The profession of teaching would seem, at a first glance, to be overcrowded. School committees who are charged with the duty of selecting tutors are, it is said, overwhelmed with applicants for the positions that are to be filled. Young women are constantly striving to get places in academies, and the host of females who are seeking situations in the public schools of New York is, indeed, mighty. Notwithstanding this discouraging view, a thoroughly qualified teacher need seldom be without employment. The women who have had a solid systematic training in the English branches, and who, in addition to mere mental qualifications, have the knack, or genius, it might be called, of reaching the minds of the young, are very few. There are plenty of superficially educated young women who "take up" teaching as their profession. They are not thoroughly grounded in the very rudiments of knowledge; they have no knowledge of, or sympathy with, children; they go through their work in a purely mechanical spirit; and they are utterly unfitted, in every way, for the profession they have selected for themselves. The woman who makes teaching her profession must have real ability, and feel herself thoroughly adapted for the calling.
No woman, unless she has great "influence," can hope to obtain a position in the public schools of New York. The western part of our country seems to be a good field for well-qualified teachers, who must, however, be endowed with some courage.
The country is a good place for a young lady to begin work. Positions are more easily secured, and the qualifications required are not so great as in the city.
In the schools throughout the country the salaries of female teachers range from $300 to $1,200 a year. The smaller salary would be given in a country school; the higher salaries would be paid in the academies in the large towns, and in cities.
Teaching young children by the Kindergarten method has become very popular within the past few years, and there is quite a demand for the establishment of Kindergarten schools. In New York young ladies can learn this method of teaching in two schools; one a free school connected with a society devoted to "ethical culture," and a private school. The instruction given in the former is free, but the young women are expected to devote part of the day to the free scholars. This is an advantage, for it gives them a practical knowledge of the method. During the week there are three theoretical lessons, each lasting about two hours. So many are desirous of entering this institution, that it has been found necessary to have a competitive examination for the admission of candidates. In the private school the price of tuition is $200. In Boston there are twenty kindergartens, all carried on by a lady. The salary of the teachers there is $600. In private families teachers are paid from $400 to $600; there is a good demand for instructors in that quarter. The price obtained from scholars taught in a kindergarten school depends solely on how much they can afford to pay; probably $50 for the school year of nine months would be the average price.
The educational market is overstocked with teachers of languages. There are so many poor, broken-down foreigners in America who are perfectly competent to teach their respective languages, that there is a very small chance for home talent. A good teacher, in the city of New York, will receive $1 an hour; but there are some who will teach as low as 25 cents an hour, and there are others who, through their good address and social qualifications, will secure an entrance into fashionable society, and receive as high as $5 an hour for doing no better service than their poorer-paid sisters. In academies and schools a lady teaching French and German will receive her board and from $300 to $800 a year. She must have learned these languages abroad, and have the real foreign accent, or she cannot obtain employment at these rates. If she has obtained her knowledge in this country, the salary will be from $300 to $500.
Music is now so generally taught to children, that there is a good chance for competent female teachers of the art to obtain scholars. There is a wide range in the prices paid for tuition; some teachers receive only 50 cents a lesson, and some as high as $8. Those who receive the latter sum are women of very great ability, who train young ladies to become public performers. The terms depend almost altogether on the wealth of the teacher's patrons; among people in moderate circumstances she will receive moderate pay, while the rich will very often give twice the amount for the same service. The ability and reputation of the teacher will have much to do with her earnings.