PER CAPITA COSTS AND SALARIES 



Russell Sage Foundation in the spring of 1911, and the figures 

 for attendance are taken from the report of the United States 

 Commissioner of Education for the year 1909-10. Data have 

 been restricted to the cities where the work is conducted under 

 the department of education, because it is frequently the case 

 in systems under the board of health that part of the salary 

 paid is in return for other sorts of inspection work conducted for 

 the board of health. 



It will be noted that the per capita figures presented in the 

 table refer only to expenditures for salaries of inspectors and 

 nurses and do not take into account sums paid for printing, 

 supplies, equipment, and so forth. Cities where the systems of 

 medical inspection do not include examinations for physical 

 defects are indicated. All other rates thus apply to relatively 

 complete systems, including physical examinations as well as 

 inspections for the detection of contagious disease. 



In the 52 cities where physical examinations are conducted, 

 the average per capita rate is 24 cents, while in the other 2 5 cities 

 it is slightly over 13 cents. Only six cities pay more than 50 cents 

 per child for medical inspection, and of these, two are in California 

 and four in New Jersey. Unfortunately, it is impossible from the 

 data at hand to determine a minimum per capita rate for efficient 

 medical inspection including adequate follow-up work. It is 

 worthy of note, however, that among the 19 cities listed in this table 

 employing school nurses the average per capita rate is 30 cents, 

 and it is probable that this sum may fairly be regarded as a mini- 

 mum for securing an adequate and efficient system. 



SALARIES OF SCHOOL PHYSICIANS AND NURSES 

 Professor William Osier is credited with saying, as already 

 quoted, in regard to the work of medical inspection in England: 

 " If we are to have school inspection, let us have good men to do 

 the work and let us pay them well. It will demand a special 

 training and a careful technique/' It is certainly to be regretted 

 that this point of view has not been more generally taken in Amer- 

 ica. In this country the financial remuneration of school physi- 

 cians and school nurses is almost invariably inadequate. The 

 salaries paid range from nothing to $4,000 per annum. 



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