Class_AJS^iLlAl 
 
 Book. 
 
 JLl 
 
( O' 
 
 61sT Congress, 
 
 ^d Session. 
 
 SENATE. 
 
 Document 
 No. 541. 
 
 TEACHERS' RETIREMENT FUND. 
 
 Mr. Gallinger presented the following 
 
 ADDRESS GIVEN AT WASHINGTON JANUARY 16, 1909, BEFORE 
 THE COLLEGE WOMEN'S CLUB, BY LYMAN A. BEST, SECRETARY 
 OF THE BOARD OF RETIREMENT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF 
 EDUCATION, OF NEW YORK CITY. 
 
 May 11, 1910.— Ordered to be printed. 
 
 In the December McClure's, an article on "The superannuated 
 man," by Burton J. Hendrick, begins as follows: 
 
 In September of the present year the International Harvester Company formally 
 adopted a systematic plan for pensioning its superannuated employees. A simple 
 vote of its board of directors suddenly changed the outlook on life of more than 
 28,000 industrious American workingmen. For them was effectually removed that 
 persistent horror of an old age of poverty and dependence that under the present 
 unstable economic system dogs the footsteps of practically every citizen. 
 
 The article calls attention to the fact that in 1898 only one railroad, 
 the Baltimore and Ohio, granted retirement allowances to its employ- 
 ees, and that since that year " eighteen lines, representing one-third 
 of the railway mileage of this countrj^, have adopted automatic pension 
 schemes." 
 
 He also shows very conclusively in the article that the establishment 
 of pensions for old employees must be regarded as " good business." 
 
 What is true for great railroads, great manufacturing industries, 
 and great trusts, with their armies of workmen, must be true of the 
 greater army of teachers whose energies are expended all too lavishly 
 in laying the foundations for manhood and womanhood and good citi- 
 zenship in the lives of our youth. 
 
 It is easy for the board of directors of a big corporation to adopt a 
 retirement plan for the employees of the corporation when, as busi- 
 ness men, they realize that pensioning old employees is "good busi- 
 ness." It is easier now that such roads as the Baltimore and Ohio, 
 the Pennsylvania, which spends $800,000 a year in annuities, the 
 Reading, the TJnion and Southern Pacific, the Chicago and North- 
 western, the Santa Fe, and others, and such corporations as the 
 Standard Oil Company, the steel companies, the International Har- 
 vester Company, and others have set the pace. And it was the natural 
 thing for Andrew Carnegie to give 120,000,000 to establish a fund for 
 superannuated college instructors. 
 
2 teachers'' retirement fund, -^"^'x,*^ 
 
 The establishment, as a matter of course, of pensions for soldiers, 
 firemen, policemen — who risk and give their lives and their health for 
 their country or for the safety of the communit\' — had its beginning 
 so long ago tiiat the memor}' of man can not go back to the beginning. 
 
 But when it comes to the establishment of pensions for tlie teachers, 
 we have another story. To establish a retirement fund for the teach- 
 ers of a comnmnity, even when the teachers express the intention of 
 furnishing all the funds, requires missionary work of the very highest 
 character. In fact, it develops a missionary spirit of the same degree 
 as does the profession of teaching itself, the members of which must 
 sacrifice much that others enjo}^ in this life in order that they maj^ 
 devote their lives to their most noble calling, not the least of these 
 sacrifices being proper emolument for their labor, for there is no 
 other profession whose members are so poorl}' paid. 
 
 In this connection 1 desire to quote freel}' the sentiments expressed 
 in a paper presented to the New York State Teachers' Asssociation 
 by Forrest T. Shutts. 
 
 The vocation of teaching is one to which we are called as truly as 
 men are called to preach, and the highest reward of a faithful teacher 
 is not counted in dollars and cents, but comes from a consciousness of 
 having helped to instill in the minds of the children the principles of 
 truth and patriotism. There is no other calling in the world where 
 character counts for so much; there is no other calling where the 
 real artist is worth so much; there is no other calling where the 
 indifferent workman is worth so little. 
 
 The state appropriates money for school purposes because it is gen- 
 erally acknowledged that the permanency of a republican form of 
 government depends largel}^ on the efficiency of a democratic system 
 of education, and education, as we understand it, means character; it 
 means good, honest, patriotic citizens. And this education of the 
 people depends almost entirely upon the teacher — his preparation, his 
 life, his character. The public-school teacher furnishes the antitoxin 
 for the ills of our democratic civilization. 
 
 If President Roosevelt spoke the truth when he said to the teachers 
 at Asbury Park, " If 3'ou did not do your work well, this Republic 
 would not endure bej^ond the span of a generation," then the faithful 
 teachers are the most important, the most valuable workers for the 
 nation, and they should receive consideration from the country com- 
 mensurate with the dignity and importance of their work. 
 
 It is possible for a great physician, a great lawyer, or even a great 
 preacher to earn $50,000 a 3^ear, but no teacher, no principal, no 
 superintendent, no president of a college ever received such a salary, 
 and yet the work of the teacher is certainly equal in value to the work 
 of the doctor, the law3-er, the priest. 
 
 In the report of the committee on salaries of the National Education 
 Association, it is stated that in 44 of the 48 cities investigated b}^ the 
 committee the 3^early compensation of the laborer exceeded that of 
 the elementaiy school teacher. 
 
 It is only reasonable to suppose that with increased demands made 
 upon teachers in preparation, professional efficiency, and social posi- 
 tion, there should come not only a corresponding increase in remunera- 
 tion, ]>ut there should be honoral)le retirement in time for them to 
 spend the afternoon and evening of their lives in quiet enjoyment of 
 a well-earned rest. 
 
 ;jiu 
 
 4 
 
TEACHEKS' RETIREMENT FUND. 3 
 
 AjndrewCarnegie^as solved the problem foiv the college pjpfessor,^ 
 W^en sucK^merTasTJoctoi'^fHiTiT^TrcrDoctor Eliot accept pensions 
 from the Carnegie fund certainly no public-school teacher can refuse 
 to accept an annuity, especially when the teachers themselves contrib- 
 ute largely toward the maintenance of the fund. 
 
 It is said that Germany has the best schools in the world, and the 
 German teachers have been pensioned for ver}^ man}^ years. A German 
 teacher who has rounded out fifty years of service can be retired on 
 full salary. The argument adA^anced in Germany is that teachers, of 
 all the state officers, are the ones who deserve the highest considera-' 
 tion and they are the ones who are most likely to sacrifice their health 
 in the discharge of their duties. 
 
 Countries having teachers' pension laws are as follows: Russia, since 
 1819; Saxony, since 1840; twenty-six of the German States; England,' 
 first in 1848; Italy, for many years; Genoa and France, more than fifty 
 years; Holland, for forty-five j^ears; nearly all the Cantons of Switzer^. 
 land have laws allowing teachers' pensions upon disability or advanced 
 age, with partial or full salary for the rest of the annuitant's life; Ire-- 
 land; Mexico; Chile; Spain; Servia; Austria; Belgium; Sweden; Nor- 
 way; Japan; Ontario and Quebec; Australia; Finland; and Argentine; 
 Republic. Permissive laws exist in 15 of our own States. 
 
 Reverting to the hazards of our profession, I do this because at. 
 Albany and elsewhere, I have been met with the statement that *■' It is 
 all right to pension the soldier, fireman, and policeman, because their 
 occupation is extra hazardous, but the teacher runs no such risks as do 
 these others." 
 
 I have already called attention to the fact that the German Govern- 
 ment believes the teachers, of all state officers, are most likely to, 
 sacrifice their health in the discharge of their duties. The late presi- 
 dent of Chicago University, Doctor Harper, once said: 
 
 The number of physical wrecks furnished by the profession of teaching is certainly 
 larger in proportion than that of any other calling in life. In no other work can it 
 be so truly said that the toiler gives forth his own strength to the one for whom he 
 toils. 
 
 Those of us who have spent our lives in the service know of innu- 
 merable cases of physical breakdown and nervous prostration due 
 entirely to close application to duty in stuffy and improperly cleaned 
 schoolrooms filled with children who often transmit disease not only 
 to their classmates but to their teachers, who are generally in such 
 physical condition that they have not the power of resistance to dis- 
 ease possessed by the more active children, who spend so much more 
 of their time exercising in the open air. Do you know that it is now 
 becoming more and more certain that the schoolroom is the center 
 from which the common contagious diseases, scarlet fever, diphtheria, 
 and measles, are distributed throughout the communitj^'^ (See my 
 report of 1907, B. T. A.) 
 
 One case I have in mind, a principal, with wife and four children, 
 and two sisters living at his home, carried home from school diphtheria 
 and scarlet fever until to-day the onl}^ members of the family now alive 
 consist of himself and one son. His wife, three children, and sisters 
 have been sacrificed. But this, however, is a phase of the matter not 
 pertinent to the question before us. 
 
 My own position as secretary of the board of retirement of the 
 department of education of New York City has given me opportunity 
 
4 TEACHERS RETIREMENT FUND. 
 
 to obtain information along- this line. More than 1,200 teachers have 
 been retired in }<ew York City since the retirement law was passed 
 fourteen 3'ears ago. Of these, comparatively few have applied for 
 retirement on account of service onl}-; although of these 1,207 there 
 have been retired 279 who taught more than forty years. Fifty-eight 
 of the 279 taught more than tif tv years, and 2 taught more than sixty 
 years — 1 for sixty-six years, four months, and the other sixty-four 
 years and seven months. At least three-fourths of the teachers apply 
 for retirement on the plea of physical or mental incapacity. Nervous 
 prostration claims the largest share, then follow length of service, 
 heart disease, rheumatism, digestive troubles, defective hearing and 
 sight, tuberculosis, insanity, Bright's disease, cancer, tumor, etc. 
 
 More than 200 pensioners have died in the fourteen years, 49 per 
 cent of the men and nearly 15 per cent of the women. The cause of 
 death is a sad proof of the condition of these retired teachers. Taken 
 in order, the first 98 areas follows: Bronchitis and valvular disease of 
 heart, apoplexy, (jedema of the lungs, hemorrhage of lungs, cancer, 
 heart disease, pneumonia, suicide, old age, cancer, cancer, apoplexy, 
 diabetes, Bright's disease, consumption, Bright's disease, cancer, 
 Bright's di~;ease, heart and lungs, cancer, cancer, old age, apoplex}^, 
 pleurisy, pneumonia, bronchitis, pneumonia, paral3^8is, consumption, 
 Bright's disease, bronchitis and asthma, apoplexy, acute mania, heart 
 disease, cancer and pneumonia, cerebral hemorrhage, Bright's disease, 
 Hodgkin's disease, pneumonia and heart disease, cancer, typhoid, con- 
 sumption, consumption, valvular disease of heart, cancer, bronchitis, 
 Bright's disease and heart disease, grippe, cancer, Bright's disease, 
 Bright's disease, apoplexy, apoplexy, heart disease, pneumonia, 
 Bright's disease and heart disease, pneumonia, paralysis, apoplexj'^, 
 rheumatism, typhus abdominalis, pneumonia, apoplex}^ cerebral hem- 
 orrhage and cancer, pneumonia, cancer, pneumonia, heart disease, 
 aneurism, consumption, old age, Bright's disease and heart disease, 
 diabetes, appendicitis, apoplexy, bronchitis, Bright's disease, apoplexj^, 
 heat prostration (weak heart), heart disease, Bright's disease, cancer, 
 cancer, ana?mia, paralysis and pneumonia, cerebral hemorrhage, cancer, 
 aneurism, cerebral embolism, cerebral embolism, cirrhosis of liver and 
 heart disease, Bright's disease and heart disease, bronchitis and heart 
 disease, consumption, paralysis, paralysis, heart, cancer, cirrhosis of 
 liver; in all but ver}^ few cases some organic trouble, cancer, or 
 consumption. 
 
 The education and training of youth is a state function, as the very 
 preservation of the life of the State depends upon education. The 
 State should, therefore, be anxious to adopt such measui'es as will 
 secure the greatest efficiency in education. The taxpayers and the Gov- 
 ernment should take the initiative in securing legislation of this char- 
 acter. Nothing has pleased me in this matter more than the fact that 
 the board of education of Washington is using every endeavor to secure 
 for the teachers of the District of Columbia this very great addition 
 to the efficiency of the schools of the District. 
 
 Anything that costs an expenditure of public money should be tested 
 as to necessity and added efficiency. The matter of annuities to teachers 
 must be investigated from the view point of improved efficiency. In 
 what way will a pension system for the teachers add to the value of 
 the educational plant in reference to improved product? 
 
 1. The community which has a retirement plan to provide for the 
 old age of its teachers will attract teachers — live teachers — from other 
 
TEACHERS RETIREMENT FUND. 5 
 
 communities. The appointing power will then have a wider field and 
 a stronger field, therefore, from which to make appointments, and 
 many strong teachers from outside will be added to the teaching force, 
 thus strengthening the system and raising its efficiency . 
 
 2. On the other hand, the community which maintain^ a teachers' 
 retirement system will keep its own strong teachers who make excep- 
 tionally high records of etficiency. These exceptional teachers are 
 alwa3^s eagerly sought after b}^ enterprising boards of education in 
 other communities who are ever alert to appreciate and reward good 
 work. With a prospective annuity at the end of a reasonable period 
 of service, these teachers will hesitate long before leaving their work, 
 even with the lure of a larger salary held before them. In fact, most 
 of them will not consider any proposition from outside, no matter how 
 alluring. Such teachers will remain and the efliciency of the service 
 will be much increased by the continued good work of these high-class 
 employees. 
 
 8. Many enter the profession of teaching with the idea of later 
 leaving it for more renumerative employment in other fields. These 
 will remain in the service and thus add by their longer experience 
 to the general efficiencj" of the system. A permanenc}'' of work will 
 conduce to high efliciency. At present, in many communities, in 
 most rural districts, especially, the teachers are changed every year, 
 sometimes every term. Under such conditions interest on the part of 
 the teacher must be at a low'^bb. How much less must be the interest 
 displayed by the pupils of these indifferent teachers. Proper tenure 
 with annuity will do away with this and strengthen the efficiency of 
 the schools of such districts. 
 
 4. Able men and women will be attracted to enter the profession of 
 teaching if there is an annuity provision who would otherwise enter 
 other employment. This is a very cogent reason for making suitable 
 provision for the old age of the employees of any profession or trade. 
 Every able man or woman attracted to our profession adds to its effi- 
 ciency. We all know that among many young people there is an idea 
 that teaching is a nice, genteel way of earning a living or of earning 
 enough to furnish a wedding outfit. These people enter the profes- 
 sion with indifference as to their responsibilities, and after one, two, 
 or three years give up their work, leaving behind them hundreds and 
 thousands of children who have not gotten their just due in instruc- 
 tion. This class will be entirely shut out of the profession of teaching 
 if others are attracted to it who intend to make it their life work. 
 
 5. The retention of the worn-out teacher who has outlived her use- 
 fulness decreases the potential efficiency of the educational system. 
 Many hundreds of children are to-day being taught by these worn-out 
 teachers, and these children are being deprived of their rights. Put it 
 home to your own children. Is it right ? Honorable retirement of 
 such a teacher will prevent injustice to a once valuable teacher and will 
 compensate her for the poor salary paid her during her long and faithful 
 service b}' allowing her to enjoy, free from care, the evening of her 
 life. Her place in the teaching force will be taken by a younger, 
 more alert, and better-equipped teacher, and the children will come 
 into their birthright. The efficiency of the system will be thereby 
 greatly enhanced. By this retiring of the worn-out teachers in due 
 season the efficiencj'- of the system can continuously be kept at its 
 highest point. 
 
6 teachers' retirement fund. 
 
 6. The fact that lionorable retireiiKMit after one is worn out is 
 assured is the best kind of tonic. With no worr\' on account of help- 
 less old ao-e and dependenc}^ upon others as an everv-da}' nightmare we 
 will secure more cheerful and happ3', and therefore more etlicient serv- 
 ice from the teacher. The cheerfulness of a happy teacher will add 
 to the cheerfulness and happiness of the pupils. We all know how 
 uuieh more can be accomplished, especially with children, through 
 cheerfulness than through fretfulness. The amount of work that we 
 can secure from a happy child is many times greater than we can 
 secure from one who is driven, nagged, and worried by a cross-grained 
 teacher. 
 
 7. W'ithout a pension in the future the teacher must practice much 
 self-denial. She can not take that needed change in the summer. She 
 can not travel. She must pinch and starve all her desires for better- 
 ment in order that she may lay b}^ a pittance for her old age. With 
 an annuity assured, the teacher can enter into much that will enlarge 
 her sphere of life, add to her stock of knowledge, and thus increase 
 her efficiency as a teacher. Travel and rest cost money. What a dif- 
 ference there is in a class of the traveled and well-rested teacher as 
 compared with the spirit in the class of the worried, tired teacher; 
 ignorant even of her own countr}^ not to mention other lands. 
 
 There are other points which will suggest themselves to you which 
 will convince any thinking person that the efficiency of the educa- 
 tional system would be much enhanced by a general retirement law 
 providing for the teacher who has outlived her usefulness, and for 
 the teacher who has broken down while at her post of dut3^ 
 
 While other countries have recognized all these things for many 
 3"ears, the United States has been far in the rear. Various cities and 
 States have taken the matter up, and there seems now to be a rapidly 
 growing sentiment in favor of caring for the superannuated teacher 
 in a manner commensurate with her services and general value to the 
 State. Among the cities that have made such provisions are New 
 York, Philadelphia, Detroit, San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, Buffalo, 
 Elmira, Troy, and Richmond; and among the States are New Jersey, 
 Ohio, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. Some of the laws are crude, 
 but undoubtedl}' they will be improved in the future. 
 
 The first systematic efforts to secure teachers' pensions in this coun- 
 try, so far as I have been able to find records, were made b}'^ the 
 Brooklyn Teachers' Association. Through the efforts of this associa- 
 tion in 1878, a bill was introduced in the New York state legislature 
 in the 3^ear 1879 providing for the retirement fund for Brookh^n 
 teachers. The bill failed of passage, and another introduced in 1881 
 met a similar fate. Through persistent agitation a few principals of 
 Brooklyn kept the idea alive, and in 1804 a committee of three prin- 
 cipals was appointed to make a thorough stud}^ of the subject. This 
 committee convinced a doubting board of education (one could easily 
 say a scoffing board) that the scheme outlined b}^ the committee was 
 feasible and practicable. This result was accomplished, at least in 
 part, through the fact that a former principal, A. S. Higgins, was on 
 the Ijoard of education and chairman of its pension committee. Mr. 
 Higgins was also one of the spirits that kept the idea alive in its early 
 struggles. The board of education of Brooklyn became our allies, 
 and instead of fighting our cause, drew the bill and secured its passage 
 through the legislature. The 1)111 became a law Mav 13, 1895. 
 
TEACHERS RETIREMENT FUND. 7 
 
 In the meantime the teachers of old NeAv York City had become 
 interested in securing- similar legislation, and after two or three j^ears 
 of strenuous labor, with the board of education and the board of esti- 
 mate in opposition, secured the passage of what was probably the first 
 retirement law for teachers passed in this country. Governor Flower 
 signed the bill on April 14, 1894. As with the agitation in Brooklyn, 
 so in New York a few persistent spirits kept the fires burning- even 
 against the dampening effects of the cold water thrown on the project 
 by the board of education and other city authorities. 
 
 ' The appended letter is interesting, and ought to encourage the board 
 of education and the teachers of Washington to keep at it until they 
 accomplish the enterprise upon which they have entered. 
 
 In 1891 the department of superintendence of the National Educa- 
 tion Association passed a resolution reading as follows: 
 
 Justice, as well as the best public service, requires the retirement and pensioning of 
 teachers after a service of thirty years, and upon carefully devised conditions. We 
 recommend the enactment of laws in the several States to permit and to regulate the 
 retirement and pensioning of professional teachers. 
 
 It has been said that this was the first concerted action in the United 
 States toward a pension for teachers, but the New York state legis- 
 lature took the initiative for the Brooklyn teachers twelve years be- 
 fore the action of the superintendents was taken. 
 
 I am going back now to the Brooklyn law — passed in 1895, after sev- 
 enteen years of struggle. I do this for two reasons: (1) It was really 
 the pioneer law which was entirely self-supporting-; that is, the fund 
 was supported entirely b}^ the voluntary contributions of the teachers 
 themselves. I doubt very much if any law since passed is an improve- 
 ment on the old Brooklyn pension law. (2) It happens that I was one 
 of the committee of three principals who investigated the question 
 and who convinced the doubting, scoffing board of education that the 
 proposition which we laid before it was feasible, my part in the work 
 being twofold: (a) to work up the mathematics of the question; {b) as 
 I was one of the youngest principals, I was to use my youthful per- 
 suasive powers on the voung teachers to trv to coax them into the 
 fold. 
 
 At that time there were 2,000 teachers in the force in Brooklyn, and 
 anyone who has tried to present any proposition to that many teach- 
 ers, especiallj^ if the proposition is at all complex, will appreciate our 
 tribulations. 
 
 We started out with the idea of a definite, fixed income of one per 
 cent of the salaries of the participants in the fund, and we did not 
 deviate from that modest standard. 
 
 We made out a list of the 2,000 names, with ages and salaries, and 
 arranged these lists in two columns — men and women — and subdivided 
 the list into groups of varying experience and age. The result was 
 that with those 2,000 teachers we found that on the income set all men 
 teachers in the force with thirty years of service and who were sixty 
 years of age, and all women teachers with thirty years of service and 
 who were fifty-five years of age could be retired on half salary, 
 provided no pension exceeded $1,200. 
 
 But this simple proposition could not stand, and it was necessary to 
 meet the various objections by adding conditions. Some suggested 
 that, as the fund was for the Brooklyn teachers, restrictions must be 
 placed on teachers coming into the service of the Brooklyn system 
 
8 teachers' retirement fund. 
 
 simply for the purpose of being retired. We therefore required that 
 the last twenty years of the applicant's service nmst be in Brooklyn. 
 
 To meet the statement made by the 3'oung teachers that the plan 
 was a scheme to retire a lot of old teachers who had paid in nothing- 
 and let the young teachers pay the bulk, we added the provision that 
 no one could be I'etired who had not contributed an amount equal to 
 twenty years' assessment on their retiring salar3^ The twenty was 
 selected because we required at least twent}" 3'ears of service in 
 Brookh'n. 
 
 This satisfied most of the 3'oung teachers. Brooklyn at that time 
 had a sliding scale of salaries for the different grades, and the retire- 
 ment of a teacher near the top would often bring about a promotion 
 of a half dozen teachers, each receiving an increase of |50 a year in 
 salar3^• This won more of the younger teachers. It was necessary to 
 get most of the te'achers to agree to ourproposition, because only those 
 then in the teaching force who agreed to come into the scheme could 
 be participants in its advantages. By this method we avoided all 
 questions of the constitutionality of the proposed law. All teachers 
 appointed after the law became operative were to be included in the 
 provision of the law. The result of our labors was the written con- 
 sent of 1,800 of the 2,000, and we went before the board of education 
 with our figures and estimates worked out from 1S95 to 1905 — ten 
 years. The law was passed with the full support of the board of edu- 
 cation, and the seventeen 3'ears of struggle was ended. Just think ! 
 It took us seventeen years to be allowed to contribute 1 per cent of our 
 salaries to care for our friends who had grown old in the sei'vice. 
 I quote the two important provisions of this law of 1895. (To the 
 board of education was given the care and management of the fund. 
 See sees. 1 and 3.) 
 
 The retirement law passed for the old New York City in 1894 was 
 of an entirely difierent character. The fund in this case was made up 
 entirely from deductions from salaries of absent teachers, and the 
 board of education was directed to amend its b3'-laws relating to the 
 excuse for absence of teachers with pay so as to provide that the 
 aggregate of the sums deducted should be fully adequate to meet the 
 demands upon the fund for the payment of annuities. Service required 
 was thirty-five years for men and thirty for women, all in New York 
 Cit3'. Retirements were made rather generously in New York, and 
 the legislature was appealed to in 1898 for assistance. To the income 
 derived from fines was added 5 per cent of the excise mone3's of the 
 city. As the two cities were merged into one in 1898, Brooklyn was 
 entitled to a share in the excise moneys, but as each section of the cit3'^ 
 retained its own retirement law, Brooklyn with its modest demands 
 did not use one penn3^ of the excise moneys, and upon the complete 
 consolidation of the city in 1902 turned into the general fund nearly 
 $400,000 of unused excise funds. 
 
 Upon this completion of the union of the various parts which make 
 up the present Greater New York in 1902 the Brooklyn retirement 
 law disappeared and we all came under the New York plan. Income 
 of fund made up on two items: (1) Deduction for absences; (2) 5 per 
 cent of excise moneys. But immediately steps were taken to restore 
 the contributions from all teachers and an effort was made to reduce 
 contributions from teachers absent on account of sickness. 
 
 The experience of the Brooklyn teachers of seventeen years of 
 effort to be allowed to contribute the entire amount of the fund from 
 
TEACHERS RETIREMENT FUND. 
 
 9 
 
 their own salaries will prepare you for the statement which I am about 
 to make. 
 
 It required three years of the most strenuous labor to get placed 
 into the retirement law a provision that all teachers should contribute 
 a percentage (1) to the fund. But in 1905 our present law was finally 
 passed. 
 
 Other amendments were added at this time. The chief amendments 
 were, (1) the addition of the 1 per cent of the salaiy of all members of 
 the force, thereby increasing the income by $200,000 a year; (2) 
 allowing retirement after twenty years of service for physical or 
 mental incapacity; (3) the establishment of a retirement board on 
 which the teachers have representation. 
 
 THE WORKING OF THE PLAN. 
 
 To date there had been retired 1,207 teachers (fourteen years) and 
 211 have died (2 were dropped, having been illegally retired), leaving 
 the number of annuitants now on the roll 994, 47 men and 947 women, 
 with a pay roll of $62,000 a month and an average pension of some- 
 thing over $750 a year. 
 
 I give also two tables, covering the important facts since 1898. 
 
 Year. 
 
 Average number of 
 
 Average number 
 
 employees (July 31). 
 
 on annuity roll. 
 
 Men. 
 
 Women. 
 
 Men. 
 
 Women. 
 
 (a) 
 
 (a) 
 
 14 
 
 164 
 
 904 
 
 9,104 
 
 19 
 
 231 
 
 1,001 
 
 9,554 
 
 23 
 
 305 
 
 1,140 
 
 10, 248 
 
 25 
 
 356 
 
 1,241 
 
 10,920 
 
 30 
 
 436 
 
 1,282 
 
 11,510 
 
 34 
 
 523 
 
 1,426 
 
 12, 002 
 
 38 
 
 601 
 
 1,540 
 
 12,341 
 
 39 
 
 663 
 
 1,709 
 
 12,951 
 
 40 
 
 766 
 
 1,939 
 
 13, 789 
 
 44 
 
 866 
 
 2,083 
 
 14, 572 
 
 6 47 
 
 &947 
 
 Amount 
 paid in an- 
 nuities. 
 
 1898. 
 1899. 
 1900. 
 1901. 
 1902. 
 1903. 
 1904. 
 1905. 
 1906. 
 1907, 
 1908. 
 
 S144, 362. 18 
 246,171.78 
 309, 987. 51 
 371, 832. 89 
 420, 026. 99 
 477, 418. 74 
 526, 502. 36 
 616, 984. 54 
 689, 390. 64 
 
 c 710, 000. 00 
 
 a Records not available. 
 
 6 January 16, 1909. 
 
 cEstimated. 
 
 Year. 
 
 Contribu- 
 tions by city 
 (excise 
 money). 
 
 Contribu- 
 tions by 
 teachers. 
 
 1898 
 
 Nothing. 
 $269,094.83 
 266, 859. 37 
 265, 853. 17 
 262, 066. 04 
 265, 917. 78 
 281,964.66 
 281, 973. 60 
 285,275.54 
 287, 853. 89 
 
 (d) 
 1146,816.17 
 178, 198. 64 
 252,474.53 
 161, 133. 49 
 160,535.67 
 234, 669. 76 
 365,418.78 
 420, 797. 31 
 
 1899 
 
 1900 
 
 1901 
 
 1902 
 
 1903 
 
 1904 
 
 1905 
 
 1906 
 
 1907 
 
 496,501.00 
 
 1908 e 
 
 
 
 d All— figures not available. 
 
 e Not yet available. 
 
 S. Doc. 541, 61-2- 
 
 o 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 
 
 020 314 894 A