$12 a year deducted from teachers' salaries; $6 a year from evening school-teachers receiving less than $50 a month; gifts and legacies, and not less than half of sums forfeited by absence from duty. A nonreducible fund of $50,000 is created by using 25 per cent of all moneys from these sources and all gifts specifically bequeathed for the purpose of increasing this permanent fund. The fund is administered by a commission consisting of the mayor, the school superintendent, and the county treasurer, who report biennially to the supervisors. There is a retirement committee of five teachers, one at least from primary and one from grammar grades, elected for three years. Term of teachers' service, thirty years, with thirty years' assessments. Amount of annuity, $50 a month; proportionate annuity to incapacitated teachers who have been contributors for at least five years. Annuity ceases on return to public schools, or when incapacity ceases, if annuitant has received a sum which reimbursed for contributions. Provision is made for pro-rating. Necessary expenses are paid from fund. Illinois. The law of 1895, amended in 1901, provides as follows: That the board of education in cities having a population exceeding 100,000 inhabitants shall have power, and it shall be the duty of said board, to create a public school teachers and public school employees' pension and retirement fund, and for that purpose shall set apart the following money, to wit: (1) An amount not exceeding one per cent per annum of the respective salaries paid to teachers and school employees elected by such board of education, which amount shall be deducted in equal installments from the said salaries at the regular time for the payment of such salaries; (2) all moneys received from donations, legacies, gifts, bequests, or otherwise, on account of said fund; (3) all moneys which may be derived from any and all sources: Provided, however, That no tax shall ever be levied for said fund; (4) any public school teacher or public school employee, a part of whose salary is now or may hereafter be set apart to provide for the fund herein created by this act, may be released from the necessities of making further payments to said fund by filing a written notice of his or her desire to withdraw from complying with the provisions of this act with said board of trustees, which said resignation shall operate and go into effect immediately upon its receipt by said board of trustees. In compliance with this law Chicago has a fund made up of gifts, legacies, and 1 per cent of salaries. It is administered by the board of education, two trustees elected by the contributors, and the superintendent of schools ex officio. Term of teachers' service, twenty years for women, twenty-five years for men; three-fifths of the service must have been within the municipality. Teachers may retire voluntarily, or be retired by the board of education on completing the term of service required. Amount of annuity is half salary, provided it does not exceed $600. It is optional with teachers to join the society. If the fund should prove insufficient to pay full annuity, the law provides for proportionate pro-rating of all annuities. Maryland. The law of 1902 reads as follows: Whenever any person in this State has taught in any of the public or normal schools thereof twenty-five years, and has reached the age of sixty years, and his or her record as such teacher has been without reproach, and by reason of physical or mental disability or infirmity is unable to teach longer, the said teacher may lay his or her case before the State board of education, and the said board shall proceed to consider the same, and if the facts are found as above stated the said teacher shall be placed upon a list, a record of which shall be kept by the said board, to be known as the "teachers' retired list," and the names upon said "teachers' retired list" shall be regularly certified by said board to the comptroller of the treasury of this State, and every person so placed upon the said "retired list" shall be entitled to receive a pension from this State of two hundred dollars per annum, to be paid quarterly by the treasurer of this State upon the warrant of the comptroller. This law was repealed and reenacted in 1906 with amendments providing that candidates for pensions must be without means for comfortable support," also must be recommended by board of county commissioners. Massachusetts.-An act of the general court of this State, approved April 17, 1900, to create a public school teachers' retirement fund in Boston, provides that there be a permanent and a general fund. The permanent fund is made up of gifts and legacies specially given to it and a sum part by the board of trustees. The general fund is made up of all gifts and legacies not specifically given to the permanent fund, together with the interest of the permanent fund and amounts retained for the purpose from teachers' salaries. The board of trustees consists of the superintendent of schools, ex officio, 3 female and 3 male teachers selected by teachers of Boston, and 4 members of the school committee, elected by that committee. All these trustees serve without compensation, but necessary expenses are paid. The city treasurer is custodian of the funds. The sum reserved from teachers' salaries is $3 each alternate month. The term of service is thirty years, ten in the Boston schools. The amount of annuities is determined by the board of trustees as the fund will allow. (The annuity for 1904 was $180, in monthly payments of $15 each.) Teachers incapacitated and discharged for such incapacity, having taught not less than two years in Boston, may be paid such annuity as the trustees determine and the fund will allow, provided that certificates are furnished by the attending physician and by a physician employed by the trustees, and the annuity ceases when incapacity ceases. All annuities are uniform in amount, except as provided in the next clause. No annuity is payable until a teacher shall have contributed $540 to the fund, a sum equal to the assessments for thirty years, except in cases of inability to contribute the full amount, where the board may make such payments as necessity shall require. Teachers who have contributed for more than two years may, on retiring without annuity, receive one-half of amount paid by them into the fund. The act is mandatory upon all teachers entering the service after it goes into effect, and upon such others as may elect to come under its provisions. Principals, supervisors, superintendents, and all regular instructors come under the head of teachers. Michigan. The public school teachers' retirement fund of Detroit consists of two funds, the permanent and the general. The permanent fund consists of (1) gifts, legacies, etc., designated for such fund; (2) moneys appropriated by the board of education or raised therefor by approval of common council and board of estimates; (3) tuition fees of nonresident pupils; (4) interest on daily balances of moneys appropriated for teachers' salaries; (5) moneys which trustees of retirement fund may transfer from the general fund. Interest on this fund shall be turned over to the general fund and used in payment of annuities. No portion of permanent fund shall be so used. The general fund consists of (1) assessments upon teachers' salaries, not less than 1 nor more than 3 per cent per annum. No deduction in form of assessment may be made on basis of more than $1,000; (2) income from interest of money in the permanent fund; (3) all moneys deducted from teachers' salaries for absence or any other cause; (4) all moneys intended for retirement fund and not already specified. The board of trustees consists of the president of the board of education, the president pro tempore of that board, the chairman of the committee on teachers, the superintendent of schools, and three teachers elected from contributors to the fund by ballot as board of trustees shall prescribe. Term, three years, one teacher elected each year. The funds are in the hands of the treasurer of the board of education. The amount assessed upon the salaries is determined by the board of education on recommendation of the board of trustees. In case of discontinuance of retirement fund all moneys appropriated therefor from funds of board of education (such as tuition fees of nonresident pupils, deductions for absence, interest on salary fund) shall revert to the teachers' salary fund. When the permanent fund shall have reached $100,000, no funds shall be added to it from deductions for absence or interest on salary fund except by a two-thirds vote of the board of education. Term of service for annuity, thirty years, of which twenty years must be in Detroit, or twenty-five years in schools of Detroit render a teacher eligible on application. Teachers incapacitated for duty, having taught twenty years, ten in Detroit, may be retired by two-thirds vote of the board of trustees. Teachers who resign or are removed for cause may apply after three months for such portion of money contributed by them as trustees shall direct to be paid, not to exceed one-half of their contributions. Annuities are not to exceed $250. Current expenses of the trustees are paid from the maintenance fund of the board of education. New Jersey. This State makes provision for the retirement of teachers in two laws. The one exclusively "providing for the pensioning of school-teachers" was amended to read as follows: Any teacher, principal, or superintendent who shall have been employed in the public schools of the State not less than thirty-five years shall, upon application to the board of education, or by resolution of the board of education having charge of the schools of the district in which such teacher, principal, or superintendent shall be employed, be retired from duty on half the average annual salary during the last five years of service: Provided, Such teacher, principal, or superintendent shall have been employed at least twenty years in the district in which he or she shall be retired. The body having charge of the finances of said district shall make provisions for and the board of education shall make such payments at the same time and in the same manner as to teachers regularly employed. Approved April 12, 1906. The other law is part of the general school law and consists of article 25 with amendments approved June 13, 1906, which read as follows: * * * * * Whenever any teacher shall have taught in the public schools for a period or periods aggregating twenty years or more, and shall have become incapacitated from earning a sufficient livelihood, such teacher shall, at his or her request, and on the approval of the aforesaid board of trustees, be retired as a teacher and shall receive an annuity out of the fund * equal to one-half of the average annual salary received by such teacher for the five years immediately preceding the time of retirement: Provided, however, That no annuity shall be less than two hundred and fifty dollars nor more than six hundred dollars; Provided further, That no annuity shall be paid unless the annuitant shall have first paid into said fund such sum or sums as shall make his or her total payments into such fund equal to at least the amount of his or her annuity for one year: Provided again, further, That under this provision the total payment of dues to the fund shall not in the case of any member exceed the sum of one thousand dollars. The retirement fund herein provided for shall be made up as follows: I. Two per centum of the contractual monthly salaries of all teachers who were or shall have been teachers ten years or less when they become entitled to an interest in said fund; Two and one-half per centum fifteen years of service; Three per centum * * * of teachers over ten years but less than of teachers over fifteen years of service: Provided, That no deduction from salary made shall exceed fifty dollars in any year for any teacher. II. One per centum of all annuities paid under the provisions of this article, which shall be deducted and withheld from each payment made to any annuitant. III. All moneys and property received by donation, legacy, gift, bequest, devise, or otherwise, for or on account of said fund. IV. All interest on investments and other moneys which may be duly and legally raised for the increase of said fund. "After ten years of operation the one per cent fee has been found inadequate. As a result of the fear that the annuities would have to be scaled down new members came in sparingly. The annual income of the fund in 1905 was only equal to the expenditure for annuities. In order to save the fund from bankruptcy, the legislature passed an amendment to the law which secures financial soundness by raising the fees and by providing that new teachers, after January, 1908, shall automatically become members, thus adding more than a thousand young teachers as members each year. The attorney-general has ruled that present members will participate in all income that may accrue from the new fees. The New Jersey law is claimed by its advocates to be the best yet devised in its safeguards, its financial soundness, and in the extensiveness of its application, since it benefits the teacher in the smallest country district as well as the city teacher." (New York School Journal.) New York. The law passed by the legislature in 1902, with reference to a retirement fund in Poughkeepsie, provides that the fund be composed of (1) "all money, pay, compensation, or salary, or any part thereof, forfeited, deducted, or withheld for or on account of absence from duty for any cause; (2) all moneys received from donations, legacies, gifts, bequests; (3) 2 per cent of the salaries paid each month." The law creating a retirement fund in Greater New York designates as sources of this fund (1) money forfeited or withheld for absence from duty; (2) moneys received from donations, legacies, gifts; (3) 5 per cent annually of all excise moneys or fees from licenses granted to sell strong or spirituous liquors. Nothing is said of a regular contribution on the part of the teachers. The amount of annuity is fixed at one-half of the teacher's salary at the date of retirement, provided it does not exceed $1,000 in the case of a teacher and $1,500 in the case of a principal or superintendent, nor shall any annuity fall below $600. The fund is invested by the city controller and administered by the board of education. The term of service is thirty years, twenty of which in New York City. Teachers are retired for physical or mental incapacity on recommendation of the superintendent and two-thirds vote of the board of education. Any teacher sixty-five years of age, having taught thirty years, twenty in the city, may be retired at discretion of the board. The law has been amended to include normal college and supervisors in institutions controlled by departments of public charities and correction. Term of service necessary for normal teachers, ten years in New York, thirty years' aggregate service. The board has power to use both principal and income of fund. In April, 1905, the fund of Manhattan and Bronx amounted to $160,744; annuities paid up to that date amount to $335,950. Ohio. The law passed in May, 1902, by the legislature of Ohio amends the law which authorized the cities of Cincinnati and Cleveland to maintain pension funds for teachers, and extends the benefits of such funds over all school districts of the State; that is to say, the school authorities of a district are granted the right to create a fund and retire teachers, but the act does not make it mandatory upon them. The fund is obtained by withholding $2 each month, or $20 a year, from the salaries of teachers who have declared their desire to become contributors and subsequently beneficiaries of the fund. This is the voluntary feature of the act mentioned before. (See p. 215.) The authorities may retire a teacher from service on account of mental or physical disability and apply the pension provisions after twenty years of service, provided three-fifths of that time have been spent in the service of the district or county and twofifths of that time in other parts of the State or elsewhere. The term "teacher" includes principals and supervisory officers. The right to retire voluntarily and become a beneficiary is granted for both women and men teachers alike, aiter they have taught thirty years, with the same proviso as before. The amount of the pensions paid is $10 a year for every year served, but in no case more than $500 a year. Both principal and income of the fund may be drawn upon to pay the pensions. The teachers are to receive certificates monthly showing what amount has been withheld from their salaries. In case a teacher resigns from the profession she may claim onehalf of the sum she paid into the fund during her service in school. The act is explicit on the question as to who may serve as custodian of the fund, how it is to be invested, and on other details. The new school code of Ohio, passed April 25, 1904, contains the following provisions: Any board which has created, or shall hereafter create, a teachers' pension fund shall pay into such fund all deductions, fines, penalties, and assessments made against teachers or other employees of the board. Such board may also pay to such pension fund, out of the contingent fund, not to exceed 2 per cent of the amount raised by the board from taxation. Pennsylvania.-In Philadelphia the administration of the retirement fund is in the hands of a board consisting of the president of the board of education, two other members of that board, one member of the department of superintendence, and one teacher chosen by the members. The funds are derived from teachers' contributions and a similar annual sum up to $50,000 contributed by the board of education. During the first ten years of service teachers contribute one per cent of their salaries, after that two per cent. Full annuity is equal to half the salary at date of retirement, but must not exceed $800 per annum at present. Rhode Island.-Annuity funds are authorized by the legislature for the city of Providence. South Carolina.-Charleston has a retirement fund composed of one per cent of salaries. Annuity must not exceed $250, and is only given to teachers whose circumstances are such as to make it imperative that outside aid be given them. General remarks.-The provision to withhold a percentage of all the teachers' salaries and pay it into the annuity fund was abandoned after the teachers of Toledo had fought it successfully in the supreme court of Ohio. A similar provision was declared unconstitutional in Minnesota as regards Minneapolis. In Chicago the coercive feature first adopted was eliminated, and membership in the retirement societies in Chicago and everywhere else is now voluntary where assessments are required. In States and cities where the law provides for public authorities to administer a teachers' retirement fund, the associations for temporary aid and annuity are gradually closing up their business or merging their interest with the fund created by law. This has been the result in Europe, and naturally will be the result here. REQUIREMENTS AS TO VACCINATION OF SCHOOL CHILDREN IN CERTAIN CITIES. City. Baltimore, Md. Cambridge, Mass.. Detroit, Mich.. Haverhill, Mass. Louisville, Ky. New Bedford, Mass.. New Orleans, La.. Newton, Mass. New York, N. Y Regulation. Vaccination or other protection against small- Physician's certificate of successful vaccina- Certificate of successful vaccination required... Satisfactory evidence of vaccination or other No unvaccinated child admitted to the schools Physician's certificate or other satisfactory evi-Rules, 1902, Chap. V, sec. 10. dence of vaccination unless child is unfit for same. Physician's certificate of successful vaccina- By-laws (amended to Jan. 27, 1904), sec. 46, arts. 1 and 2, and sec. 122, art. 2. |