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STATE OF MINNESOTA 
 Department of Education 
 
 Teacher Shortage 
 and Salaries 
 
 Report of Proceedings 
 
 BY 
 
 State Board of Education 
 
 SAINT PAUL 
 April, 1920 
 
®o 9£ £. 
 
 OCT £ mm 
 
 

 STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION 
 
 W. D. Willard : President 
 
 Cashier First National Bank, Mankato 
 
 Julius Boraas i Professor of Education 
 
 St. Olaf College, Northfield 
 
 Thomas E. Cashman President Clinton Falls 
 
 Nursery Company, Owatonna 
 
 Mrs. R. D. Musser Little Falls 
 
 J. VV. Hunt, Attorney-at-Law •. Duluth 
 
 James M. McConnell Commissioner of Education, Secretary 
 
 and Executive Officer of the Board, 
 
 Historical Society Building, St. Paul 
 
 P. C. Tonning Deputy Commissioner 
 
REPORT OF PROCEEDINGS 
 
 For the information of all concerned and especially of school boards, 
 this bulletin is published, giving a statement of what has been done by 
 and under the direction of the State Board of Education in the teacher, 
 shortage and salary emergency which confronts the state. 
 
 It is the purpose of the State Board in this, as in other problems 
 that may arise, to furnish such leadership and give such assistance as 
 ij: may be able to the end that the schools of the state may be main- 
 tained at their highest efficiency. It bespeaks the cooperation and hopes 
 for the confidence of school boards, superintendents and teachers 
 throughout the state in its efforts to achieve this purpose. 
 
 At its quarterly meeting, January 5, 1920, the Board discussed at 
 length the question of restoring standards of teacher certification and 
 of raising the minimum salaries paid in state aided schools. The mat- 
 ter was referred to the Commissioner for recommendation at a special 
 meeting. 
 
 The special meeting was held on January 26, 1920, all members 
 being present, and the following resolutions were adopted: 
 
 That school boards and superintendents throughout the 
 state be notified that it will be the policy of the Department of 
 Education for the school year 1920-21 to adhere to the re- 
 quirements for teacher certification and standards set forth 
 in the printed rules of the State Board of Education: that 
 renewals of permits now in force to persons not fully qualified 
 will be granted only on evidence of satisfactory teaching and 
 continued professional progress by attendance at summer 
 sessions of the State Normal Schools or College of Educa- 
 tion: that such permits will not be granted to new appli- 
 cants except on request of school boards who are able to show 
 to the satisfaction of the Department of Education that they 
 have made every effort to secure fully qualified teachers and 
 have offered reasonable salaries for the same, and when the 
 Department finds that qualified teachers are not available 
 for such positions. 
 
 That a letter be sent to all school boards in the state 
 informing them of the emergency that exists in the shortage 
 of qualified teachers and the consequent necessity of raising 
 salaries to a standard that will induce young men and women 
 to enter the work of teaching and retain persons of ability 
 now employed: that the Board of Education call a confer- 
 ence of all school boards in the state to consider the problem 
 of teachers' salaries in the hope that a state wide policy 
 may be adopted that will lead to its solution: that this meeting 
 be called immediately following the report to be made at the 
 annual meeting of Superintendents held in Minneapolis, 
 March 31-April 2, of a Committee appointed by the Minne- 
 sota Educational Association to investigate Teachers' Salaries 
 and Living Expenses in Minnesota 
 
In compliance with the order of the Board, the following letter, 
 under date of February 10th, was sent to all school boards in the state: 
 
 To All School Boards in Minnesota: 
 
 The State Board of Education extends greeting to all 
 school boards in Minnesota and begs to bring to their attention 
 what it believes to be an emergency in the educational situation. 
 
 An inquiry made some two months ago by the Department 
 of Education showed more than 300 school rooms or depart- 
 ments closed because.no teachers could be obtained. It also 
 showed more than 1,800 teachers employed in positions for 
 which they do not possess full qualifications, according to 
 standards set up before the war. It showed further that while 
 in the year 1916-17, the State Normal Schools graduated more 
 than 750 students and the High School Training Departments 
 almost 1,450, the same institutions will this year graduate less 
 than 600 and 1,000 respectively. Nor is the showing for high 
 school teachers much better. While colleges and universities 
 are overflowing with students, the schools which train teach- 
 ers have not regained their pre-war enrollment. This means 
 that young men and women are not now preparing to teach. 
 Furthermore, besides those who left the work during the 
 war, relatively few of whom have returned, we are steadily 
 losing to other more attractive fields our best superintendents 
 and teachers. The conviction is widespread and well founded, 
 not only that teaching does not pay, but that it does not 
 furnish a living. 
 
 The problem presented is one that cannot be avoided by 
 those who are burdened with the responsibility for adminis- 
 tering our schools. The education of the children of the 
 state is at stake at a time when the need of education was 
 never more apparent. It is our business to see that the best 
 minds and the best personalities teach the children of Minne- 
 sota. 
 
 The question seems to be mainly one of salary, and that 
 we may know exactly what the situation is .and so far as 
 it is possible determine the best solution of the problem, the 
 State Board of Education suggests a conference of all the 
 school boards in Minnesota to consider definitely the question 
 of teachers' salaries. 
 
 Since a committee appointed by the Minnesota Educa- 
 tional Association is now investigating the question through- 
 out the state, and will report at the annual meeting of super- 
 intendents, held in Minneapolis, March 31 to April 2, it 
 would seem best that the conference be deferred until this 
 report is in. It may be possible to hold the conference during 
 the closing days of the Superintendents' meeting. 
 
 It is hoped that the boards throughout the state in all 
 grades of schools will realize the seriousness of the situation 
 and will see that they are represented at this conference. 
 
The Board would appreciate an expression of your opinion 
 as to the wisdom of calling such a conference. Later and 
 definite notice will be given. 
 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 J. M. McCONNELL, 
 Secretary State Board of Education. 
 
 The replies received, with almost no exception, favored the Con- 
 ference, though many favored calling it at an earlier date. The desira- 
 bility of awaiting the report of the Committee appointed by the Minne- 
 sota Educational Association to investigate teachers' salaries and 
 living expenses was usually admitted. 
 
 Under date of March eighth, a second letter was sent, calling the 
 Conference for Saturday, April third, at 10:00 a. m., at the University 
 Farm in St. Paul. 
 
 An opinion of the Attorney General holding that a board might 
 charge the expense of its delegate to the district or that several dis- 
 tricts might share in the expense of sending a representative was cited. 
 
 An invitation was also extended to board members to attend the 
 Friday afternoon session of the Superintendents' Meeting, when a 
 preliminary report of the Committee appointed by the State Board 
 of Education to study the question of state aid would be presented, and 
 also a report of the Committee appointed by the Minnesota Educational 
 Association to investigate teachers' salaries and living expenses. Many 
 school board members attended this session and also the annual dinner 
 in the evening, to which they were invited. 
 
 Saturday morning, April third, at the University Farm, the State 
 Board held an informal meeting at which they approved a recommenda- 
 tion to the Conference of the minimum schedule previously considered. 
 
 At the time appointed for the School Board Conference, the large 
 auditorium was filled to its capacity, the balcony being occupied, 
 mostly by superintendents. Not fewer than eight hundred board 
 members were present from all parts of the state. A "please stand" 
 estimate indicated that probably a majority represented rural districts. 
 The others were from districts having high and graded schools, ranging 
 from the smallest to some of the largest. 
 
 At 10:15 a. m., President Willard of the State Board of Education 
 called the Conference to order and stated its purpose and the importance 
 of the matters under consideration. He then introduced Commissioner 
 James M. McConnell, who presented the situation in the following 
 address: 
 
 1. Purpose and Plan of Meeting. 
 
 As a people we are committed to the doctrine that public educa- 
 tion spells public welfare. 
 
 This conference has been called in the interest of public education. 
 It is no part of a campaign. It is a business meeting, called for the 
 purpose of dealing in a sane and business-like way with a real situation. 
 It is a situation which concerns every American citizen, but the re- 
 sponsibility for meeting it rests squarely upon those who are represented 
 here this morning. 
 
The emergency of war and the unrest and uncertainty of recon- 
 struction through which we are passing have impressed anew upon all 
 thinking people the value of public education and the immediate 
 necessity of strengthening and extending it to meet existing conditions. 
 
 The various schemes for Americanization now so seriously under- 
 taken by public spirited citizens and institutions are only efforts to 
 reach the spots that seem to have been missed in our scheme of public 
 education. 
 
 Here is the problem that confronts us. At a time when the schools 
 are called on to do more and do it better; when reduced efficiency is 
 unthinkable for those who have the country's welfare at heart, we 
 acknowledge the fact of a shortage of teachers which has closed 
 many schools and greatly lowered the efficiency of others. Instead 
 of being stronger to meet the new demands we are weaker. There 
 is in the country at large and in Minnesota a lack of competent teach- 
 ers which, if allowed to continue, will wreck our public schools, either 
 by closing them or by filling them with inefficient teachers. 
 
 This is the ground on which this conference is called. It is our 
 plan to put before it the facts as we have been able to get them and to 
 to make such recommendations in the light of these facts as have com- 
 mended themselves to our judgment. It is our purpose to have free 
 discussion and our hope that the conference may result in the best 
 conclusions that can be reached. 
 
 The Governor of an eastern state where the stituation is not worse 
 than in Minnesota has stated the case by saying: 
 
 "If our children are to be taught by incompetent teachers, or not 
 at all, the end of American democracy is in sight." 
 
 The president of one of our leading colleges has expressed it by 
 saying: 
 
 "We are facing the annihilation of a profession." 
 
 II. The situation in the country at large and in Minnesota. 
 
 1. The shortage of teachers in schools and lack of qualifications. 
 
 The Secretary of the Interior reports that 143,000 out of approxi- 
 mately 650,000 teachers in the United States resigned last year on ac- 
 count of inadequate pay. The National Education Association states 
 that more than 100,000 teaching positions in public schools in the 
 U. S. are either vacant or filled by teachers below standard. This num- 
 ber is 16% of the teaching positions in the country, of which 6% repre- 
 sents vacancies and 10% teachers not fully qualified. Both shortage 
 of teachers and lack of qualifications are naturally greatest in rural 
 districts and in communities where salaries are lowest and living condi- 
 tions least favorable. 
 
 California reports a combined shortage and below standard, 3%%. 
 
 Massachusetts reports a combined shortage and below standard, 
 
 4H%- . ■ 
 
 Illinois reports a combined shortage and below standard, 7%. 
 
 Six southern states report a combined shortage and below standard, 
 33 1-3 %. 
 
 Minnesota reports a combined shortage and below standard, 11 H%. 
 
2. Shortage in enrollment and graduates in schools preparing teach- 
 ers. 
 
 a. In the United States. 
 
 While colleges and universities are overflowing with students, 
 schools for the training of teachers have generally not reached their 
 pre-war enrollment. It is -reported that in 78 normal schools and 
 teacher training schools in 35 states, the enrollment in 1916 was 33,051, 
 and the number of graduates 10,295. In 1919 in the same schools, the 
 enrollment was 26,134 and the graduates 8,274. In the graduating 
 classes of 1920, the present year, the number is only 7,119. This shows 
 a decrease of 30% of graduates in four years. Attendance has de- 
 creased 20% in three years. Commissioner John H. Finley of New 
 York reports that attendance at the normal schools in that state has 
 fallen off 40%, that teacher training institutions have not over 60% 
 of their pre-war enrollment. It is stated that the class of 1896 of Yale 
 University produced 33 teachers; that of 1904 produced 19; and that of 
 1919 produced 3. 
 
 b. In Minnesota. 
 
 In Minnesota in the year 1916-17, the normal schools graduated 
 756 and for the year 1919-20, the estimate is 584, a falling off of 23%. 
 In the year 1916-17, the high school teacher training departments 
 graduated 1,441, and the estimate is 976 for 1919-20, a falling off of 32%. 
 
 It is estimated that in ordinary times graded schools require 
 1,250 new teachers annually and the rural schools 2,200. Comparing 
 these figures with the graduates in sight, the number of trained teach- 
 ers for these schools will be less than 50% of the demand. The high 
 school and special teacher situation is not materially better, but is 
 more difficult to estimate, since this group of teachers is secured from 
 many different sources. 
 
 The fact is, that large numbers of young persons who should be in 
 the training schools, and ordinarily would be, may be found among 
 the more than 1,800 who have been allowed to teach with less than the 
 standard qualifications in order to keep from actually closing a larger 
 number of schools. They are the immature and raw recruits whom 
 we have had to send into the ranks to hold places which in these times 
 demand veterans. As someone has well expressed it in a different way, 
 "we are grinding our seed wheat." An important part of the prob- 
 lem before this conference is to stop this abuse. To do so, school 
 boards must cooperate with the Department of Education by not 
 asking for concessions in certification until they have made every ef- 
 fort to secure qualified teachers. 
 
 3. Causes and remedies. 
 
 Doubtless the war and the unsettled and unusual economic and 
 industrial conditions through which we are passing have been factors 
 in producing the situation as we find it. To that extent, the condition 
 will correct itself. The prime cause, however, is one of lack of re- 
 muneration. Teachers' salaries have always been low. But with the 
 diminishing value of the dollar and the mounting cost of living, the 
 situation for the teacher in service became critical. Happily for the 
 teachers and unhappily for the schools, economic and industrial pros- 
 
perity furnished a way out. Teachers, men and women, have gone 
 and ~are going by the thousands, many of them to incomes beyond 
 their wildest dreams. Private employers have discovered in teachers 
 the highest grade of ability and they are drawing on it to the utmost; 
 and men and women who are able to teach have found themselves in 
 demand for other lines of work. Not only so, but young men and 
 women are no longer entering the work, since teaching does not pay 
 in proportion to the demands it makes in extent of preparation, as well 
 as in the work to be performed. Almost no young men are prepar- 
 ing to be teachers. In Minnesota in 1915, the ratio of men to women in 
 high and graded districts was 1:5.6; in 1919, it was 1:8. In the rural 
 districts in 1915, it was 1:15; in 1919, it was 1:35. 
 
 "The medium salary paid to all elementary and high school teach- 
 ers, including special teachers, supervisors, heads of departments and 
 principals in 392 cities of the United States in 1918-19 is 40% below 
 that paid the skilled and unskilled laborers and employees in fac- 
 tories and shops where the greater number employed are women and 
 girls." Comparisons tending to establish the undesirable economic 
 situation of teachers are endless. What the conditions are in Minne- 
 sota will presently by shown by members of the Committee of the 
 Minnesota Educational Association appointed to investigate. 
 
 To come to the remedy. Some means must be found to retain and 
 replenish the supply of teachers or the cause of public education for 
 which you and I are officially responsible must be seriously handicapped. 
 Some plan of action must be adopted. We could continue to lower 
 the standards and let in the untrained and incompetent, as we have 
 already done to too great a degree. This is unthinkable and the great 
 majority of the people of Minnesota will so decide when once they have 
 the facts. Our standards are not too high. They are not higher than 
 they were five years ago. We must have well trained teachers. There 
 may be a few "natural born teachers" who succeed without much 
 training. Let me remind you, however, that the birth rate of such per- 
 sons is singularly low and the matrimonial mortality alarmingly high. 
 
 Another and a better suggestion is to meet the situation in a busi- 
 ness-like way and pay what competent teaching service costs. Not 
 only so, but to establish a liberal policy that will encourage young men 
 and women to enter the profession and will attract teachers into the 
 state, as well as hold those now in the work. When our salaries are lower 
 than those of adjoining states, as they have been, we lose teachers to 
 them. When ours are higher, as we hope they will be, we draw from 
 them. The objection to this plan is the wrath of the overburdened 
 taxpayer. But the answer to this is clear — we shall have to choose now 
 between the wrath of the taxpayer and the wrath to come, if we neglect 
 our plain duty. 
 
 The schedules received from many schools which have already elect- 
 ed their teachers indicate a liberal policy — one that gives encouragement 
 for the solution of the problem. Twenty out of the thirty-two graded 
 and high schools reporting next year's schedules to the Department 
 have adopted minimum salaries ranging from $110 to $135 for grade 
 teachers; and twenty-three out of the twenty-seven high schools re- 
 
porting have adopted minimum salaries ranging from $125 to $150 for 
 high school teachers. These reports are from the small or middle sized 
 towns and cities, mostly in the agricultural sections of the state. Seven- 
 teen of the schools are located in villages of less than a thousand and 
 thirty-two in villages or cities of less than ten thousand. The Twin 
 Cities or "range towns" are not included. No reports have been re- 
 ceived from rural schools, since it is not their practice to elect so early. 
 
 Permit me to say in this connection that a somewhat widespread 
 impression that the normal schools and teacher training institutions are 
 responsible for a salary raising program and that boards are being held 
 up accordingly is without foundation. The law of supply and demand 
 is in control of the situation, and this, together with a realization by 
 school boards of the condition and their disposition to meet it squarely, 
 is responsible for the salaries paid. 
 
 4. The problem of determining a schedule. 
 
 It is not a simple matter to determine a schedule of salaries that 
 will meet all conditions. 
 
 It is understood that there is a large element of .the altruistic in 
 the work of teaching and that those who enter on it do so without the 
 expectation of becoming rich. However, this feature has been over- 
 done. Conditions have changed with growing demands laid on the 
 schools. In the old days, when professional standards for teaching 
 were low or lacking, the young man on his. way to some other calling 
 used teaching as a stepping stone. He could then afford to take a young 
 man's salary. Nor did young women enter seriously on the work, as 
 one which should give them full and perhaps permanent occupation. and 
 support. Now, the greatly broadened scope of school work demands 
 trained men and women who are, or who are preparing to become, pro- 
 fessional teachers. If. we get them and keep them, they must be paid 
 enough for their support throughout the year and something for cul- 
 ture and saving besides. Not only so, but the outlook must be per- 
 manent and promising. Conditions vary from rural districts to the 
 large cities and no uniform schedule could be adopted. 
 
 The Michigan committee on teachers' salaries suggests that each 
 community make an exact estimate of the total monthly expensess 
 of the average woman grade teacher for board, room and laundry. 
 Add 45% to this amount to cover clothing, insurance, church, charity, 
 physician's bills, railroad fare, etc., and multiply this total by 12 to 
 secure necessary expenses for the year. For it must be remembered 
 that teachers have to live 12 months, whether school keeps or not. 
 To this total add 10% for saving. Additional allowance should be made 
 for training, experience, and special merit. 
 
 In keeping with the present "cost plus" method of letting contracts 
 the scheme has much to commend it. 
 
 In any case, there are three outstanding factors that must be taken 
 into consideration in determining teachers' salaries; they are training, 
 experience and efficiency. The first two points can be determined 
 by fixed standards; the third is a local and individual question. Also 
 it must be remembered that any minimum that may be adopted stands 
 for the weakest teacher of the group in the poorest school. It could 
 
 10 . 
 
not at the same time be a minimum for the better teachers in the 
 better schools. Again, living expenses enter in as a large factor. 
 
 The Board of Education in order to arrive at what may seem to be a 
 fair minimum schedule have agreed to a recommendation which I will, 
 now submit: 
 
 Less than 2 yrs.' Two yrs.' experi- 
 
 (1) Teachers Holding experience — ence or more — 
 
 Per Month Per Month 
 
 Second class certificate $65 $65 
 
 First class certificate 75 85 
 
 High School Training Certificate 85 95 
 
 Certificate for one year State Normal 
 
 Training 85 95 
 
 State Normal Diploma (2 year) 100 120 
 
 State Normal Diploma (3 year).... 110 130 
 
 Certificate on A. B. or equivalent 
 
 College Degree 120 140 
 
 Note — Experience under this rule shall mean experience in pub- 
 lic schools after the granting of the diploma or certificate to which the 
 minimum salary applies. A year of experience shall mean a minimum 
 of eight months' actual teaching, but in no case can credit for more 
 than a year's experience be granted in any calendar year. 
 
 (2) Principals and Superintendents. 
 
 Graded School Principal, classified as elementary teacher, $1,200 per yr. 
 
 Graded School Principal, classified as H. S. instructor 1,500 per yr. 
 
 Superintendent of High School '. 2,000 per yr. 
 
 It will be noted that this schedule recognizes experience, and also 
 professional training and progress. 
 
 1. No increase in salary is provided through experience for the 
 second grade teacher, because any teacher worth having will not long 
 continue to be a second grade teacher. 
 
 2. The salary for a first grade teacher at the end of two years 
 equals only the initial salary of either the graduate of the high school 
 training department or the teacher who has completed one year in a 
 state normal school. 
 
 3. The graduate of the' two year course in the State Normal School 
 is given an initial salary above the teacher of two years' experience, but 
 with a year less of training. The purpose of this is to encourage the 
 completion of professional training. 
 
 4. For each additional year of training $10 per month is added for 
 additional salary. 
 
 5. Since two years is the accepted probation period, no provision 
 is made for increase at the end of one year; though, in practice, boards 
 may often find it desirable to modify this. 
 
 6. Ten dollars per month per year for two years' experience is not 
 too much. The trouble has been more that of too little and too slow 
 advance in salaries, rather than too low initial salary. 
 
 11 
 
7. No provision has been made to carry advances beyond that pro- 
 vided at the end of the second year of experience, though such advances 
 should be made. For how many years increases should be made or in 
 what amounts, we have not undertaken to say. Probably no general 
 rule could be laid down, since local conditions, such as size of school 
 and ability to pay, would have to enter in. Professional progress while 
 in the service should be a large factor. Long experience with no pro- 
 fessional growth becomes a liability instead of an asset in a teacher's 
 standing. 
 
 8. The schedule has been based on recognized certificates or de- 
 grees of training, together with experience. Teachers whose qualifica- 
 tions cannot be so classified constitute a local problem and each board 
 can best handle the question for itself on the basis of individual merit. 
 
 9. Again the proposed schedule has been based on amount of train- 
 ing and experience, regardless of whether it is to apply in town or coun- 
 try, in grades or high school. 
 
 10. In the matter of principals and superintendents, no explana- 
 tion is necessary, since this becomes pretty largely an individual ques- 
 tion. 
 
 Charts prepared in the Department of Education were displayed 
 in order to make the figures presented more significant. These are not 
 included in this report. 
 
 12 
 
Report of the Committee Appointed by the Minnesota Educa- 
 tional Association to Investigate Teachers' Salaries and 
 Living Expenses. 
 
 President Willard introduced President J. C. Brown of the St. 
 Cloud Normal School and Mr. Robert Cowling of South High School, 
 Minneapolis, who presented the findings of the Committee of the 
 Minnesota Educational Association appointed to investigate teachers' 
 salaries and living expenses. 
 
 The report presented was based on replies to questionnaires sent 
 to all teachers in the state and on information furnished by superin- 
 tendents, county and city, concerning comparative incomes in other 
 occupations. A brief summary of the figures shown is here included. 
 This summary is made up from replies of several thousand teachers, 
 exclusive of the Twin Cities, Duluth and the "Range Towns." 
 
 TEACHERS' SALARIES AND EXPENSE STATISTICS 
 
 (Numbers in bold type indicate number of teachers considered in 
 each group.) 
 
 TABLE I 
 
 
 
 
 PER CENT 
 
 POSITION 
 
 
 SALARIES 
 
 OF INCREASE 
 
 
 1915-16 
 
 1919-20 
 
 1920 over 1916 
 
 Supt. State 
 
 $1451 
 
 $1906' 
 
 31.3 
 
 High School 
 
 86 
 
 123 
 
 
 Principal State 
 
 1218 
 
 1400 
 
 14.8 
 
 Graded School 
 
 87 
 
 140 
 
 
 High School 
 
 814 
 
 1125 
 
 38.1 
 
 • Principal 
 
 57 
 
 138 
 
 
 High School 
 
 687 
 
 982 
 
 42.9 
 
 Teacher 
 
 165 
 
 540 
 
 
 Departmental 
 
 575 
 
 858 
 
 49.2 
 
 Teacher 
 
 93 
 
 144 
 
 
 Grade 
 
 520 
 
 803 
 
 54.4 
 
 Teacher 
 
 823 
 
 1729 
 
 
 Rural 
 
 420 
 
 620 
 
 47.6 
 
 Teacher.... 
 
 898 
 
 3416 
 
 
 Home 
 
 644 
 
 946 
 
 45.3 
 
 Economics 
 
 37 
 
 145 
 
 1243 
 
 
 Manual 
 
 911 
 
 36.4 
 
 Training 
 
 36 
 
 93 
 
 
 Commer- 
 
 760 
 
 1100 
 
 44.7 
 
 cial 
 
 37 
 
 60 
 
 1209 
 
 
 Normal 
 
 812 
 
 48.9 
 
 Training , 
 
 59 
 
 58 
 
 
 Agri- 
 
 1100 
 
 1716 
 
 56.0 
 
 culture 
 
 18 
 
 56 
 
 
 13 
 
TABLE II 
 
 TEACHERS' BUDGETS 
 
 Supt. 
 St HS 
 
 Rent $343 
 
 123 
 
 Clothing 302 
 
 116 
 
 Board 382 
 
 63 
 Doctor 55 
 
 and Dentist 117 
 
 Church 48 
 
 and Charity 117 
 
 Recreation 55 
 
 109 
 
 Laundry 38 
 
 97 
 
 Insurance 99 
 
 111 
 
 Travel 58 
 
 104 
 Professional 50 
 
 Improvement 115 
 
 Miscellaneous 114 
 
 110 
 Total 1805 
 
 Expenses 112 
 
 Savings 279 
 
 69 
 Excess Expense 162 
 
 over Salary 49 
 
 Room and 33 
 
 Board, Jan. 1919...:.... 22 
 
 Room and 35 
 
 Board Jan. 1920 24 
 
 Prin. 
 
 H. S. 
 
 H. S. 
 
 Dept'l. 
 
 , Gradi 
 
 2 Rural 
 
 StGr 
 
 Prin. 
 
 Tchr. 
 
 Tchr. 
 
 Tchr. 
 
 Tchr. 
 
 $202 
 
 $ 98 
 
 $ 80 
 
 $ 80 
 
 $ 67 
 
 $ 58 
 
 101 
 
 97 
 
 311 
 
 82 
 
 728 
 
 266 
 
 208 
 
 262 
 
 262 
 
 238 
 
 261 
 
 194 
 
 127 
 
 153 
 
 501 
 
 138 
 
 1622 
 
 3094 
 
 310 
 
 255 
 
 252 
 
 243 
 
 241 
 
 162 
 
 80 
 
 134 
 
 458 
 
 133 
 
 1371 
 
 2895 
 
 45 
 
 27 
 
 25 
 
 28 
 
 26 
 
 21 
 
 133 
 
 146 
 
 471 
 
 140 
 
 1539 
 
 2996 
 
 23 
 
 29 
 
 22 
 
 17 
 
 17 
 
 13 
 
 129 
 
 152 
 
 501 
 
 117 
 
 1606 
 
 3121 
 
 36 
 
 46 
 
 37 
 
 25 
 
 28 
 
 19 
 
 122 
 
 137 
 
 486 
 
 130 
 
 1461 
 
 2212 
 
 30 
 
 29 
 
 24 
 
 25 
 
 27 
 
 14 
 
 113 
 
 141 
 
 442 
 
 117 
 
 1289 
 
 957 
 
 38 
 
 24 
 
 10 
 
 22 
 
 8 
 
 7 
 
 133 
 
 136, 
 
 448 
 
 108 
 
 1207 
 
 2302 
 
 55 
 
 58 
 
 50 
 
 40 
 
 41 
 
 22 
 
 123 
 
 137 
 
 480 
 
 126 
 
 1438 
 
 2429 
 
 34 
 
 23 
 
 19 
 
 16 
 
 16 
 
 16 
 
 122 
 
 141 
 
 435 
 
 127 
 
 1396 
 
 2749 
 
 59 
 
 56 
 
 59 
 
 53 
 
 51 
 
 34 
 
 114 
 
 138 
 
 463 
 
 127 
 
 1447 
 
 2598 
 
 1206 
 
 987 
 
 932 
 
 795 
 
 787 
 
 552 
 
 135 
 
 145 
 
 443 
 
 126 
 
 585 
 
 2634 
 
 233 
 
 113 
 
 113 
 
 85 
 
 96 
 
 110 
 
 68 
 
 80 
 
 237 
 
 66 
 
 720 
 
 1548 
 
 207 
 
 118 
 
 119 
 
 180 
 
 105 
 
 76' 
 
 51 
 
 69 
 
 227 
 
 75 
 
 956 
 
 916 
 
 28 
 
 29 
 
 30 
 
 28 
 
 28 
 
 18 
 
 63 
 
 115 
 
 388 
 
 113 
 
 1265 
 
 2339 
 
 35 
 
 34 
 
 35 
 
 33 
 
 32 
 
 21 
 
 60 
 
 121 
 
 447 
 
 115 
 
 1321 
 
 2047 
 
 TABLE III 
 
 
 
 
 
 TEACHERS' SALARIES COMPARED WITH 
 OTHER SALARIES 
 
 TRADES 
 
 Carpenter $1507 
 
 Mason 1797 
 
 Plumber 1847 
 
 Machinist 1801 
 
 Barber 1615 
 
 H. S. Teacher 982 
 
 PROFESSIONS 
 
 Doctor ! $5010 
 
 Dentist '. 3480 
 
 Lawyers 3552 
 
 School Supt 1906 
 
 14 
 
MISCELLANEOUS COUNTY OFFICERS 
 
 Maids, Living and $ 469 Auditor (plus fees) 
 
 Cooks, Living and 775 
 
 Stenographers 989 Treasurer (plus fees) 2347 
 
 Bookkeepers 1 124 
 
 Store Clerks 945 Register (plus fees) 2976 
 
 Section Men 1117 
 
 Teamsters 1272 Sheriff (plus living) 1980 
 
 Farm hands, Living and 827 
 
 Day laborers 1107 Supt. Schools ...1798 
 
 Grade Teachers 803 (Minus traveling .expenses 
 
 Rural Teachers 620 in many cases.) 
 
 President Willard introduced Dr. Lotus D. Coffman, Dean of the 
 College of Education of the University of Minnesota and President of 
 the Minnesota Educational Association, who had been invited by the 
 State Board of Education to address the Conference. Dean Coffman 
 spoke in part as follows: 
 
 You have learned today that A/Iinnesota is facing an enormous 
 shortage in her teaching force, that thousands of teachers are unable, 
 even when they exercise the strictest economy to "make both ends 
 meet," and that the morale among teachers is constantly declining. 
 These are serious matters. 
 
 It should be recalled that for four long years of war the teachers 
 of this state and of other states loyally and patriotically supported the 
 government. They gave all that they possessed of strength and money. 
 During the first two years of this period their salaries were increased 
 scarcely a cent and during the last two only by insignificant amounts. 
 They saw the cost of living mounting skyward; they felt its pinches; 
 they exercised rare frugality, but never stinginess; they saw labor 
 through the power of organization double, treble and quadruple its 
 wages; they saw the prices of commodities double and treble; and yet 
 they stood by their posts. The schools were never closed; there were 
 no strikes among the teachers. The teachers preserved the secondary 
 line of defense without a break. When civilization was hanging in the 
 balance on the plains of Flanders and among the hills of Picardy, the 
 teachers of this country were preparing a new and more enlightened 
 civilization in the schools of America. 
 
 But the cost of living did not stop increasing with the signing of the 
 armistice. On the contrary it is higher today than it was a year ago. 
 And as a consequence the teachers are finding it harder, in many cases 
 quite impossible, to meet their necessary expenses out of the salaries 
 they receive. Moreover, business opportunities, always alluring, are 
 increasing in number and many teachers are accepting them. The result 
 is that the situation is gradually growing worse instead of better, and it 
 will be worse next year than it is this unless heroic measures are taken. 
 
 The State Department very wisely attempted to ease the schools 
 through the war by certificating many teachers known not to be properly 
 qualified. A continuance of this policy indefinitely will spell disaster. 
 It will do two things: (1) it will lower the morale and increase the dis- 
 
 15 
 
content of teachers. Seeing no rewards ahead for professional training 
 and superior skill the unusually competent will leave teaching. With 
 the foundations of professional standards literally destroyed, the whole 
 educational superstructure will totter and eventually fall. (2) It will 
 create the feeling that teachers are mere hirelings. Schools will actually 
 be sold to the lowest bidder. But that is not the worst feature of the 
 situation: The worst feature is that the future, the potentiality of 
 thousands of children at the time when they are most impressionable to 
 instruction in right ideals, will be sold to the lowest bidder. And when 
 that bidder is known to be a person who cannot meet the minimum 
 requirements of the state, we have a case of the blind leading the blind. 
 To perpetuate this practice means that we shall be selling the future 
 of the state and the birthright of the children for something worse than 
 a mess of pottage. 
 
 Truly the picture looks dark, but it becomes even darker and more 
 depressing when we consider the situation in Minnesota in relation to 
 that of the rest of the country. There are in the United States some 
 70,000 teachers who never went beyond the eighth grade, and 300,000 
 who never went beyond the public high school. More than 4,000,000 
 children are being taught by teachers who are mere boys and girls and 
 10,000,000 are being taught by teachers who have little or no conception 
 of the enormous significance of the social, political and industrial prob- 
 lems which the country is facing. In other words, millions of children 
 are being taught by teachers who as yet know little or nothing about 
 their duties and responsibilities as citizens. The enormous conse- 
 quences of our failure to recognize this in the past is shown by the 
 presence of 5,500,000 persons in the United States who cannot read and 
 write the English language. This vast army of illiterates affords a fertile 
 ground for the spread of discontent and dangerous propaganda. 
 
 The United States of America with all her boasted wealth and with 
 all the pride which she has in her traditional and historic ideals, is giving 
 far less attention at the present time to the training of teachers than any 
 of the great nations of the world. We have a smaller percentage of 
 trained teachers than has England, France, Portugal, Peru or Alaska. 
 We are letting down the bars and virtually saying, "We care little for 
 standards; the thing that we are interested in primarily is keeping the 
 schools open": but when schools, kept open, are staffed by the ignorant 
 and unqualified, by the young and inexperienced, we are laying an inse- 
 cure basis for the perpetuation of the government. 
 
 The typical American teacher is a mere child. The great majority 
 of the public school teachers of this country begin to teach at 18 years 
 of age and most of them have left before they are 23 years of age. We 
 have in the neighborhood of 150,000 vacancies in the public schools of 
 America every year and this number is rapidly increasing. Next year 
 we may confidently expect a quarter of a million vacancies. Teacher 
 training institutions in this country will turn out less than 40,000 trained 
 people. Pressure will be brought to bear to continue the practice which 
 was indulged in during war times, that is, certification of those who are 
 known to be incompetent. In general, although it is not always true, 
 the first ones to leave teaching are the most competent, the superior 
 
 16 
 
ones; the mediocre and poorly qualified are the ones who remain longest. 
 Many state departments have declared that they have certificated 
 thousands of boys and girls. Teaching, once a juvenile occupation, is 
 now rapidly becoming an infantile occupation. |gj 
 
 There is another aspect of the instability of the teaching population 
 which is quite as grievous and that is the extreme mobility of teachers. 
 Very few teachers remain in any given community very long. Enough 
 changes occur in the typical American graded school in this state or in 
 any other state in four years' time to equal the total number of persons 
 teaching in that school during any one of these years. Enough changes 
 occur in the typical American high school in three years' time to equal 
 the total number of persons.teaching in that school of any of these years. 
 In round numbers the entire administrative and supervisory staff of the 
 state changes positions every four years. Eighty-six per cent of the 
 country school teachers change location every year. Public school 
 teachers are a species of intellectual tramps. They are wanderers upon 
 the face of the earth. And why are they constantly on the move? 
 Generally speaking, for two reasons: first, for promotion in rank; 
 second, for advancement in salary. In many instances, the only method 
 of advancement for a teacher is to move. The result is that few of them 
 remain long enough in a given community to vote intelligently for candi- 
 dates for local offices or to leave behind them any worthy traditions for 
 intellectual work. 
 
 The Commissioner of Education has already pointed out to you 
 what the present shortage is and he has shown how that shortage will 
 be increased in 1920 and 1921. There are a number of factors which 
 will contribute to this. Some of them have already been discussed. 
 We have referred to the increased cost of living and to the decrease in 
 registration in the normal schools. In addition, however, it should 
 be borne in mind that we have a very large annual turnover in the teach- 
 ing population every year. About 4,000 teachers leave the teaching 
 profession annually. It has been difficult in the past to fill their places. 
 It will be impossible to do so next year. Minnesota has required about 
 500 additions to her teaching population annually to keep pace with the 
 growth in her population and with the establishment of new schools. 
 This year one-fourth of all the students turned out by all of the teacher 
 training institutions will be required to meet the normal growth of 
 the teaching population of the state. 
 
 It seems that no matter how we attack this problem we always 
 come back to two conclusions: one is the increasing immaturity, 
 inefficiency and incompetency of the teaching force; and the other is the 
 inevitable pot of gold as the only means of relief. 
 
 We face two dangers: one is that we may be governed by feelings 
 of complacency and indifference in the present crisis and thus do noth- 
 ing; the other is that we may rely upon the native strength of the com- 
 mon citizen and refuse to place the proper valuation upon training for 
 teaching. There was a time when training was not regarded as neces- 
 sary, but those who have kept themselves in touch with the growth of 
 public schools and the increasing complexity and multiplicity of educa- 
 tional problems would not be disposed to employ as teachers those who 
 
 17 
 
had no training. Bryce somewhere in his American Commonwealth 
 points out that one of the defects of the American people is its over- 
 valuation of the ability of the common man and its correlated under- 
 valuation of training for particular forms of service. The national suf- 
 ficiency of America is reflected in the story of the young man, who, 
 when asked if he could play the piano, replied, "I don't know; I have 
 never tried." 
 
 If one could assemble all the teachers of Minnesota and have them 
 march according to army regulations, eight abreast, eight paces apart, 
 before a reviewing stand in which there were assembled together the 
 members of the legislature and the executives of various clubs and 
 associations, and public spirited citizens generally, and then if he were 
 to arrange the teachers in groups according to their preparation, he 
 would sit for more than three hours while the teachers who have had less 
 than high school education passed by; he would sit for nearly five hours 
 while those who have had but little more than a high school education 
 were marching in review; for six hours he would watch the graduates of 
 normal schools and for two hours and three-quarters he would look 
 upon the college graduates. 
 
 After eight long hours of sitting he would have watched a procession 
 of about 8,000 teachers, who have had high school education or less; 
 in other words, he would have seen four-tenths or forty per cent of the 
 teachers of the state whose qualifications do not equal or surpass those 
 of the boy or girl who is just graduating from the four-year high school. 
 It would not be until late in the second day that he would see approach- 
 ing a group whose banners show that they have both the normal school 
 and college education. In developing this same figure the State Superin- 
 tendent of Public Instruction of Illinois, says that at this particular 
 point a voice from the reviewing stand might be heard to exclaim, "No 
 person should be allowed to teach who is not at least a normal school 
 graduate or a college graduate." Mr. Blair, in replying, says, "You 
 are right. The greatest crime which is being committed upon the peda- 
 gogical high seas today is that committed by a great commonwealth 
 which forces by a drastic truancy law its children to go into a public 
 school system to sit for six hours of the day, for nine months out of the 
 year, for twelve years out of their life at the feet of ill-prepared and 
 incompetent teachers. It is an old but truthful saying that no stream 
 can rise higher than its source. Your teachers are the intellectual 
 water-towers. The mental and moral stature of your children can hardly 
 rise higher than that of those who instruct them." 
 
 Then Mr. Blair raises the question who is to blame for this? He 
 describes these teachers returning in reverse order before the review- 
 ing stand. This time we read on their banners not the amount of 
 training which they have had, but the salaries which they draw. The 
 first group, consisting of 3,000 who have never had a high school train- 
 ing, and the next group, consisting of nearly 8,000 who have had prac- 
 tically no training beyond the high school, carry banners on which one 
 reads, "Some of us receive an annual salary of less than $300 a year. 
 The average salary paid the country teacher in Minnesota is $620; the 
 city and grade school teachers, $803 a year." We must sit for hours 
 
 18 
 
watching these thousands pass, not one of whom receives a salary in 
 excess of $1,000 a year. 
 
 Are those who have seen this picture likely to go away making a 
 plea for their sons and daughters to take up teaching? From what 
 source are we to get our recruits in teaching? Obviously from the high 
 schools. Unless high school students can be inspired to enter the 
 normal schools and colleges and universities with a vejw to preparing 
 themselves for teaching, the situation is hopeless. Now, what are the 
 inducements that we have to offer high school graduates to prepare 
 themselves for teaching? We can go before them with the ancient 
 aphorism that teaching is the most poorly paid but the most richly 
 rewarded of all professions. We can point out to them the idealism 
 that exists among those who take the vows of poverty. We can show 
 them that after all, the material things of life are not the real things 
 of life. True as these statements may be, important as they are, few 
 men are willing and particularly few boys and girls will be so unwise 
 or foolish as to select a work or profession that does not provide a living. 
 
 The facts are that out of the thousands of high school graduates 
 fewer and fewer of the talented are coming into teaching. Why is it? 
 Mr. Blair suggests one of the possible explanations. He suggests that 
 we permit the high school graduates to march down the streets and let 
 them read the advertisements which are displayed on every hand. 
 As they go by the employment offices, the boys read, "BOYS AND 
 MEN WANTED: Carpenters from $1,200 to $2,000 a year. Masons, 
 $1,400 to $2,200. Plumbers, $1,600 to $2,500. Section hands, $1,100. 
 Teamsters, $1,200 to $1,600. Farm hands, $850. Men school teachers 
 with normal school or college education, $685 to $1,400." No one can 
 doubt the choice of the young men as they pass along the highways and 
 read these employment signs. The boy not yet decided upon an occu- 
 pation would reflect upon the respect in which teaching is held by the 
 public as indicated by the pay the teacher receives. More than that, 
 if he is at all thoughful, he would do some calculating as to his ability 
 upon such salary to provide for himself a home and to support his chil- 
 dren in comfort and safety on the plane commensurate with that of the 
 children of the carpenter, the mason, the plumber or the farm hand. 
 
 It will be observed that we have not called the attention of these 
 marching boys to the signs showing the earning of men in other walks 
 of professional life. Not until we place along the highways of life another 
 employment sign, one that shows that a generous commonwealth is 
 willing to pay an ample wage to every person who will prepare himself 
 adequately for the difficult and importatnt task of training children that 
 we shall have more and more of the high school graduates entering 
 teaching. 
 
 Now, what kind of employment signs do the high school girl gradu- 
 ates see? They read in large letters, "WANTED — Stenographers, from 
 $800 to $1,400 a year. Bookkeepers from $1,100 to $1,600. Store 
 clerks, $960 up. Maids, $480 with board and room, to $1,200 with 
 board and room. Trained nurses, $1,300 and upwards. Women 
 elementary school teachers with normal school education, from $250 to 
 about $900 a year." 
 
 19 
 
Of course, it may be claimed that many teachers are now being 
 paid more than they are worth. In this there is some truth, but the 
 poor teacher, if she is paid anything, is paid more than she is worth. 
 The effort to secure better salaries does not involve the securing of more 
 pay for those who are not earning what they now receive. On the 
 contrary, it involves securing more pay for the thousands who are now 
 underpaid, making the salaries large enough so as to attract and retain 
 talent and ability in the teaching profession. We should look forward 
 to the time when the requirements for teaching should be raised, not 
 lowered. A nation which lets its incapables teach it, while the capable 
 men and women only feed and clothe or amuse it, is committing intel- 
 lectual suicide, says one of the distinguished thinkers of this country. 
 
 The day should come when we will require as much training for 
 teaching as for any other profession. We should regard it as a calamity 
 if the state of Minnesota admitted to the practice of medicine men with 
 less than four years of professional training. We insist that those who 
 are to care for our teeth must have four years of training in a professional 
 school. The day is coming, if it has not already arrived in Minnesota, 
 as it has in many other states, when a man who is certificated to engage 
 in the practice of veterinary science must have at least four years of 
 training beyond the high school. And so it is in every profession — 
 medicine, dentistry, law, veterinary science, professional engineering, 
 professional agriculture — in every profession except teaching. The 
 standard should be as high in teaching as it is in these other callings. 
 
 Now, what salary should a teacher receive? That is a question 
 which Commissioner McConnell attempted to answer. It is clear, 
 however, that there are many conditions and many'factors entering into 
 the consideration of this question and that it is not always easy to 
 determine the salary that we should pay. 
 
 It is my judgment that any Board of Education in considering 
 this question must be prepared to pay at least three and perhaps four 
 salaries to its teaching force. The first salary which any teachers should 
 receive is an existence salary. This should be large enough to pro- 
 vide her with food, shelter, clothing, and with proper medical and 
 dental care. She should have substantial and wholesome food, the 
 kind of clothes which she should wear as a teacher, a comfortable room 
 in which to work, and she should have such medical and dental care 
 as will keep her physically fit for the work she has to do. The existence 
 salary should not call for any luxuries, unnecessary or unusual expenses, 
 but it should pay all necessary bills for the teacher for the year and by 
 .that I mean for full twelve months, because teachers must eat and they 
 must wear reasonably good clothes, and they must keep themselves 
 healthy during the summer months. This is the first salary that a 
 board of education should pay. 
 
 The second salary which a teacher should receive is a savings or 
 provident salary. We should pay her enough so that she can save for 
 emergencies, protect herself in old age, and carry some insurance. How 
 much has a public school teacher a right to save annually? She should 
 be permitted to save enough so that at the end of thirty years of service 
 the income from the money which she has saved would assure her a 
 
 20 
 
reasonable living income the restof her life. If she is compelled to drag 
 on year after year, and year after year, say ten, fifteen, twenty or 
 twenty-five years without being able to save anything so as to provide 
 her with this protection, then we must expert that cheerfulness, op- 
 timism and buoyancy will not characterize her conduct. Any teacher 
 should be privileged to save out of her salary each year at least $200 
 or $250. The savings salary should be added to the existence salary. 
 
 In addition to these salaries every board of education should pay 
 its teachers a third salary, an improvement salary. This salary 
 should be large enough so that a teacher may attend the theatre oc- 
 casionally, go to lectures or a musical, subscribe for professional maga- 
 zines, buy professional books, attend an occasional summer school, do 
 some traveling and have certain small benevolences. We expect our 
 teachers to be persons of culture and refinement in our communities. 
 We expect them to be good citizens, and good neighbors; we expect 
 them to continue to grow and to increase in worth to themselves and 
 to the community. This cannot be done without larger salaries. How 
 much are we willing to spend each year on the average teacher for books, 
 magazines, travel, benevolences, lectures, culture, refinement, growth? 
 Two hundred to two hundred and fifty dollars a year is a small enough 
 amount for teachers to devote to these purposes. Now if you will add 
 to your existence salary, the savings salary and the improvement 
 salary, you will have the minimum salary which should be paid any 
 teacher in your community. 
 
 But, my friends, there is a fourth salary- which should be added. 
 It is a merit salary. Clearly those who have superior skill, superior 
 merit, unusual ability , should receive it. I wish to hold out some 
 ultimate rewards to those who are coming into teaching. If we add 
 $250 for savings and $250 for improvement, I should add somewhere 
 between $300 and $500 more for merit, real merit, unquestioned merit. 
 When these four salaraies are added, you would then have the least 
 salary which should be paid any person of real merit and ability in 
 your schools. Using these as a base you now move forward adding 
 here and there for training and for experience, and for the type of posi- 
 tion the teacher holds or the character of the work she does. 
 
 I have made no effort to estimate the maximum salary that should 
 be paid a teacher. I do not believe we know what that should be, 
 but I believe the maximum salary paid an unusually successful teacher 
 should be much larger than the salary which she now receives. Talent 
 and genius should be attracted to teaching quite as much as they are 
 attracted to other' lines of service and this will not be true until the 
 public more richly rewards those who are going into teaching. 
 
 It must be very clear to every thinking person that "the only safe 
 foundation for a democracy in peace and war is a wide flung system of 
 public education. Our victories upon land and sea will be more or less 
 empty, our loud shouting and paens of victory may be turned into dirges 
 of regret unless with the same enthusiasm, the same heroic courage, 
 we turn to the more quiet and prosy field of endeavor and, as state 
 officers, as members of the legislature, as leaders in civic and social life, 
 as the officers of public education, we rededicate ourselves to the only 
 
 21 
 
safe policy — the education of all the children of all the people of our 
 commonwealth by a teaching force fitted in character and personality 
 and qualified with academic and professional training. If it requires 
 new laws, in the name of heaven let us have them. If it requires more 
 money, no lover of his country, no real patriot will hesitate to pro- 
 vide it." 
 
 President Willard introduced to the Conference the other mem- 
 bers of the State Board: Mr. J. W. Hunt of Duluth, Mr. Julius Boraas 
 of Northfield, Mr. Thomas E. Cashman of Owatonna, and Mrs. R. D. 
 Musser of Little Falls. 
 
 The meeting was then open for general discussion, and several 
 board members addressed the Conference on various phases of the ques- 
 tion under consideration. 
 
 A request was made that the material given to the meeting be print- 
 ed for distribution, and this report is intended to meet the request. 
 
 A movement to adjourn was followed by a proposal that the school 
 boards form an organization for the purpose of dealing with this and 
 other questions of common interest. It was pointed out by Mr. A. B. 
 Cheadle of Jackson, V. E. Anderson of Wheaton and others that a 
 school board organization already exists in the School Board Section 
 of the Minnesota Educational Association. Conflicting opinions were 
 expressed as to whether this existing association could serve the purpose 
 or whether a new organization should be formed. After much discussion,, 
 a motion prevailed that a temporary organization be made with Hon. 
 G. B. Bjornson of Minneota as chairman, and Mr. V. E. Anderson 
 of Wheaton as secretary, he being secretary of the existing School 
 Board Section. Mr. Bjornson took the chair and addressed the Con- 
 ference. After some discussion, a motion prevailed, making the temp- 
 orary organization permanent, but for this meeting only. 
 
 Much general discussion followed, centering mostly on the ques- 
 tion of whether or not a new school board organization should be 
 formed. Mrs. H. Witherstine of Rochester, President of the School 
 Board Section of the Minnesota Educational Association, was called 
 on and addressed the Conference, setting forth the efforts of the offi- 
 cers to make the association serve the needs of the school boards, and 
 urging more interest than had heretofore been manifested. 
 
 After further discussion, a motion was made by Mr. H. D. Bloyer 
 of Remer, Cass County, and seconded by several members, "To extend 
 a vote of thanks to the State Board of Education and approve the 
 proposed minimum salary presented to us today." 
 
 This motion was carried by a large majority. The Conference 
 then adjourned. 
 
 The State Board of Education at its quarterly meeting held April 
 5, 1°20, all members being present, voted as follows: 
 
 That no state aid, the distribution of which is controlled by the 
 Board, be grated for the year 1920-21 to any school which does not pay 
 in all cases at least the following minimum salaries: 
 
 (The schedule is that given on page 11 of this report.) 
 
 22 
 
That a letter be prepared and sent to all teachers in the state, 
 urging on them a favorable attitude in the emergency that exists in 
 our schools, and which has been under consideration by school boards. 
 
 That a report of the Board's efforts to deal with the teacher short- 
 age and salary situation in the state be prepared and printed for dis- 
 tribution to school board members and others interested. 
 
 A letter under date of April ninth was sent to all school boards 
 notifying them of the action taken relative to minimum salaries. 
 
 In accordance with the instructions of the Board, the following 
 letter was prepared and sent to all teachers under date of April 19th: 
 To Superintendents and Teachers: 
 
 The great social and economic disturbance through which 
 we have been passing has seriously affected our schools. 
 It has produced a state of mind in many teachers distinctly 
 unfavorable to the best teaching. It has worked economic 
 hardship on those who have remained and has caused many 
 to leave the educational field to accept unusual financial in- 
 ducements elsewhere. It is natural that the atmosphere of 
 speculation and unrest in which we are living should affect 
 Teachers as it does others and that they should seek their own 
 advantage in the process of economic readjustment. 
 
 Teachers in most schools have found themselves over- 
 whelmed by mounting costs of living and many have appealed 
 to their boards for increased pay. The tendency among 
 boards has been to meet the condition with at least a fair 
 degree of liberality considering the fact that budgets for the 
 year had already beeil fixed. Some have given relief without 
 request. 
 
 Sometimes a teacher has broken a contract, either be- 
 cause she felt that she was unjustly treated or because she 
 was tempted by a higher salary elsewhere. Such cases have 
 happily been rare, although in a few other instances, this 
 office has had occasion to urge the moral obligation of a legal 
 contract. 
 
 In planning their budgets and electing teachers for next 
 year boards are generally manifesting a decidedly liberal 
 policy. Throughout the state they are announcing their 
 willingness to pay good salaries for competent teachers. 
 A tendency is clearly evident on their part to rise to the oc- 
 casion insofar as they feel that the resources of their districts 
 will permit. 
 
 The public is demanding and is offering to pay for su- 
 perior efficiency; for well trained teachers; for those who are 
 growing professionally. The opportunity was never so great 
 nor the outlook so promising. 
 
 Teaching is public service and should be so regarded 
 by those who engage in it. The public is being educated 
 to pay more liberally for teaching and is making marked 
 progress. Influential forces have interested themselves in 
 behalf of the teachers and the outcome is hopeful. 
 
 23 
 
This letter is written: 
 
 1. To carry whatever note of optimism it may. 
 
 2. To urge on teachers the importance of responding 
 to the emergency in public education which now confronts us. 
 The times are critical. We need all our teachers and we 
 need their best service as we never have before in our history. 
 In face of the direst need for the best teaching, some of our 
 schools are closed; others are taught by those who should 
 themselves be pupils. Many children in this great state of 
 ours are not receiving the education which the crisis in our 
 affairs demands. There is a genuine call to public service 
 to which only those trained as teachers are able to respond. 
 
 May I not then urge on all teachers and superintendents 
 the seriousness of the situation and appeal to them for their 
 utmost cooperation in meeting it. It would be unfortunate, 
 indeed, if the public in the midst of its difficulties and with 
 its good intentions should gain the impression that those who 
 are engaged in school work were placing salary above service. 
 We know that such is not the spirit of the craft. 
 
 In some cases boards are finding it difficult to close con- 
 tracts with teachers for next year at any salary. I am hoping 
 that with the situation as well cleared up as it now is the 
 spirit of unrest and uncertainty may subside; that our schools 
 may now find teachers imbued with the traditional spirit 
 of service, on whom they can depend for next year's work; 
 and that we may all turn our undivided efforts to the great 
 work that is before us. 
 
 James M. McConnell, 
 
 Commissioner of Education. 
 
 The preparation and distribution of this bulletin is in compliance 
 with the intention of the State Board to place in the hands of the school 
 boards of the state a full report of the facts presented and the various 
 actions taken. 
 
 24 
 
Syracuse, N. Y. 
 PAT. JAN. 21, 1908 
 
 
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