Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor RETIREMENT OF TEACHERS IN MASSACHUSETTS Source: Monthly Review of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Vol. 5, No. 1 (JULY, 1917), pp. 152-154 Published by: Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41829094 . Accessed: 19/05/2014 20:02 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. . Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Monthly Review of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 193.105.154.131 on Mon, 19 May 2014 20:02:54 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
Transcript
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor
RETIREMENT OF TEACHERS IN MASSACHUSETTSSource: Monthly Review of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Vol. 5, No. 1 (JULY, 1917), pp.152-154Published by: Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of LaborStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41829094 .
Accessed: 19/05/2014 20:02
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].
.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve andextend access to Monthly Review of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
http://www.jstor.org
This content downloaded from 193.105.154.131 on Mon, 19 May 2014 20:02:54 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
152 MONTHLY REVIEW OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.
education complementary to daily employment, part-time education be also provided through continuation schools] for all youthful workers who are at work in juvenile employment regardless of whether it is complementary to the daily employment.
Based on its study of the opportunities for vocational education in Richmond and supplementing what has already been accom- plished along this line, the survey committee first recommends the development of a junior high school, embracing the three years of school life immediately following the sixth grade, its work being made up of required and elective subjects, the latter having appre- ciable identity with occupational activities so that the pupils may select a course that will fit them for a chosen line of work. A course of study is outlined. It is further recommended that a senior high school be organized on a strictly life-career basis and that all work be either directly preparatory for other schools and courses or im- mediately vocational. Here again a course of study is outlined. The committee recommends that provision be made for preparatory courses for prospective graduate and practical nurses; that the present "general sewing courses" be modified to constitute trade preparation for seamstresses and dressmakers; that specific pro- vision be made for study of all the phases of the work of the house- wife. The night school now operated in Richmond, it is stated, should be continued and supplemented as needs arise.
The committee recommends that subsequent investigations be made of practical nursing, mercantile traffic, mercantile sales, and the public library, the latter being a potent factor in vocational education for adults.
RETIREMENT OF TEACHERS IN MASSACHUSETTS.
The third annual report of the teachers' retirement board of Massa- chusetts 1 gives a brief account of the work of the board during the year ending December 31, 1916, showing the condition of the fund on that date and the estimates for the year ending November 30, 1917, together with a report of the board, as charged by the legislature of 1916, on the advisability of making provision in the law for the re- tirement of teachers permanently disabled. It appears from this report that 4,340 teachers entering the service of the public schools after July 1, 1914, when the system was established, have been en- rolled as members of the retirement associatioii and that 6,426 teachers who entered the service prior to that date have voluntarily joined. Taking account of 711 withdrawals among younger teachers, 1 Massachusetts, Third annual report of the teachers' retirement board for thé year
ending Dec. 31, 1916. Public Document 109. Boston, 1917. 20 pp.
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MONTHLY BEVIEW OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 153
306 among older teachers, and 82 deaths, the total membership on December 31, 1916, was 9,667.
The members of the retirement association are required to con- tribute monthly assessments to the annuity fund, and an account is kept for each member showing the amount contributed and the inter- est allowed thereon. During the year the income from members' deposits amounted to $375,919.85, almost $40,000 in excess of the de- posits received in 1915, and refunds to members withdrawing amounted to $32,066.91, almost $30,000 1 more than the refunds in the preceding year. The income was $358,570.83 in excess of the dis- bursements and the total assets on December 31, 1916, were $824,105.89.
The report states that during the year the board acted favorably on 242 applications for retirement allowances but that owing to deaths the number on the retirement list was reduced to 226, and calls attention to the fact that while 94 members attained the age of 60 and were therefore eligible to retire, only 7 made application for re- tirement allowances. A total of $76,151.35 was paid to retiring mem- bers, and the board estimates that for the year ending November 30, 1917, $96,000 will be needed for pensions.
In its investigation of the subject of disability allowances for pub- lic-school teachers and the need for legislation to this end, the board found (1) that the fundamental purpose of the teachers' retirement law, namely, to increase the efficiency of the schools, would be more completely realized by the incorporation in the law of a disability provision; (2) that the Massachusetts teachers' retirement law is practically alone among the large number of similar laws in this country in containing no provisions for disability; (3) that there is even more reason for having such a provision in the Massachusetts law than in other States, for the reason that under the provisions of the Massachusetts law most of the teachers are required to serve for a longer period before becoming eligible to receive a retiring allow- ance than is required under the provisions of the laws of other States; and (4) that the school authorities and school officials of the State are apparently unanimous in their belief that such legislation should be placed upon the statute books.
Accordingly the board has submitted a bill which provides that, subject to the approval of the retirement board, an employing school committee may retire a teacher who has served in the public schools of the State for 15 years or more, if on account of disability the teacher is incapable of rendering satisfactory service; that the dis- abled teacher shall receive an annuity to be derived from his or her
1This large Increase in the amount refunded is due to the fact that, by a change in the law, a member withdrawing from the service before paying six annual assessments to the annuity fund may receive the refund in one sum instead cf in four installments as originally provided. 1 1 *
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154 MONTHLY BEVIEW OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.
contribution^ the State to grant a pension dependent upon the number of years of service and the salary received by the teacher, etc. To take care of cases where a teacher recovers from the disability, the board may request thè reexamination of the teacher by a physician selected by the board, and, if the disability is found no longer to exist, shall cause the retirement allowance to cease.
EMPLOYMENT IN SELECTED INDUSTRIES IN MAY, 1917.
The bureau received reports from representative manufacturing establishments in 13 industries concerning volume of employment in the month of May, 1917. As set forth in the table below there was an increase in the number of people on the pay roll in 10 of the 13 industries in the month of May, 1917, as compared with May, 1916. The iron and steel industry shows an increase of 19.2 per cent which was the largest. There was an increase of 15.2 per cent in automobile manufacturing. Cotton manufacturing, the silk industry, and car building and repairing show a decrease in the number of people em- ployed. One cotton manufacturing establishment reported that 127 more men could be used^ and that paper mills, machine shops, and public service corporations were continually drawing its help away. - Every industry covered by the inquiry showed an increase in the amount of money paid to persons on the pay roll in May, 1917, as compared with the same month in 1916. The iron and steel indus- try reports the marked increase of 48.2 per cent. The figures also show that there was an increase of 31.6 per cent in automobile manu- facturing, COMPARISON OF EMPLOYMENT IN IDENTICAL ESTABLISHMENTS IN MAY, 1916, AND
MAY, 1917.
Estab- Estab- Number on pay Amount of pav lish- lish- roll in May- per roll in May- per monts ments cent of cePf 01 to report- Period increase
Industry. which ing of (+) cre^so inquir- for payroll. orde- ies May 1916 1917 crease 1916 1917 JJLJ* were both (-). ■ sent, years. ^
