Teachers Went Begging in Great Depression-- Part 6: "Mutilated Paychecks"

Hoping to restore confidence in its scrip, the school board issued "mutilated paychecks."  When banks refused to cash them, the board offered to trade scrip for the checks.  In a 1932 Tribune headline it said, "Teachers May Be Paid With N.S.F. Checks."  City officials even considered lobbying the state legislature to repeal the law against writing bad checks.  By then, the board owed employees $12.9 million.

There wasn't much the educators could do.  They lacked the ultimate weapon used by teachers today: a strike.  And, the school board let it be known they were not in favor of teacher unions.  In 1915, school board president Jacob Loeb had denounced the fledgling Chicago teachers Federation as a bunch of "lady labor sluggers."

--Cooter