Januabt 8, 1909] 



SCIENCE 



49 



pressing effort to aecomplisli the im- 

 possible. A young teacher is fortunate if, 

 during this time, he is not obliged to sup- 

 press his desire for research, acquired by 

 years of training, in order to avail himself 

 of opportunities to add something to his 

 meager income. 



Data concerning the salaraies paid to 

 teachers of science in public schools belo-w 

 college grade are to be found in the Report 

 of the Committee of the National Educa- 

 tional Association on Salaries, Tenure and 

 Pensions of Public School Teachers in the 

 United States, dated July, 1905. From the 

 extensive tables there given it would appear 

 that the average maximum salary paid to 

 male teachers in cities or towns having 

 from 8,000 to 12,000 inhabitants is about 

 $800 per year, in cities numbering 10,000 

 to 15,000 about $1,000, in those of 15,000 

 to 30,000 population about $1,200, in cities 

 of 30,000 to 75,000 inhabitants about $1,- 

 500, and so on up to cities of 200,000 inhab- 

 itants or over, when the maximum is about 

 $2,000. The highest salaries are paid in 

 New York, amounting probably to $3,500 

 for those having positions of sub-masters 

 or heads of departments. The opinion has 

 been expressed to me by well-informed 

 science teachers that the salaries paid 

 such teachers do not differ essentially from 

 the average salaries named above, but that 

 salaries paid by private schools may be in 

 general somewhat higher than the figures 

 named. Here, again, it seems to me that 

 those in authority should realize that more 

 than a bare living wage must be provided 

 for the younger teachers if the best results 

 are to be obtained, and my own observa- 

 tions lead me to express a further belief 

 that the efficiency of these teachers is much 

 less than it might well be because of inade- 

 quate assistance— a condition of affairs 

 which makes it necessary for them to devote 

 time which should be spent in instruction 

 to the mere distribution of supplies. It is 



expected that these and other related topics 

 will be considered in detail at some early 

 session of the Education Section of the 

 American Chemical Society. I will not, 

 therefore, dwell longer upon them now. 



It has already been said that the oppor- 

 tunity for accomplishment which the tech- 

 nical field opens before the young man is 

 alluring to a high degree, and, although I 

 have thought it wise to dwell first upon the 

 financial aspects of a teacher's career, I am 

 far from thinking that the avoidance or 

 abandonment of that career by those who 

 have shown themselves fitted to enter upon 

 it, is mainly due to anything which could 

 be described as greed or avarice. "What, 

 indeed, can be better worth undertaking 

 than the development of a new industrial 

 process, very likely the product of one's 

 own careful thought; to watch it grow 

 from a thing of the beaker and test-tube in 

 the laboratory to the successful operating 

 plant, where tons are substituted for 

 grams? Where are there problems better 

 worth attacking than the careful investiga- 

 tion of sources of difficulty in existing 

 processes, with the sense of satisfaction and 

 triumph which accompanies their ultimate 

 rejuvenation? And to whom does there 

 come wider opportunity for honorable serv- 

 ice and tangible reward than to one who, 

 through leadership and the helpful guid- 

 ance of a corps of trained investigators 

 such as are found in the research labora- 

 tories of some of our larger manufacturing 

 organizations, has at once the privilege of 

 extending the boundaries of his chosen sci- 

 ence and, by improving or cheapening pro- 

 ductiqn, to increase industrial efficiency, 

 which in many instances means ultimate 

 benefit for us all. The joy of material 

 accomplishment belongs to the worker in 

 each of these fields. 



What is there, then, left to be said in 

 behalf of science teaching as a career? 

 Very much; almost everything indeed, if 



