and urban schools were the same. In fact, if salary differentials are left out of consideration, a majority of the open-country teachers would prefer to continue in open-country schools, and most of the town teachers would prefer to teach in towns unde 2500 in population. TABLE 21.—SUMMARY OF CERTAIN ASPECTS OF TEACHER STATUS IN THREE TYPES OF RURAL SCHOOL l-teacher 2-or-more- Towns schools teacher under Aspect of teacher status in schools 2500 in open in open popula- country country tion 2 3 4 Professional statu 1. Percent teaching elemen- tary grades only . Median years of school service to date . Median years in present position . Percent with 2 years or more of college train- ing ; . Percent with 4-year col- lege degrees ‘ . Percent belonging to state teachers associations . Percent belonging to na- tional teachers associa- tions . . Percent choosing educa- tion as career ee 9. Percent preferring to con- tinue in present type of school *® . aa Family responsibilities and liv- ing conditicns: . Percent who are men . Percent who are married . Mean number of depend- ency units > ahewe . Percent § maintaining homes . ‘a . Percent owning or buying homes : : . Percent having same resi- dence on week-ends as during school week 7. Percent having heated bedrooms.......... 39... 40 50 . Percent having electric current... . subnaes 60 85.7 . Percent having running water...... ia Khe ofl 33.i 55.3 72.5 . Percent having bathtub or shower. . permanent 50.8 69.8 * “Present type of school” refers to one of the three main types indicated in the headings of columns 2, 3, >» A “dependency unit’ represents one person wholly dependent or two persons partially dependent. l-teacher 2-or-more- Town: schools teacher under Aspect of teacher status in schools 2500 j, open in open popula. country country tion 2 3 4 Transportation facilities: 1. Percent owning or buying automobiles...... : 2. Percent riding to school 3. Median miles to school Culiural, recreational, and eco- momic opportunities: 1. Percent having access to library of 1,000 books or more. ee . Percent purchasing 1 or more professional books . Percent purchasing 1 or more nonprofessional I. siteas aware . Percent subscribing for 1 or more professional magazines . Percent subscribing for 1 or more nonprofessional magazines......... - Median number of reli- gious services attended . Median number of com- mercial events attended . Median number of social events attended....... - Median number of profes- sional meetings at- tended : . Median number of special trips taken during ee 11. Percent attending college summer school........ 12. Percent traveling at least 2 weeks during summer. 13. Percent earning money during summer (not teaching) 3.s 16.1 Mean school salary $1, 005 and 4 The situation revealed here is much better than that found in most rural schools a decade or two ago. Moreover, in the Committee’s judgment, the facts indicate a degree of pro- fessional interest and competence among rural teachers with which the present low level of their salaries is distinctly inconsistent. Even if these teachers were never to become better qualified than they now are, most of them would deserve more money than they now re- ceive for teaching. Furthermore, a higher sal- ary level would enable many teachers in service to improve their qualifications in ways which they cannot now afford. 2. A majority of rural teachers have fami responsibilities. It has frequently been assumed that teachers—especially those who are unma: ried—have few if any dependents. According to this survey, however, nearly two-thirds ot the teachers in rural communities are support- ing one or more other persons wholly or in part. A fourth of them have the equivalent ot two or more total dependents, and a few have ten or more such dependents. While the mar- ried teachers have more dependents, on the average, than do the single teachers, half ot the latter have some responsibilities of this kind. Of special significance is the fact that [42] lin teachers with the larger families receive sub stantially less salary per family member than io those with few or no dependents. [he Committee believes that salary scales + r rural teachers should make more adequate U1 srovision for dependents. Rural communities need a reasonable proportion of teachers who have families and who want their homes to ye vital factors life. Such a teacher cannot be expected to maintain an ap in community ropriate standard of living or to give maxi mum service on a salary which is barely suff cient for a single person without dependents. \foreover, the best teachers among those who have families are not likely to remain long in school district which fails to provide ade quately for their If the \merican people really want the kind of rural school service which these teachers are capable the economic welfare. f giving, they will furnish additional money necessary to obtain it. 3. Home ownership is not common among rural teachers. One would perhaps not ex- pect to find many of the unmarried teachers wning homes. Even among the married teach ers, however, only about a third own or are ying homes. This situation may probably be (1) teachers usually cannot afford to purchase ittributed to three major factors: rural homes of their own; (2) many of them do not wish, or are not permitted, to remain in one school district long enough to make the pur- hase of a home a wise investment; and (3) many rural schools do not serve any true com- junity, and hence are not especially attractive 0 teachers who wish to become closely and permanently identified with community life. If rural schools generally are to attract and keep competent teachers who wish not only to raise families but also to establish homes of their own on a more or less permanent basis, the salaries offered to such teachers must be suficient to permit the acquisition of modest homes within a reasonable period without too much sacrifice in other important aspects of living. The problem, however, is not one of teachers’ salaries alone. Rural teachers need assurance that they will not lose their positions for reasons unrelated to their effectiveness as teachers and community leaders. In addition, thousands of rural school districts need to be reorganized in such a way that each new dis- trict will represent a genuine community in which the teacher who loves rural life will be [ 4 3 eager to participate both as teacher and as citi zen, and in which he can be proud to establish his own home. 4. a group are inadequate. The housing facilities of rural teachers as half of these teachers have the advantages of central heated Fewer than heating, a bedroom, a telephone. Nearly toilet, a bathtub or shower, or even running or half of them do not have an indoor water. One-third do not have electric current, and one-fifth are without a radio. The situation is about the same whether the teachers main tain homes, room and board away from home, halt of the unmarried teachers in rural areas have or live with relatives. Moreover, nearly one or more roommates, whereas every teacher needs a room in which he can work or relax without interruption. The conditions just de scribed are not, of course, found in all rural areas; in some areas the housing facilities of teachers are much better, while in others they are much worse, than the foregoing picture indicates. Higher salaries alone cannot be expected to solve the problem of housing for rural teachers The poverty and backwardness of many rural districts are such that adequate living quarters cannot be obtained there at any price. In many other communities the people who live in the better homes neither need nor wish to rent rooms to teachers. These people could make an important contribution to the school and the comfortable and attractive places in which to community by providing teachers with live. In localities where no adequate quarters are available, the schoolboard or other citizens should see to it that present facilities are mod ernized or that new quarters are constructed and equipped to meet the needs of teachers. In a few states, local districts have sought to solve the problem by establishing teacherages homes purchased or built at public expense fo the use of teachers, and either rented to them at reasonable rates or provided as part payment for their teaching services. Among those who have tried such a plan, opinion seems to be divided as to its desirability. 5. In spite of the importance of the auto mobile in rural areas, a substantial proportion of rural teachers are without this means of transportation. That these teachers need cars of their own can hardly be doubted. Many of them have to travel several miles to and from school each day. Shopping trips must be made to neighboring towns, and occasionally to more distant centers. Numerous cultural and recreational opportunities can be enjoyed only it rapid and dependable transportation is con- and trains is often impracticable ; in fact, most rural tinuously available. The use of buses school districts are not touched by railway or commercial bus lines. Hence, the teacher who has no automobile of his own must usually either walk or await the pleasure of a friend who will take him where he wants to go. In the face of this situation, more than a third of the rural teachers have no cars at all, and many who have them own them jointly with other persons. This statement will occa- sion little surprise in view of the salary situa- tion among these teachers. Indeed, a study of their annual expenditures suggests that many who have automobiles are able to maintain them only by seriously curtailing other essen- tial elements of living. In readjusting salary scales in rural schools, therefore, due allow- ance should be made for the purchase and op- eration of automobiles by the teachers. 6. Many rural teachers lack adequate facil- ities for cultural and professional improvement during the school year. According to this sur- vey, about 38 percent have no reasonably good library available during the school week, and 28 percent have access only to libraries contain- ing fewer than 1000 books. Probably most of these small libraries are located in schools, as other studies show that nearly three-fourths of the entire rural population of the United States are without public library service. This proportion varies widely from state to state, and from one major section of the nation to another. However, except in a very few states, the unit for providing public library facilities is still the city rather than the county or small town, and most rural counties have no such facilities. In addition to the lack of sufficient school and public libraries, there is room for much improvement in the building of private libra- ries by rural teachers. In a year’s time probably 15 percent subscribe for no professional mag- azines, and one-half buy no professional books ; one-third subscribe for no nonprofessional mag- azines, and two-thirds buy no nonprofessional books. Such conditions obviously handicap the cul- tural and professional growth of teachers. Every teacher should be familiar with recent publications in his own field; he also need stimulating and enriching influence of cant literature which is not directly rel teaching. At least two steps are necessary) rural teachers are to enjoy these essential ences thruout the school year: (1) the te must be paid enough so that they can to develop small libraries of their own; (2) additional funds must be made ava in most rural areas for both school and ; libraries. 7. Rural teachers generally devote mor to work than to rest or recreational act during the summer vacation. The po, notion that teachers take life easy for seve: months each year has little or no basis in { so far as those in rural schools are concern According to this survey, 42 percent of spend more time in working without pa their own or their parents’ homes than in other way. Twenty-seven percent give m time to attendance at college summer scho while 12 percent give more time to wor! for pay at an occupation other than teachi: In contrast, only 15 percent devote more of t summer to rest or travel than to any ot! activity. These facts, together with the data on ru: teachers’ salaries, leave little room for dou) that the financial resources of many su teachers provide little opportunity for relay tion or recreation while schools are not in ses sion. Indeed, lack of money is undoubtedly o: of the chief reasons why more of the teach do not attend college summer schools ¢ year. The relatively infrequent pursuit of pa ing occupations during the summer is proba due largely to the widespread scarcity of su jobs in recent years. It should be financially possible for eve: teacher to enjoy a stimulating and invigoratin: vacation each year, including occasional tri to places of historical, occupational, or sceni interest. Such opportunities are essential to t teacher’s professional efficiency as well as his personal well-being. As a rule, the teacher: vacation need not occupy the entire period tween the spring and fall sessions of schoo perhaps one month would be sufficient in mo»' cases. During the remainder of the summ¢ most rural teachers would be willing, ev: eager, to engage in‘ useful work for the scho or local community if they were to receive ac: quate remuneration for it. There are man [ 44] and recreational possibilities in rural ch could be realized more fully thru the to wri tion of competent teachers as leaders the summer months. In addition, regu ttendance at college summer school might sitimately be included among the activities which the teacher would be expected to earn round salary. s doubtful whether rural teachers genet should be encouraged to obtain commercial. tbs during the summer. While occasional ex riences in other fields may broaden the out wk and enrich the background of the individ | teacher, it should not be necessary for him sugment his school salary by work unrelated teaching. Teaching and its related activities hould be a full-time occupation and should be iid for on a full-time basis. 8. The salary situation among rural teachers ‘a group is unsatisfactory. The mean annual lary nd while a few receive more than $2000, some of all such teachers is less than $900, eceive less than $200 per year. Not only are the salaries of beginners verv low in most dis tricts, but additional experience and training ire not sufficiently nentary-school teachers receive substantially rewarded. As a rule, ele- ess than do high-school teachers, even when the comparison is limited to teachers of the ume sex. Teachers’ dependents are not ade iately provided for; salaries, especially among the women, have little relation to the number f dependents. Because of this situation, rural teachers gen ily are unable to maintain appropriate stand ls of living or to provide adequately for the iture. Even with a supplementary income of early $100, on the average, they have to pend too large a part of their incomes for rdinary living expenses, and have too little left tor betterments, giving, and saving. The prob- m is especially acute among teachers who ive dependents and among those who are ttempting to maintain homes. As a result, nost of the teachers have very little in reserve tor future emergencies or for retirement. Even those who have been in school service for thirty or forty years do not have enough assets to yield adequate retirement incomes. It is estimated that the average net assets of the men teachers who have served this long do not exceed $6000, and that those of the women teachers do not exceed $4500. At present rates, these amounts at sixty will purchase age straight lite annuities of about $485 px for a man, and about $325 per year woman. In contrast, the average married ma teacher who rents a home has living expen of about $1190 per year (not including bette: ments, giving, or saving), and the aver single woman teacher rooming and board has living expenses of about $615. While there may be in the spending habits of rural teachers, room for improvem marked gain in their economic status can achieved by this means alone. Significant vance will require a general increase in school salaries. The need for such an increas is especially great among teachers in elementary schools, among those with the larger amount of suitable training and successful experience and among those with the larger numbers of dependents, regardless of the sex of the teache1 9. Generally speaking, conditions among rural teachers are less satisfactory in the open country districts than in the town districts, and S¢ hools. ‘Teachers in the smaller open-country school are least adequate in the one-teache have had less training and experience; fewe! of them belong to professional organizations more of them are dissatisfied with their present positions; more of them live with relatives at low cost; fewer of them stay in the school dis trict on week-ends;: fewer of them have moder conveniences in their living quarters; fewe! of them have access to good libraries: they buy fewer books: they attend fewer gatherings ot a religious, social, recreational, or professional character ; they take fewer special trips durin, the school vear; they attend college summet school less frequently; and their salaries much lower than those of teachers in the town and large open-country schools. Most of these inequalities could b compensated for inated, reduc ed, or smaller and rural schools were quately financed. While complete equality ot poorer aA hievec much progress can be made in many areas b the establishment of larger districts as a basi tor schools. Such reorganization should be accom financial support is not likely to be financing as well as administering the panied, as it is in a few states, by the collection of a substantial share of school revenue by the state, and the distribution of such state funds to local school units in accordance with their Other that even under a superior plan of taxation needs. studies have shown, however, [45] a number of states could not afford to maintain a defensible minimum program of education in all schools without undue effort. The situa- tion therefore requires, in addition to all that can be done to improve the financing of schools within each state, an equitable plan of federal aid to education based in some degree upon the needs of the several states. In accordance with our generally accepted theory of education as a function of the individual states and their duly constituted subdivisions, an acceptable plan of federal aid will not permit the federal government to exercise control over the schools of any state. 10. Better financing of rural schools should be accompanied by further improvement in the selection and training of teachers for these schools. Rural teachers should not only have high natural aptitudes for teaching, but should have a sincere liking for rural life. Institutions for the preparation of teachers should strive to give their students a greater appreciation of the importance of rural teaching, placing spe- cial emphasis on the needs and opportunities in open-country schools. In addition, require- ments for admission to the teaching profession in every state should be raised as rapidly as possible to include four years of college train- ing for the work the teacher expects to do, whether it be in the high school or the , mentary school, and whether it be in an u: or a rural area. To facilitate the attainment this goal, salary scales in all schools shoy place a salary premium on appropriate coll, training in excess of two years, and espe on graduation from a four-year college. Ru: schoolboards will not usually obtain teachers superior training and ability unless they willing and able to pay more to such teache; than to those who are less well prepared. When persons of the required abilities interests—of whom there are many now en ployed in rural schools—can be assured ¢| rural teaching offers a social, cultural, economic status befitting the members of true profession, there shou!d be little difficul: in recruiting and retaining a corps of teache for rural schools which will be second to no: in the nation. Responsibility for the attainme: of this goal rests partly upon the teachers. :| a larger measure, however, it rests upon lo schoolboard members, upon state and natio: legislators, and ultimately upon the rank a: file of citizens everywhere. The people of ¢! United States, by and large, will have the ki of rural schools they want and are willing : pay for. WO GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS should be kept paramount with respect to adjustments in teachers’ salaries: (1) To obtain and keep teach- ers with the natural ability, professional training, and general culture needed in a modern program of education, the salaries paid must provide standards of living fully as attractive as those enjoyed by persons of comparable ability and training in other fields of work; and (2) in a nation having the natural wealth and productive power of the United States, the mere maintenance of present purchasing power for most of our people is socially indefensible; the buying ability of all low and moderately paid groups, at least, should be continuously increased for many years to come.—National Education Association, Research Bulletin, September 1935, p. 256. APPENDIX A. SCOPE AND PROCEDURE OF THE STUDY Specific Purposes [he survey of rural teachers reported in the ceding pages was eal en 4 uded by the following cific purposes: 1. To examine the professional status of the teach- including the size and location of the schools in ich they are employed, the kinds of school posi- on which they hold, their teaching experience and tenure, their academic and professional training, eir membership in professional organizations, their ttitudes toward education as a career, and their ittitudes toward rural teaching as compared with teaching in cities. To the sponsibilities and living conditions of the teachers, discover something about family re- necluding their sex and marital status, number of jependents, housing arrangements during the school veek, residence on week-ends, home ownership, fa- cilities available at living quarters, and the house- old duties of unmarried teachers. investigate the :mong the teachers, including their ownership and 3. To transportation situation yperation of automobiles, their means of travel to ind from school, and the distance traveled between home and school. 4, ecreational, To obtain information concerning the cultural, of the eachers, as judged by their access to good libraries, of ooks and magazines which they purchase, the num- and economic opportunities the number professional and nonprofessional er of social and other affairs attended, the number if special trips made outside the community during e school year, and the types of activity engaged in luring the summer vacation. 5. To show the amounts of school salary and of ther income received by the teachers. 6. To determine how teachers under various con litions with respect to race, sex, marital status, ousing arrangements, size of income, and number if dependents actually use their incomes during a period of twelve months, and thus to shed light on the adequacy of those incomes. 7. To ascertain the total amounts of property and of indebtedness accumulated by the teachers in rela- tion to the length of their service in teaching, and in relation to the maintenance and ownership of a home. 8. To study the reactions of individual teachers to their economic problem. Obtaining the Data from Teachers In the spring of 1937 a six-page printed questionnaire’ covering the above points was 1 The questionnaire is reproduced in Appendix B 2 The data used to compute this measure were those of the ws: $0 to $149, $150 to $299, $300 to $449, ;odrich, Carter, and others hia: University of Pennsylvania Press, $450 to $599. Migration and Economi 1936. Chart facing p United States Census f Opportunity 14 49 distributed to about 38,000 rural teachers supervisors, and administrators in 265 counties thru twenty representative states. The questionnaire or comparable school units scattered requested information for the year beginning June 1, May 1937. Where a teacher’s status with respect to cet 1936, and ending 31, tain factors changed during the year, informa tion was requested to represent most of the year. Some questions, however, dealt only with conditions existing during the school week, the school year, or the summer vacation period. The twenty states were chosen on the basis of their geographical location, principal agri cultural commodities, income per school child, percent of school support furnished by the state, and the existence or absence of laws providing and ot generally recognized Florida, Georgia, Ken tucky, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Caro for minimum salaries, tenure, retirement allowances for teachers. Seven the states were among those as “southern,” namely, lina, and Texas. The other thirteen were Cali fornia, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Indiana, lowa, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, and Pennsylvania. The counties or comparable units within each state were selected to represent several the value of farm products per rural farm inhab different economic levels, as measured by itant.2 Each state superintendent was asked to modify the list for his state if he deemed it advisable, and to urge the superintendent of each county, parish, town union, or supervisor) district on the list to cooperate in the study. A letter from the chairman of the Committee was then sent to the superintendent of each county or comparable unit, asking for his assistance and for information as to the number of ques tionnaires needed to supply all the rural teach ers, supervisors, and administrators in his unit. The questionnaires were then sent from the National Education Association to each county or comparable superintendent, and were dis tributed to the teachers by him. 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OLI' ete 0 001 so¢'19z 0° 001 rae 2 Te30L a | 9 Tt 000 F ? ‘ a a | LI 1s9°9 L OF Lie Ost qt L761 9° LE 06£'89 ~ g% ses" *gon -ejndod ul gos'z Jepun sumo] . , Aijunos uado ul spools JAY OPA) -B1IOUI-10-7 SSt 9°87 E . ; eS Teh et £97 OLL'OIL §=8' Ee SPI‘ 88 si PE9' 8Z Aaqunoo usado ul sjooyos 4ayore}-] fRx9 8 8z l F ; ; Sb 89L'8I oO ¢¢ $L0' OFT v'¢Z 9f7'°19 oF 8f8 8 Li 91 SI tI Il 6 8 Z 9 s + £ z jyue2189q JequUINNY wee JeqUINnN je0I9q JequINN jwedIeq JequINYN 29q Jequnyg jywooleqd i9quINnN we Jeg I9quUINny jexIeg JequINY Ajuo yyNos $9}®3S IV $9}¥j}S 194310 $9}¥)S WayjNOS Ajuo yynos $901838 [IV $9}¥IS 12YIO )$918}8 UsayINOS o130N dideN jooyos jo adAy adm au Apnys sty} Ul pepnyour susyove) [eng eS9}8IS P9}IUQ 94} UI SJ9q9Re} [BING [TY AGNLS SIHL NI GACN'IONI SA TdWNVS AHL AOA ANV SALVLS GALINN AXILNGA AHL XOX IOOHOS AO SAdAL AAAHL NI SHAHOVAL TVANaA AO SHAAWNN—Z2Z ATAVL questionnaires either to the superin or directly to the Research Division National Education Association. In ¢ ich of the seven southern States, ques nnaires were distributed to Negro teachers - well as to white teachers. Nearly half of the wjestionnaires were sent to these states. ( i Editing and Tabulating the Replies Upon their receipt in the Research Division, he questionnaire replies were carefully exam ned for evidences of misunderstanding and ncorrect reporting by the teachers. For some tems there was no way of judging the accu icy of the answers given. In many instances, owever, the consistency or inconsistency with vhich different items were answered by the individual gave fairly definite clues as correctness of his responses. Doubtful me rit to the nae ' ae obviously inaccurate responses to particular tems were crossed out and those items were ft blank, or, if the situation in question was nade clear by some other part of the report, for the roneous one. In some cases the questionnaires the correct answer was substituted id been so inaccurately or so incompletely) filled out that they were discarded entirely. Of the 12,262 replies received, 11,298 were onsidered usable at least in part. After being edited, these were appropriately coded and the nformation was punched on Hollerith cards. [he data were then sorted and tabulated for groups of inched cards thru teachers by running the the Hollerith orting and tabulating machines. In view of rious elect rical the detailed analysis desired in many of the riginal tabulations, the task would have been quite impracticable without the aid of mechan ical equipment. In assembling the data, the responses of rural administrators were school supervisors and combined with those of classroom teachers. However, supervisors and administrators who were doing no teaching comprised less than | percent of the entire group. Adequacy of Sampling Of the 11,298 usable replies to the ques tionnaire, 3926 came from white teachers in *The number of white teachers reporting from each county 5896 from white teachers 1476 Negro South.® These returns represent hers in southern states: the teachers in t the other and trom he in states; ibout 2 percent of the white rural teac ill southern states; about the same proportion of those in all other states; and about 4 percent Negro rural ill states. Hence, altho the number of replies from of the teachers in southern Negroes was small in comparison with that from white teachers, the proportion of all Negro rural teachers responding was slight) greater than the proportion of all white rural teachers responding. Table 22 shows the estimated number of rural teachers in three types of school in the entire United States, and compares this dis tribution with that of the teachers included in the a whole rather well this survey. Apparently latter represents the nation o far as type of The satistactory sample was that of white teachers as rural school is concerned. least in the southern states, in which 49 percent were in town schools whereas it is estimated only 38 percent of all rural teachers in southern States were located towns ot other States Was considerably more In cooper iting group white teachers in representa town tion in tive with respect to the propor schools. but contained a disproportionately lar However, ge number of teachers in one-teacher schools. when the white teachers in all states are combined, the distribution of those in this survey according to type of school (column 15) is seen to be very similar to that found among the total population of white rural teachers (column 7). Moreover, 40 percent of those re porting were located in southern states, as compared with 41 percent of all white rural teachers in the nation. Table 22 shows also that the sample of Negro teachers, altho small, was no less representative with respect to type of school than was the total group of white teach ers reporting from all states combined. Data pre cisely the representativeness of the white and are not available for checking Negro samplings with respect to school salary 1936-37. According to the latest for the United States as a whole, the estimated mean received in information on rural school salaries salary of all rural teachers, principals, and supervisors (white and Negro combined) was xr comparable school unit within each state Table Pages 52-54. A similar tabulation for the Negro teachers will be found in the complete report of the survey [51] $827 in 1935-36." Separate estimates for white When this is done, the composite mean and Negro rural teachers are not obtainable obtained from the present study for 1936 for that year. To obtain a roughly comparable $833. The close agreement between this : figure for the present survey, therefore, it is and the one given above for the United Sra necessary to combine the mean salaries of the as a whole in 1935-36 indicates that the 1 white and Negro samplings, weighting each ers covered by this study probably were { according to the proportion of white or Negro representative of the nation’s rural teache: rural teachers in the entire United States. far as average salary was concerned. 4 Blose, David T., and Alves, Henry F. ‘Statistics of State School Systems, 1935-36.” Biennial Survey of Educatio» United States: 1934-36. U. S. Dept. of the Interior. Office of Education. Bulletin, 1937, No. 2. Washington, D. (¢ G Printing Office, 1938. Vol. II, p. 49. (Advance pages.) TABLE 23.—NUMBER OF WHITE RURAL TEACHERS REPORTING FROM EACH COUNTY OR COMPARABLE DISTRICT IN THE TWENTY SELECTED STATES Both Both States and districts Men Women sexes States and districts Men Women sexes 1 2 3 4 | 1 2 3 California (counties) 82 ; Florida (counties), continued Colusa | Marion Inyo 6 ; Putnam Kern hee i 7 Santa Rosa... Madera ‘ ; 4 k Sumter Merced : 11 : Suwanee Monterey. ... : 7 3 35 Walton Placer - 6 San Bernardino ‘ Georgia (counties) Sonoma Bulloch. .... Trinity : , 2 Camden Tuolumne Carroll Clinch Colorado (counties) { 3 Colquitt.... Archuleta 8 Floyd Baca ; Jones Gilpin ; Laurens... Kit Carson 8 3% Morgan La Plata Oglethorpe Mesa b Sumter Moffat Walton Rio Blanc o Saguache San Miguel _ - 0 —_ — _— ww NeeuUwWN ss vue + aoe So Idaho (counties) Ada Bannock. . Boise. . Bonner... Butte... Cassia Clark Custer Kootenai Lemhi Owyhee Connecticut (supervisory districts)® 1 NOW ese wh ee > —w ens - 2 Florida (counties) ; 540 698 Indiana (counties) Alachua... 82 105 Allen Brevard ‘ $4 45 Clay Dade 28 38 Jay De Soto ’ 1 2 Johnson Duval... 46 $2 Knox Franklin 14 17 Lawrence ae § 14 Rush Hendry 7 9 Starke Hillsborough 7 88 Spencer. . Lake es! ‘ ‘ 36 White. . * Towns represented in each of the supervisory districts listed under Connecticut are as follows: 1. Columbia, Cove Mansfield, Tolland, and Willington; 2. Ashford, Eastford, Hampton, Pomfret, and Woodstock; 3. Avon, Burlington, Ca East Granby, Granby, and Rocky Hill; 4. Beacon Falls, Bethany, Middlebury, Oxford, Prospect, Southbury, and Wolcott; 5. B: Ellington, and Somers; 6. Canaan, Cornwall, Goshen, Norfolk, North Canaan, Salisbury, and Sharon; 7. Chester, Essex, N Branford, Old Saybrook, and Westbrook; 8. Colchester and Marlborough. [ 52] T G ABLE 23.—NUMBER OF WHITE RURAL TEACHERS REPORTING FROM EACH COUNTY OR COMPARABLE DISTRICT IN THE TWENTY SELECTED STATES (Continued ) Both Both States and districts Men Women sexes States and districts Men Women sexes 1 unties) r 1akee nklin hrie Lucas ion O'Brien y. 6 Pottawattomie 7 Ringgold... 3 8 Van Buren. . 2 f 9 Webster.... 5 10 Winnebago 32 11 12 is (counties) 13 Brown 3 14 Chase er 15 Comanche. 7 Crawford Decatur. . Dickinson Ellis Franklin Gray Scott Sumner Thomas Michigan (counties Branch Cass Dickinson Gogebi * Hillsdale » Ionia Isabella Livingston Macomb Muskegon Osceola Mmnm oo er —-~N ON US tucky (counties Bath Bourbon 30yle Breathitt Clay. Fayette. . Grant Grayson Hopkins... . ; ; Jefferson... 3 North Carolina (counties) New Mexico (counties) Eddy Hidalgo Luna Otero Quay Roosevelt Socorro Lewis...... 7 ertie Nelson. .. § ‘ Bladen Pulaski.... 4 Guilford DROW. oc05 F Halifax Warren Haywood Macon lisiana (parishes Montgomery Avoyelles. .. Pitt Bossier..... ; ( Stokes Calcasieu 22 Wilkes Claiborne 2 3 North Dakota Concordia 2 Cass De Soto.... Dunn East Carroll 3 Grant Franklin 3 Hettinger GEBME..... 73 Kidder Jackson - 5¢ 7 La Moure La Salle... 7 Y MclIntosl Morehouse 2 35 Ramsey Plaquemines 3 3 Ro St. Charles. . 23 Ward St. Martin : Williams > Towns represented in each of the districts listed under Maine are as follows: 1 Albany and Lovell; 2 and Lake Stream Plantation, and Princeton; 3. Anson, Embden, New Portland. North Anson, and Solon; ‘lantation, Masardis, and Oxbow Plantation; 5. Bingham, Concord Plantation, Moscow Pleasant Ridge Plantat I } Har intation; 6. Bluehill, Brooklin, and Sedgwick; 7. Lee, Prentiss, Springfield, and Webster Plantation: 8. Corit and Plymouth; 9. Cornish, Kezar Falls, Limington, Parsonsfield. and Porter; 10. Greenville: 11. Ea ock, and Lamoine; 12. East Machias, Machias, Machiasport, and Marshfield: 13. Monmouth, Richmond Fayette, Livermore Falls, Mount Vernon, and Wayne; 15. Mechanic Falls, Minot, and Poland. A few of thesé ncluded in any of the town unions listed for Maine in the 1938 Educational Direct ory published by the federal Office H wever, teacher responses from all the towns in each district listed here were received thru the same unior per state supervising agent. TABLE 23.—NUMBER OF WHITE RURAL TEACHERS REPORTING FROM EAcpy COUNTY OR COMPARABLE DISTRICT IN THE TWENTY SELECTED STATE: (Continued ) Both States and districts Men Women sexes States and districts Men Women 1 3 4 1 Oregon (counties 209 South Carolina (counties), continued Baker , 2 Barnwell Clackamas ; ; Calhoun Clatsop 2 ; f Charleston Crook i Chester Douglas Colleton Grant Darlington Josephine 4 Greenville . Lake Hampton . To 7 Lane § Harry 3 ) Lincoln ‘ Laurens ' Malheur 7 2 Orangeburg RUR Morrow ‘ 37 : Saluda 7 FOR Union Spartansburg yn Williamsburg i Pennsylvania (counties : stand ‘ York Bradford (entre - ae Texas (counties 77 tee 0 Clarion ; t - Cameron n th Columbia ‘ies nth ( lay < SUP Crawtord : Ou Denton oe Franklin | US | ‘rio Indiana & cao , Hays , poe _ , Hudspeth fitio — Palo Pinto 3 7 .. o McKean It ye Red River b Monroe iver Ct adiimanem Smith as 7to pam . ishing Tom Greene South Carolina (counties) Tyler l 1937 Anderson Washington 1 and Bamberg : 2 : Wharton figur All i vid ul rural Nati your Tea Mail B. COPY OF QUESTIONNAIRE SENT TO TEACHERS Confidential Report to the COMMITTEE ON THE ECONOMIC STATUS OF THE RURAL TEACHER of the National Education Association of the United States 1201 Sixteenth St., N. W. Washington, D. C. March, 1937 To Teachers, Principals, and Superintendents: ONLY AS THE PUBLIC COMES TO UNDERSTAND MORE FULLY THE ECONOMIC STATUS OF RURAL TEACHING, CAN THE WORKER IN THIS IMPORTANT FIELD OF SOCIAL SERVICE HOPE FOR SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT. Persons entering this field are not likely to regard it as a permanent profes- sion worthy of their best efforts unless they can see in it a chance to earn a reasonable wage and maintain an adequate standard of living. TO GIVE THE PUBLIC THE FACTS OF THE SITUATION, the National Education Association’s Commit- tee on the Economic Status of the Rural Teacher is making a survey of economic conditions among rural teachers—those n the open country and in communities under 2500 in population. The survey will include CLASSROOM TEACHERS, SUPERVISORS, AND ADMINISTRATORS holding school positions in such areas) WE ASK YOU TO HELP US by answering the questions in this blank. These questions cover such matters as your professional status, money income, expenditures, savings, debts, living con- ditions, number of dependents, and social and cultural opportunities. Please answer each question as accurately as possible. lf you cannot give exact answers to certain questions, be sure to give your best estimates. Directions for answ ering are given in each question. You will find it helpful to read thru the entire blank before answering any of the questions. All questions, unless otherwise indicated, refer to the period of TWELVE MONTHS from June 1, 1936, to May 31, 1937. To give a complete picture of your situation for the year, you will need to estimate what your income, expenditures, and certain other financial items will be from the date of answering the questionnaire to May 31. Please be sure that your figures for such items represent the ENTIRE YEAR from June 1, 1936, to May 31, 1937. . YOU NEED NOT GIVE YOUR NAME if you prefer not to do so, altho space is provided below for that purpose. All information which you give will be held strictly confidential, and will never be used in connection with you as an indi- vidual. It will be combined with information from other teachers and used to help improve the teaching profession in rural areas. Send your response as soon as you can to your county, district, or union superintendent, or to the Research Division, National Education Association, 1201 Sixteenth St., N. W.,Washington, D. C. An addressed envelope is supplied for your convenience. Your cooperation in this survey will be greatly appreciated and will, we believe, contribute significantly to the economic and social welfare of rural teachers. a Sincerely yours, WitiiAM McKintey Rosrnson, Chairman Committee on the Economic Status of the Rural Teacher Teacher’s name SN ND i sen cica ih cis miner ae meant mapeninie ene ies mandi I. Professional Information . STATE, COUNTY, AND TOWN (IF ANY)-—- 2. TYPE OF SCHOOL OR COMMUNITY WHERE Write the names of the state, county, and town (if any) EMPLOYED—Indicate by check mark (1 ) the type where you have been employed during the school year of school or community in which you were employed 1936-37 : during the school year 1936-37 : (1) One-teacher school in open country . (2) Two-to-five-teacher school in open country ------ (3) Six-or-more-teacher school in open country (4) Town or village less than 1000 in population (5) Town or village 1000 to 2500 in population _ TYPE OF SCHOOL OR COMMUNITY PRE- FERRED—Indicate by check mark (\ ) the type of schvol or community in which you would prefer to work if salaries were similar in all types: (1) One-teacher school in open country (2) Two-to-five-teacher school in open country (3) Six-or-more-teacher school in open country . (4) Town or village less than 1000 in population . (5) Town or village 1000 to 2500 in population . (6) City over 2500 in population . PRESENT SCHOOL POSITION—Indicate by check mark (1 ) the one item which best describes the kind of school position you held during the school year 1936-37 : Elementary-school teacher only .. (2) High-school teacher only . (3) Both elementary and high-school teacher . (4) Teaching principal, supervisor, or superintendent (5) Non-teaching principal, supervisor, or superin- tendent . (6) Other (name it) . VOCATION ULTIMATELY DESIRED—Indicate by check mark (1) the vocation which you hope to follow ultimately : 6. TEACHING EXPERIENCE AND TEN Write the total number of school years you ha in active school service, and the number spent position which you have held during the sc! 1936-37 : total school years of active school servi (how many?) ing 1936-37 school years in present position, including (how many?) . ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL TRAIN] —Indicate by check mark (1 ) the one item w!} describes the total amount of schooling you ha) Less than high-school graduation High-school graduation only (no college or school work) College or normal-school work, but less than ty years (72 weeks) At least two years (72 weeks) of college o; mal-school work, but less than graduation fro; four-year college Graduation from a four-year college, with degre Some training beyond graduation from a four-yes; college . MEMBERSHIP IN PROFESSIONAL ORGANI. ZATIONS—Indicate by check mark (V) each ty» of teachers organization to which you belonged j 1936-37 : i FOU with HOL with | home HOU clean, strum SUM port | 5 CLO and j HEA (1) Belonged to no teachers association or club (2) Local or county teachers association (or clu! (3) State teachers association (4) National teachers associatior. es : cines, ee | eee states and 1 II. Income and Other Receipts in 1936-37 TRA . ° e ° and Please report below, to the best of your knowledge, the amounts of money which you received from various sourc: poco (including the money value of commodities or services received without cost to you—such as board, lodging, farm product ALL laundry, etc.), during 1936-37. If you received nothing from a particular source, write a zero (0) in the appropriate space ENT . (1) Elementary-school teacher (2) High-school teacher . (3) Principal, supervisor, or superintendent of schools . (4) Home-maker (full time) (5) Other vocation (name it) > The year 1936-37 means the ENTIRE TWELVE MONTHS from June 1, 1936, to May 31, 1937. broth 6 ALL Annual amounts and | received, 1936-37 (in dollars) Nature of receipts agen MIS 1. MONEY WHICH YOU RECEIVED AS SALARY FOR SCHOOL abou SERVICES RENDERED DURING ENTIRE YEAR—including any part tione of your salary which was paid into, or deducted for, a teachers’ retirement or YO! insurance fund ture, . ESTIMATED MONEY VALUE OF COMMODITIES OR SERVICES etc. RECEIVED AS PARTIAL PAYMENT FOR SCHOOL SERVICES REC RENDERED sociz . YOUR OWN EARNINGS FROM OTHER KINDS OF WORK—such as pend writing, selling books, or farming (including estimated money value of com- trav modities produced for your own consumption) _ SCE . INCOME CONTRIBUTED BY RELATIVES (INCLUDING PARENTS) expe LIVING IN SAME HOUSEHOLD WITH YOU— including money value of 4 LIF commodities or services received from such relatives and . ALL OTHER CURRENT INCOME—Do not include money borrowed or teac withdrawn from savings 5, PA’ . TOTAL CURRENT INCOME—sum of items 1 to 5. inclusive ; ; HO . DEBT INCURRED DURING YEAR BUT NOT REPAID DURING penc SAME YEAR—Include money borrowed to meet operating expenses, and . ALI charge accounts incurred but unpaid. (Do not include money borrowed for in- TH VESIMENE PUTPOSES.) 2 ccrcccsccccccssccersccrecccsscsevesesscessesscers bon . WITHDRAWALS FROM ACCUMULATED SAVINGS OR INVEST- 7. RE! MENTS TO MEET OPERATING EX PENSES— including sale of securities, on ( real estate, etc. (Do not include amounts withdrawn and then re-invested.)..... (De . SUM OF ITEMS 6, 7, AND 8 -- . GR be a tion Ill. Expenditures, Saving, and Repayment of Debt in 1936-37 report in column 2 below, your best estimates of the amounts of money (including the n y sere ices received without cost to you) which you used during the year 1936-37 for Include all cash payments, and all bills incurred but unpaid during the year. If the cor’ “none,” write a zero (0) in he Pre ears ate space. jumn 3, 4, or 5 squacy of eacii lunn 2. For exsengle, if you caer that the < amount Baird for swat was outs adequate, place a if burely adequate, place the check in column 4; if quite inadequate, place the check in column 5. The year 1936-37 means the ENTIRE TWELVE MONTHS from June 1, 1936, to May 31, 1937 Special note: If you cannot separate the amounts spent for purposes 1, 2, and 3 (food, housing, and hou total amount for these three purposes as requested in item 4. Amounts Check here if amoun P ‘ dni irely Purposes for which money was used weet 9 _— . - ? 1936-37 aue- ade- (in dollars) quate quate (4) |, FOOD—all meals and food supplies for yourself and dependents living with you HOUSING—rent for living quarters of yourself and dependents living with you; or taxes, interest, and upkeep if you own or are buying your home. (Omit payments of principal on home) HOUSE OPERATION AND FURNISHINGS—everything used to clean, heat, light, and furnish your living quarters (including musical in- struments ) SUM OF FOOD, HOUSING, AND HOUSE OPERATION—Re- port here only if items 1, 2, and 3 cannot be answered separately 5. CLOTHING—purchase, repair, and cleaning of clothing for yourself ar and EE re ee ee Te rer {EALTH—medical and dental care, hospital or nursing service, medi- cines, health appliances, and accident or health insurance for yourself and your dependents 7. TRANSPORTATION AND TRAVEL—carfare, railway, or bus fare, and payments for purchase and operation of automobile for yourself and your dependents ALLOWANCES OR GIFTS OF MONEY TO YOUR DEPEND- EN TS—dependents living with you, and dependent children, parents, brothers, or sisters not living with you » ALL OTHER DONATIONS—to persons not dependent upon you, and to churches, charitable institutions, and relief or character-building agencies MISCELLANEOUS PERSONAL ITEMS—(other than those listed bove and below), including barber service, toilet articles, tobacco, sta- tionery, children’s toys, etc., for yourself and your dependents......... YOUR OWN PROFESSIONAL ACTIVIT 1ES—professional litera- ture, membership in professional organizations, professional courses, etc. (Omit cost of travel.) RECREATION AND NON-PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION—all social, recreational, and educational expenses for yourself and your de- pendents, except expenses included under item 11 above. (Omit cost of travel. ) 3. SCHOOL OR CLASSROOM SUPPLIES—furnished at your own expense because of the school district’s failure to provide them LIFE-INSURANCE AND ANNUITY PREMIUMS—for yourself and your dependents (including amounts paid into, or deducted for, a teachers’ retirement fund) 8. PAYMENTS OF PRINCIPAL TOWARD PURCHASE OF HOME OR OTHER REAL ESTATE—for yourself and your de- pendents ALL OTHER AMOUNTS SAVED OR INVESTED DURING THE YEAR—for yourself and your dependents (in banks, stocks, bonds, loans to others, etc.) REPAYMENT OF OLD DEBT—payments of principal and_interest on debt incurred in a previous year for yourself and your dependents. (Do not include payments to purcha se home.) GRAND TOTAL OF ALL THE ABOVE ITEMS—This sum should be approximately equal to the total of receipts reported in item 9 of Sec- tion II IV. Value of Property and Amount of Accumulated Indebtedness Please report as accurately as possible the amounts requested below, as of April 1, 1937. If the correct answer { item is “none,” write a zero (Q) in the appropriate space. Items of property and indebtedness . TOTAL ESTIMATED MARKET VALUE OF YOUR HOME AND OTHER REAL ESTATE owned by you and your dependents (full present market value regardless of mortgages against the property) . TOTAL PRESENT VALUE OF PERSONAL PROPERTY belonging to you and your dependents (household goods, clothing, automobile, etc., but not including bank deposits, insurance policies, or other types of investment) . TOTAL PRESENT VALUE OF ALL SAVINGS AND INVESTMENTS, such as bank deposits, stocks, bonds, notes, retirement deposits, etc., for yourself and your dependents (except life-insurance policies) . TOTAL FACE VALUE OF LIFE-INSURANCE POLICIES IN FORCE for yourself and your dependents (value if the insured persons should die) . TOTAL AMOUNT OF INDEBTEDNESS ACCUMULATED by yourself and your dependents (including money borrowed but not repaid up to April 1, 1937, except amounts owed on real-estate mortgages) P . TOTAL AMOUNTS STILL OWED ON REAL-ESTATE MORTGAGES by yourself and your DEP dependents oe numt - ing f sonal V. Social and Economic Factors “inde Unless otherwise specified, the year 1936-37 means the twelve-months period from June 1, 1936, to May 31, \yy ese The “school week” means those days of the week during which school was in session. Writ 1. RACE—Indicate by check mark (Vv) : 4. RESIDENCE ON WEEK-ENDS—Indicate did't (1) White check mark (Vv ), and by a brief statement if necessar iN where you usually resided on week-ends during : ooo (6) Hegre school year 1936-37: (3) Other “(how (1) Same place as during the school week . SEX AND MARITAL STATUS—Indicate by check 9 SES Gotete whens) mark (VY) your status during most of the year . HOME OWNING OR RENTING—If you “mas. : tained a home,” either personally or jointly, Single man (unmarried, widowed, separated, or most of 1936-37, indicate by check mark ( divorced ) Single woman (unmarried, widowed, separated, or situation as to owning or renting : divorced) (1) Owned home clear of debt Married man (2) Home fully paid for, but encumbered by debt Married woman (3) Buying home on installment or time-payment ; (4) Rented home 3. LIVING ARRANGEMENTS DURING THE (5) Home provided rent-free by school ‘district SCHOOL WEEK—lIndicate by check mark (1 ) the Be Foo one phrase that best describes your living arrange- . FACILITIES AVAILABLE AT LIVING QUA ments during the school week in 1936-37 : —— rey ney Pe soa aang check mar each ot the tollowing facilities v ----- (1) Maintained a home personally (paid entire oper- were available for your use at your living quarters ating cost of a house or apartment) ine the school week in 1936-37 : (2) Maintained a home jointly (shared operating cost s of house or apartment with one or more other (1) Central heating persons ) (2) Heated bedroom .---- (3) Rented a room (or rooms) and boarded or pur- chased meals at rates generally prevailing in the (4) Electricity community 2 (5) Running water (4) Lived with parents or other relatives (except hus- (6) Indoor toilet band or wife) at less than the usual rates for room and board - ; —— or shower bath 5) Lived with school patrons and received board and ee © room free of charge (9) Radio (10) Current magazines and newspapers (6) Other (describe briefly) (11) None of the above facilities (Questions continued on page 5.) OTHER LIVING CONDITIONS (SINGLE PER- SONS ONLY)—If you were a single person during ms st of 1936-37, please answer questions a and b 7 below a. Household duties—Indicate by check mark (¥ ) each of the following duties which you were ex- pected to perform at your place of residence during the school week in 1936-37: (1) No household duties _ (2) Keeping your own sleeping room in order (3) Helping keep other parts of house in order (4) Helping with preparation of meals (5) Other duties (state them) . Sharing of sleeping room—Write the number of other persons with whom you usually shared a sleeping room at your place of residence during the school week in 1936-37 (if none, write a zero) : _--ce------= Other persons (how many?) DEPENDENTS—Write in each space below, the number of persons (not counting yourself) who dur- ing most of 1936-37 were dependent upon your per- sonal income for support in the manner indicated. In- clude all dependent persons living with you, as well as your own children, parents, brothers, or sisters who were dependent upon you but not living with you Write a zero (0) for any type of dependents which you did not have. Wholly dependent upon you, and living with you (bow many?) Wholly dependent upon you, but not living with (how many?) you Partially dependent upon you, and living with (bow many?) you Partially dependent upon you, but not living with (how many?) you AUTOMOBILE OWNERSHIP—Indicate by check mark (V) your situation as to ownership of an auto- hhobile during most of 1936-37 : (1) Neither owned nor was buying an automobile _... (2) Owned an automobile free of debt (3) Buying an automobile on installment or time-pay- ment plan (4) Joint ownership or operation with another person MEANS OF TRAVEL TO AND FROM SCHOOL —Indicate by check mark (V ) the one means by which you usually traveled to and from school during the school week in 1936-37: Walked Rode on bus or train at own expense Rode on bus or train at expense of school district Drove an automobile at own expense Drove an automobile at expense of school district Rode in automobile and shared cost of its operation with others Other means (state it) l. DISTANCE TO SCHOOL—Write the number of miles (or fraction of a mile) from your living quarters to your school during the school year 1936-37: miles between living quarters and school, by (how many?) route commonly traveled (one way only) 12. SPECIAL TRIPS OUTSIDE THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY—Write the approximate number of times during the school year in 1936-37 that you went on trips of at least 50 miles (one way) from the school community in which you worked (except regular week- end trips to visit relatives) : trips of at least 50 miles TO A GOOD LIBRARY—Indicate by check mark (1 ) whether or not you usually had access to a reasonably good library (either public or private) during the school week in 1936-37 : (1) Did not have access to any good library (2) Had access to good library of less than 1000 books (3) Had access to good library of at least 1000 books BOOKS AND MAGAZINES PURCHASED Write in each space below, the number of books pur- chased or magazines subscribed for by you during 1936-37 (if none, write a zero) : Non-professional books purchased (how many?) Kettles clceiaiaiaea Non-professional magazines subscribed for (how many?) Professional books purchased Professional magazines subscribed for SOCIAL AND OTHER AFFAIRS ATTENDED —Write the approximate nuraber of such aifairs which you attended during 1936-37 (if none, write a zero) : Affairs requiring an admission fee (such as com- mercial lectures, concerts, motion pictures, dances, etc.) (how many?) Re Se a Social affairs not requiring an admission fee (how many?) (such as parties, picnics, club meetings, parent teacher meetings, etc.) Religious services ae Professional meetings (teachers conventions, in (how many?) stitutes, faculty meetings, etc.) USE OF SUMMER VACATION—Indicate by check mark (VY) each type of activity in which you engaged during the summer vacation of 1936. Use a double check (1 y ) to indicate the activity to which you gave the most time: (1) Attended summer school at a college or university (2) Worked at own home, without financial remunera tion Worked at home of parents without financial re- muneration Worked for financial remuneration at an occupa tion other than teaching Taught in summer school Took a trip of at least two weeks within the United States Took a trip abroad Rested at home (own or parents’ home) Other activity (state it) -...--- (See space for remarks on page 6 ) VI. General Remarks Please write below any comments which you think will help to clarify or explain the foregoing report of \ situation. /ndicate especially any advantages which you could not afford, and which you missed keenly in 19 ing (1) material things, such as better clothing, an automobile, etc., (2) professional advantages, such as summer school, professional books or magazines, etc., and (3) cultural advantages, such as non-professional | azines, educational trips, attendance at theaters, concerts, etc. If you prefer to write a letter containing such statements, the Committee will be very glad to receive it. C. LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES nts of Income Received from Various Sources by the Entire Group of Teachers ent of Mean Total Income Received from Each Source by the Teachers of Each § Marital Status ent of Mean Total Income Received from Each Source by the Teachers at Four Income Level in School Salaries of the Men and Women Teachers in Different Areas and Types of School School Salaries of Men and Women Teachers in Twenty States School Salaries of Teachers with Different Amounts of Training and Experience School Salaries of Men and Women Teachers in Different Types of School Position School Salaries of Men and Women Teachers with Different Numbers of Dependents an Amounts of Income Used for Specific Purposes by Men and Women Teachers in Vari Living Arrangements an Amounts Saved or Invested, Paid on Old Debt, and Borrowed or Withdrawn from Earlier Savings during the Year by Men and Women Teachers in Various Living Arrangements an Amounts of Income Used for Specific Purposes by Single Women Teachers Rooming and Boarding Who Were Located in Different Types of School an Amounts of Income Used for Four Major Purposes by Single Women Teachers Rooming and Boarding Who Were Located in Different Types of School srcents of Mean Income Used for Four Major Purposes by Single Women Teachers Rooming and Boarding Who Received Different Amounts of Income cents of Mean Income Used for Four Major Purposes by Single Women Teachers Rooming and Boarding Who Had Different Numbers of Dependents 21 Mean Amounts of Income Used for Four Major Purposes by Single Women Teachers Rooming and Boarding Who Had Spent Different Periods of Time in School Service Distribution of 2,194 Teachers Rooming and Boarding According to Amounts of Money Used for Specific Purposes Number of Teachers Having Different Amounts of Property and Indebtedness Mean Amounts of Property and Indebtedness Accumulated by the Teachers of Each Sex Marital Status 19. Mean Amounts of Property and Indebtedness Accumulated by Men and Women Teachers with Different Amounts of Experience 20. Mean Amounts of Property and Indebtedness Accumulated by Teachers in Various Situations with Respect to Home Maintenance and Ownership 21. Summary of Certain Aspects of Teacher Status in Three Types of Rural School 22. Numbers of Rural Teachers in Three Types of School for the Entire United States and for the Samples Included in This Study 23. Number of White Rural Teachers Reporting from Each County or Comparable District in the Twenty Selected States Figure I. Mean Annual Incomes of White Rural Teachers, 1936-37 II. Mean School Salaries of White Rural Teachers in Different Areas and Types of School, 1936-37 III. Uses of Income by White Rural Teachers, 1936-37 IV. Mean Financial Assets of White Rural Teachers on April 1, 1937 [61] ’ PUBLICATIONS BY THE COMMITTEE ON THE ECO- NOMIC STATUS OF THE RURAL TEACHER Rural and Urban Schools. June 1937. 20 p. 15¢. (Out of Print.) The Economic Status of Rural Teachers: A Preliminary Report of a Survey of 11,000 Rural Teachers. June 1938. 32 p. 25¢. Teachers in Rural Communities: A National Survey of Their Profes- sional, Social, Cultural, and Economic Status. (Available about March 15, 1939.) RESEARCH BULLETINS ON RELATED TOPICS The Teacher’s Economic Position. Vol. XIII, No. 4; September 1935. 104 p. 50¢. . The Preparation of Teachers’ Salary Schedules: Part I: Administrative | and Fact-Finding Procedures. Vol. XIV, No. 1; January 1936. 48 p. 25¢. | The Preparation of Teachers’ Salary Schedules: Part II: Drafting the | Schedule. Vol. XIV, No. 2; March 1936. 48 p. 25¢. Salaries of School Employees, 1936-37. Vol. XV, No. 2; March 1937. 32 p. 25¢. Salaries of School Employees, 1938-39. Vol. XVII, No. 2; March 1939. (Available about March 20.) All orders for publications should be accompanied by funds in payment for same and must be so accompanied when orders for material amount to $1.00 or less. Orders not accompanied by funds in payment are subject to transportation charges. Discounts on quantity orders of the same publication: 2-9 copies, 10 percent; 10-99 copies, 25 percent; 100 or more copies, 331% percent. Make checks or money orders payable to the National Education Association of the United States, 1201 Sixteenth Street, N. W., Washington, D. C. RESEARCH BULLETINS PUBLISHED 1931 TO DATE Safety Education thru Schools. Vol. XVI. No. 5, November 1988. 64 p........ .$ 25 Statutory Status of Six Professions: Aec- countaney, Architecture, Law, Medicine, Nursing, Teaching. Vol. XVI, No. 4. Sep tember T9G8. 56 Pini icc scceaases a5 Why Schools Cost More. Vol. XVI. No May 1938. 56 p............. Tr — owe From High School to College. Vol. XVI, No. 2, March 1938. G4 p.......... Sea 20 Population Trends and Their Educational Implications. Vol. XVI, No. 1, January NS, PIE resin vo kb dvd w Said wah bop mre Bw oo Improving Social. Studies Instruction. Vo! XV, No. 5, November 19387. 56 p....... oo Federal Support for Education: the Issues and the Facets. Vol. XV, No. 4, September WE AOS Shc ih scree itewdveitonnexads 25 Teacher Retirement Systems and Social Security. Vol. XV, No. 3, May 1937. 64 p. .50 Salaries of School Employees, 1936-37. Vol. mY, NO. S Maret 2087. B2 Pi... oc cs dacs By 5 Financing Public Education. Vol. XV. No. 1. January 1687. 56 Din... ccsscaccccss 50 Safety in Pupil Transportation. Vol. X1V, No. 5, November 1936. 44 p............. Pr A Handbook on Teacher Tenure. Vol. XIV. No. 4, September 1936. 32 p............. “20 The Efforts of the States To Support Edu- eation. Vol. XIV, No. 3, May 1936. 64 p. .50 The Preparation of Teachers’ Salary Sched- ules: Part II: Drafting the Schedule. Vol. XIV, No. 2, March 1936. 48 p..... eo The Preparation of Teachers’ Salary Sched- ules: Part I: Administrative and Faet- Finding Procedures. Vol. XIV, No. 1, Jan- Se OG oot once a Gadamhen ate Py 5) Better Reading Instruction. Vol. XIII, No G, November 1065. G6 w.... oo. 6s. ec ccca ee 20 The Teacher’s Economic Position. Vol. XIII, No. 4, September 1935. 104 p............ 0 Creating Social Intelligence. Vol. XIII, No. i EE ie alas seach became ed enee 50 Salaries of School Employees, 1934-35. Vo! Mane, INO. 2, BEATCR: BGG. SZ Th... wesc ss 25 The Nation’s School Building Needs. Vol. Ail, No. 1, January 1035. 36 p......... 20 Modern Social and Educational Trends. Vo! XII, No. 5, November 1934. 4S p National Deliberative Committees in Edu- eation, Vol. XII. No. 4 September 1054 WD niiwieenees bina Education for Character, Part If. Improv- ing the School Program. Vol. XII, No 3, May 1934. 64 p.... Education for Character, Part L. The Social and Psychological Background. Vol. X11, No. 2, Mareh 1984. 40 p... ‘er Five Years of State School Revenue Legis- lation, 1929-33. Vol. XII, No. 1, January 1934. Current Conditions in the Nation's Schools. Vol. XI, No. 4, November 1033. 20 p Constructive Eeonomy in Education. Vo! XI, No. 3, September 19853. 36 p Salaries in City School Systems. Vol. XI, No. 2, March 1933. 16 p.... The School Board Member. Vol. XI, No. 1, January 1933. 41 p. (Out of Print) Facts on School Costs. Vol. X, No. 5, Novem ber 1932. 2 Crime Prevention Through Edueation. Vo! X, No. 4, September 1932. 6S p Estimating State School Efficiency. Vol. X, No. 3, May 1932. 58 p..... Sree Administrative Practices Affecting Class- room Teachers. Part If. The Retention, Promotion, and Improvement of Teach- ers. Vol. X, No. 2, March 1932. 44 p.... Administrative Practices Affecting Class- room Teachers. Part I. The Selection and Appointment of Teachers. Vol. X, No. 1, January 1932. 32 p....... aeiarw wk erat bs Teacher Demand and Supply. Vol. IX, No 5, NOWEMDO® TDGL.. 102 Boi icc. cciecvneses The Outlook for Rural Edueation. Vol. IX, No. 4, September 1031. TZ O..0.0.6 6 ccscces'e Salaries in City School Systems, 1930-31. VOU Ee, Ie & Meee 1951. GF D... ccenccas The Principal at Work on His Problems. Vol. IX, No. 2, March 1931. 66 p. (Out OF Ree! asacavewwnnes Ethies in the Teaching Profession. Vol. LX, No. 1, January 1931. 90 p. (Out of Print) wo uN < wt HE ECONOMIC STATUS of any teacher is naturally of major personal concern to that teacher. The economic status of teachers as a group is, or should be, a matter of fundamental professional concern to all educators and to parents and citizens generally. From the purely personal point of view, a satisfactory economic status is important because it means having the necessities of life in sufficient amounts for one’s self and dependents; a reasonable amount for giving to worthy causes outside one’s own house- hold; ample opportunity for wholesome recreation and for cultural and professional growth; and a chance to make adequate provision for future emergencies and for retire- ment. From the strictly professional point of view, these things are important because they help to maintain the morale of teachers and to improve generally the efficiency of our schools. The profession of education may well give even more careful consideration than in the past to the economic conditions and problems of its members and to ways of getting other citizens to do the same.—National Education Association, Research Bulletin, September 1935, p. 169,