CONGRESS OF PARENTS AND TEACHERS, INC. 503

pear. The exigencies of modern education require greater resources
than the states can supply and have reduced popular objections.
Above all, domestic and foreign conditions dictate that if we are to
maintain freedom and justice at home and abroad, we must support
the best educational system possible. During the present fiscal year
the Federal government will invest more than $5. 7 billion to sub-
sidize a complete spectrum of educational services ranging from day
care programs for the toddler to adult education for the senior citizen.
Last year Maryland received over $38 million in Federal funds for
education.

State and local governments, educators, administrators, and citizens
must recognize and reckon with the increased Federal resources. Prop-
er capitalization is imperative to make this weight count. We can
and must channel Federal resources effectively and creatively to pro-
duce even greater diversity, vitality and enrichment within our public
school system.

The fourth and fundamentally most important weight is our in-
creased teachers' salaries. Competitive compensation is essential to
recruit our brightest young scholars, to retain and reward our best
teachers. Appreciation of Maryland's progress in this area requires
an examination of both the dollar rise in wages and our State's rela-
tive rank among the fifty. Twenty years ago, in the 1947-48 fiscal year,
Maryland's average annual teacher's salary was only $3200, but this
was the third highest in the nation. A decade ago, in the 1957-58
fiscal year, the annual average salary for teachers was $4862, yet our
national competitive status had slipped to the ninth position. During
the past fiscal year of 1966-67, the average salary climbed to $7308,
but again our national stature declined so that we ranked twelfth.
This meant that in two decades, while our wages more than doubled,
our competitive rank decline had quadrupled.

Fiscal reform has reversed this pattern. Although final tabulations
for the 1967-68 fiscal year are not complete, the M. S. T. A. estimates
the average teacher's salary will be within the range of $7800 to $8000.
This will restore Maryland's national standing to seventh at the least
and possibly fifth. In a single year a new administration and a newly
apportioned Legislature have enabled Maryland to recover its high
rank. We have endeavored to recognize our teachers' right to realize
monetary as well as psychological rewards and this recognition re-
flected on the national scale should attract and retain more well
qualified teachers for Maryland.