School Superintendent Rejects Higher Pay to Remain in Kennewick
M. S. Lewis chooses community stability over a higher salary in Auburn, citing a duty to his contract.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
M. S. Lewis, for nine years superintendent of the Kennewick City schools, will continue in that capacity for another year at his present salary. Although Mr. Lewis was offered the superintendency of the Auburn schools at $300 more a year than he is currently paid, he did not request an increase or a release from his contract. He notified the board that he had refused the Auburn offer because he did not feel the difference in salary was commensurate with the difference in the towns, that he had signed up here for $1900 a year and felt it his duty to carry out his contract, and that he had come to look upon Kennewick as his home.
“He had come to look upon Kennewick as his home and believed that Kennewick and the Kennewick schools offered greater possibilities than does Auburn.”
Public education has always relied on the personal dedication of staff, often in the face of better offers elsewhere. This story highlights the perennial tension between professional advancement and institutional continuity in small-town school districts.
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