Miss NORTON. In some cases, and in some cases that is paid for out of a fund of that center which is made up by proceeds from entertainments and by various other ways. Mr. CRAMTON. Paid for by the public? Miss NORTON. Yes, sir; by the people who get the benefit. Mr. CRAMTON. How are those instructors chosen who give courses in French, Spanish, etc.? Miss NORTON. They apply to the central office, and are employed by the community secretary if we approve of the people who apply. Mr. CRAMTON. Is it the practice of your office to engage these instructors with a view to some general policy you are carrying out as to what courses shall be given, or is it the policy to permit anybody who may have excellent credentials and be well qualified, but who desires to sell something, to take advantage of this organization to put their goods on the market? In other words, is it the policy to permit your school buildings to be used, with free light and fuel and janitor service, and to permit your organization to be used, and your advertising, in the private business of those who would teach Spanish, French, etc.? Miss NORTON. I might say that we do not take anybody whom we do not want. Of course we always want the best. Mr. CRAMTON. For instance, here is a circular that was sent out, stating that Madamoiselle Le Clerc announces to the residents of Chevy Chase and vicinity-this is not from your office? Miss NORTON. But I know about that. Mr. CRAMTON. She announces to the residents of Chevy Chase and the vicinity that she will take classes for the study of the French language, beginning on the 5th of October, at the following rate in classes of 10: $2 a month, paid in advance, and she refers to people who probably know her qualifications. Then, again, there was another circular sent out on the teaching of imagination, poise, flexibility, and power of self-repression at the E. V. Brown School, Chevy Chase, $10 for 15 lessons. This latter circular does bear the name of the community center, but in the other case that is not true. In this case a private individual is advertising to sell her wares and use the public-school building, free of rent, for that purpose. Miss NORTON. I know about that case, Mr. Cramton, and I would like to say that it was entirely against the rules of the department, and it was a case which I had to take up with the executive committee of the E. V. Brown Center and have adjusted. That is positively against the rules. There was a change in community secretaries, however, at that center beginning July 1. How this teacher was able to put out that circular without permission of the community secretary I do not know, but she did it. At any rate, we did have an executive committee meeting for that purpose, and the teacher was informed that it was entirely out of order, and a new arrangement was made with her whereby she was hired by the community center. Mr. CRAMTON. What is the arrangement, does she get her $10? Miss NORTON. Those circulars had been sent out, and so they let the circular stand, because it had gone out for the first period of lessons. She was also made to pay a certain part of that into the general fund of the center, and after that many lessons are finished she is to get a stipulated sum for her work. That sort of thing is positively forbidden. OFFICE SALARIES. Mr. CRAMTON. What would be the effect on the community-center work of the District if instead of this provision being 60 per cent or 61 per cent-what is the amount of salaries in your office? Miss NORTON. You mean the central office? Mr. CRAMTON. Outside of these community secretaries. Miss NORTON. There are five people in the central office, the general secretary—that is myself-one white assistant, one colored associate, a colored supervisor, and one stenographer. Mr. CRAMTON. What is the total? Miss NORTON. The total is $6,500. That includes clerical help-Mr. CRAMTON (interposing). If this amount was cut from $35.000 to $20,000, of which $6,500 might be used for the general office, what would be the effect on the community center work of Washington? Miss NORTON. I could not say, Mr. Chairman, but I do not believe the activities of the buildings would be systematically or properly conducted without some one in charge from the board of education. Mr. CRAMTON. You have the Wilson Normal Center, which is well established. Now that the thing is well established there, do you think the people of that community have not enough spirit to pay the salaries of the people that are now being paid by public funds. Miss NORTON. They even have discussions among themselves over which rooms they shall use. Mr. CRAMTON. It is always true that that which costs people nothing is least appreciated, and I can well imagine that since the people of that community pay nothing for the use of that splendid building and the free janitor service and everything else that they get thereI can well appreciate that they have no appreciation of it; but if they found that they had to contribute at least in part they might appreciate the liberality of the District in opening up such a building. Miss NORTON. They do not pay for their maid service, checkers, music, and the other things that go to make up the work of that center. They are paying more than the people of other cities are paying for their work. Mr. CRAMTON. I do not care about other cities. There are fads galore and they can grow up in other cities as they grow up here. The question is what we ought to do here. Miss NORTON. I can only say that we are following the same general trend of development, except that we are not paying as much. CONTRIBUTIONS. Mr. CRAMTON. What substantial interest has any responsible Washington organization shown in your work? I think they have here a chamber of commerce and a board of trade and a city club. There are quite a lot of organizations. There is a real estate organization that is a very effective organization. What do any of them do substantially toward aiding such a movement as this? Miss NORTON. The chief help we have had has been mainly from the local citizens' associations, which in many cases have their meetings in the same buildings. They have given us some money for clerical help when we had none, and some money for getting furniture for some of our rooms in the centers. Mr. CRAMTON. What about these large, important city organizations that correspond to the chamber of commerce in Flint? Miss NORTON. The Kiwanis Club gave us some stage furnishings that cost $450. The board of trade and the chamber of commerce have not given us any money. I have asked some of the officers whom I know very well, and they have indorsed our work very heartily, but they say that have not the same amount in their treasuries as the board of trade in Flint has. Mr. CRAMTON. If you will pardon me for being inconsistent a moment, let us compare this city with the city of Flint, which is a city of about 105,000, and which has a problem of growth much more intense than this city has. Miss NORTON. Yes, sir. Mr. CRAMTON. Because it has trebled in population in 10 years and probably will again in the next 10 years. And yet with all their difficult problems, in the smaller city they were able to finance that work to the extent of $50,000. Miss NORTON. Yes, sir. Mr. CRAMTON. If you were to address one of these thriving city organizations here and ask them to give $50,000 or $60,000 for your work, how many deaths would be there among those present? Miss NORTON. They say they have not got the money, Mr. Cramton. They tell me that the people who really have money are not regular residents of Washington and do not spend their money here, and that the Government clerks can not afford to spend much. Mr. CRAMTON. They will probably tell you that those people who have much money here are largely the people who should be paying taxes in Michigan and elsewhere and who came here because of the low tax rate, but they do not contribute much in any other way. Miss NORTON. That is what they say. MOTOR MAINTENANCE. Mr. CRAMTON. There is one other question I want to ask you in regard to the item for motor maintenance, amounting to $600. What does that cover? Miss NORTON. That covers repairs and upkeep for one automobile which goes all day and nearly every night. Mr. CRAMTON. It is a motor furnished by us? Miss NORTON. Yes, sir; it is a Ford car. Mr. CRAMTON. I notice in many cases here, for instance for the superintendent's automobile, the assistant superintendent's automobile, and the cabinetmaker's automobile and others, the amount is $420 a year for automobiles furnished by them. Miss NORTON. Yes, sir. Mr. CRAMTON. Is this the only case in the board of education where the automobile is owned by the Government? Miss NORTON. Yes, sir. Mr. CRAMTON. It is the only case where, having furnished the automobile, we pay over $420 a year for its maintenance? SALARIES PAID IN OTHER CITIES. Miss NORTON. Yes, sir. Now, Mr. Chairman, may I speak a moment about these rates of pay in other cities, if the committee will allow me. I want to call the attention of the committee to the fact that the position underlined corresponds to what is known as the community secretary in Washington. STATEMENT OF RATES OF PAY OF COMMUNITY CENTER WORKERS IN CITIES OTHER THAN WASHINGTON. NOTE. Position underlined corresponds to that of community secretary in Washington. All of these cities except New York were visited last June by the general secretary of community centers of the District of Columbia. Cleveland, Ohio: Supervisor, $4.80 per evening; teachers of dramatics, social dancing, athletics, etc., from $3 to $4.80 per evening. Detroit, Mich. : Supervisors, $2,200 to $2,400 per annum; play leaders, $1,700 to $1,980 per annum. Flint, Mich. : Part of the funds for community work are supplied by the board of education and part by the board of commerce. Musical director, $6,000 per annum. This director is in charge of high-school music work and community music. The board of education pays $4,500 of his salary and the board of commerce $1,500. Song leaders, per period, $2.50; pianists for community sings (half hour), $2; pianists, per rehearsal (one hour), $3. Chicago public-school community centers: Director, $4,500 per annum; assistant director, $3.000 per annum; secretary to director, $2,200 (corresponds to position of business manager or organizer); stenographer, $1,800; principal, first year, $6 per evening; second year, $7 per evening; instructors of music, $3 to $3.50 per evening; pianists, $3.50 per evening; dramatic directors, $5 per evening. Chicago South Parks System: Superintendent, $4.800 per annum; assistant superintendent, $2,700; stenographer, $1,560; director of a recreation center, $2,100; instructors, $1,440 to $1,620. Milwaukee, Wis.: Assistant superintendent in charge of extension department, $3,480; supervisor of clubs and social activities, $2,380; director of a center, $4 per evening; teachers, $2 to $3 per evening; clerk to director, $1.50 per evening. Cleveland, Ohio: Supervisors, $4, $4.50, and $5 per evening. NOTE. Schedule for this season just received this morning. New York: Principals, $5.20 per evening. Mr. DAVIS. In Detroit, Mich., I notice they have what they call play leaders. Miss NORTON. Yes. Their work is under the recreation commission. It does not come under the school board. In Cleveland, where the work is a part of the work of the board of education, they pay supervisors $4.80 per evening. That is what they paid last year. Since then they have advanced the pay to $5. In Detroit, under the recreation commission, they have all full-time salaries, and they pay the people who go about from center to center to visit from $2,200 to $2,400, and the play leaders are paid from $1,700 to $1,980. In Chicago, I would like to have the committee note, as appears at the top of page 2, that the person corresponding to the community secretary is the principal of the center. During the first year those people are paid $6 per evening to supervise and organize the work, and during the second year they are paid $7 per evening. In addition to that, they pay their dramatic instructors $5 per evening and their instructors of music from $3 to $3.50 per evening, and their pianists $3.50 per evening, all from public funds. In Milwaukee they pay $4 per evening to the director of a center. SALARIES OF SECRETARIES. Mr. BUCHANAN. Miss Norton, this being a lump-sum appropriation you have the authority, as the law now stands, to raise salaries as you see fit? Miss NORTON. I think so. Mr. BUCHANAN. Will you put in your testimony a concise statement in reference to this matter, showing that you have so many secretaries of centers at $1,200 each, starting with those and setting out the various salaries that are paid, including all of the employees that are paid out of this fund. Miss NORTON. That is for the present year? Mr. BUCHANAN. For the present year. Then you might add to that, if you desire, a statement showing what you want to pay them next year, so that both of those statements will be before the committee in concise form. Miss NORTON. Yes, sir; I will be glad to do that. (The statement referred to is as follows:) Supervisor for colored centers, half time, Oct. 1 to June 30 (work in central office and in centers).. General secretary (work in central office and in centers). Clerk (central office).. 1,200.00 450.00 1,200.00 . White centers (9): Central High School (general civic center) executive secretary, also for work with Federal departments and publicity for all centers.. Wilson Normal (full time). Thomson (full time)... 1,200.00 1,400.00 East Washington (full time). 1,200.00 1,400.00 Birney (2 nights), assistant community secretary. Johnson-Powell (full time). Park View (half time), community secretary. Park View (half time), assistant community secretary. Elizabeth V. Brown (2 nights). Southeast (Tyler) (2 nights).. Petworth Birney (2 nights), community secretary. Garnet-Phelps (2 nights). Miner Normal (2 nights). Randall (1 night).. West Washington (Phillips) (1 night). Lovejoy (1 night).. Burrville (1 night). Deanwood (1 night).. Clerk assigned for service in larger centers.. Assistant to executive secretary, general civic center (white) (fourth time). Assistant to executive secretary, Dunbar general civic center (colored) (fourth time)... For allowing additional evenings (2) where growth justifies increase.. 300.00 1,200.00 450.00 Total for secretaries, organizers, teachers, clerks for year ending June 30, NOTE.-Full time centers are 6 nights or 5 nights and 2 afternoons per week. General civic center (Central High School), 1 janitor, 1 engineer, 1 East Washington (Eastern High School), 1 janitor, 2 laborers-partly paid from night-school funds____ $787.77 1,778. 01 960. 00 919. 34 |