TEACHERS’ SALARIES

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 4496, 25 October 1901, Page 5

TEACHERS’ SALARIES

AN OPEN LETTER. (By Mark Cohen, Dunedin.) “Give mo tno ctuld and the' State slum nave' llie man. jut jiopo in tuo wo ml ues in cliilcuvu.” nor years past tilt?re juts Deiui agiiiitKni <jiuoxi£ teachers ana otuer educationists tmougnout tne county in lavuur oi a cdlcvuui scale or salaries. The anomalies existing on tile salaries paid Oy tno ditleieut -macation i>oarus nave caused a lecang or discontent and UisSatisiacuou tnac caiuimateii in tile demand made at me Annual meeting or mo council or cue iauucauoual institute iioid in wellington in January last tUac mis rerorm should be granted without delay, xnat meeting uas attended by over icny delegates, representing over a uiousauu teacuers. Efery class ox teacher rn tno eoiouy was mere represented. _ Tno question, of a colonial scale oi salaries was py general consent given precedence over all other business, ana tno motion rcatnrmmg Iho desirability ox this reform, when put trom tno cimir, was carried, not only unanimously, but with a display of enthusiasm never betoro witnessed at ; any gathering of teachers iu this colony. Tnat demand was carried in due course to the Minister, who, true to the premise ho made at X'iiuaru the year boioro, set up a Royal Commission to inquire into and report on the best means of carrying out tills reform as tho basis of a£4 capitation, bo far as the report ei that Commission is concerned, that portjpn of it which deals with tho staking of schools has met with universal approval. So far as 1 am aware, npt a single note of disapproval has been heard on the score of mo adjustmeiifc cf. salaries- Some adverse criticism has been shown. This, however, has been confined to individual teachers or to very small sections of tcaohfirs. To some, of these objections it is my purpose in , this letter to reply. As to tho absence of a minimum qualification for tfio various positions, this is a •matter that has been wisely lelfc in the hands of tho Boards, which may, if they please, demand any qualification for tho various classes of schools or positions. On tho, question of the salaries allotted to females, the scale attached to the Bill it deals much more liberally with women than any similar scale hitherto in operation iu .this colony. This is particularly the case so far as the women teachers of Otago are concerned. Having myself been engaged in Otago six years ago in nn endeavour to give something like justice to tho women teachers of that district, I can appreciate tho difficulties that presented themselves to the Commission, and if an individual opinion is worth anything, I-say, without fear of contradiction, that in equalising salaries of the saxes in schools up to 30 in averattendance, and in making put slight deference on -the’ schools" up to 40, tho Commission accomplished all that could have been reasonably expected of them. I will go further and affirm that the demand for equal pay for equal work proceeds from <v limited section of the wo. men teachers of the colony, and ir tha views of the women could bo polled it would bo found. I am sure, that the vast majority of them recognise that 'complete equalisation of salaries and free and open competition between tho sexes are not only unattainable, but woiud lead to results that would be detrimental to tho best interests of tho women themselves. As to alleged _ grievances cf second male assistants, 10. appears that there are but ol of these in the whole colony, twenty-six ot whom would receive an increase of sn» ary. Several of the others would bo only .-slightly reduced. Those few suffering a considerable reduction would not be affected for two years, and even . then the Boards, by taking advantage of certain provisions in the scale could arrange that no reduction need take place. As to small schools taking the minimum , salary of £7O; this is provided for. When the average attendance at a ficnooj reaches fourteen below this number, tho school must ba regarded as aided. This aid takes tho form of a £5 capitation, and is a more liberal provision than that made at present in several educetion districts in the colony. The treatment meted out to this particular class of school will compare, favourably with what is done for such schools m any oi the Australasian States. It is to u hoped that while the Bill is m committee a clause will bo introduced pro. vidiiig that no Board shalli establish a school'within three miles of an opting school, save m city or mbn£au areas, without the consent of the -Minister of Education. &u«\> emuso would prevent tho multiplicity of small schools jvhich in the past has been one 0 t tho greatest evils m connection With tho administration of our education b>*» tom, and will load to the centralisation of country schools which has proved so successful in operation m the United States, Canada and Victoria. Hie plan has been tried in Otago to a limited extent, and has proved signally succes* ful. The Otago Board contracts witli a suitable person who, lor tha consideration of 22 s 6d a week, conveys between 20 and 26 children from the surround, inn homesteads, and deposits them each morning' at tho nearest school, wnich is Tapaaui. If prevision wore majdo tor the extension of this plan, there is no , doubt whatever that tho necessity for many pf tho existing small schools would bo done away with, and that a very larce sum of money would bo save a. it should ho 'pointed put that the scale does not provide for, but will, it is to bo hoped, lead up to (1) a classification of schools and positions, (2) a fixed salary in every grade of the service, and (3) b superannuation scheme for teachers. I would have been glad if the Commission had seen their way to recommend that the Education Boards should have power to transfer teachers from one school to another under their jurisdiction, and unhampered by any conditions whatever. In seme parts of the _ colony, J am aware, the .Boards do claim anu co exercise that right, but it is, according to some authorities, a very moot point whether such can bo legally done. It Js therefore highly desirable that any doubts on the subject should he remov. ed. The public school teacher ought to be regarded in the s ame light as another public servant, and should be liable to removal to any part of the education, district in which he serves without his consent having to ho first obtained. These thoughts have been penned with the sole wish to assist the passage into law during tho present ses. «ion of a measure that to mv mind has h°en framed with an earnest desire to elevate the teaching profession and W improve our primary pvstem of educar tion. My excuse for venturing at such a time to express these opinions lies in iho fact that for manv years I have striven to make our education system truly national, instead of parochial, and that. I am convinced, the Bill now he. fore Parliament is a first and great step in that direction.