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Florida MIAMI, Fla. LORIDA’S preparation for the Su preme Court decision in the five school segregation cases, prior to May 17, was confined to stocktaking and discussions on the philosophical level among state school officials and cer tain planning groups. There was no talk in the legisla ture, which met last in the summer of 1953, of any possible legal device to meet the situation, should the rul ing hold segregation in the public schools unconstitutional. Legislators say it was not dis cussed, even in the lobbies and hotel rooms. The question never became a political issue. The lack of concern had roots in two principal factors. Florida’s big gest problems arise from growth. The population has been increasing for some time at the rate of 10 per cent a year, and a majority of new cit izens come from northern states. This constant need for more schools, more teachers, more facilities of ev ery kind dominates the thinking of educators and legislators. Another cause was the passage in 1947 of a Minimum Foundation Pro gram law which states that “The Leg islature finds and declares that sub stantially equal public educational advantages shall obtain in all coun ties of the state; that such equality does not now exist.” STATE AID SYSTEM State aid, by this law, goes to counties in proportion to need. Standards were set regardless of race or geographical location, rural or urban. Result was that the stand ards of Negro education improved vastly more in proportion. For example, while capital outlay per pupil enrolled was $2.35 for Ne groes and $7.24 for whites in 1946-47, before passage of the law, it became $68.78 for Negroes and $59.84 for whites in 1952. Average salaries for teachers, in cluding principals, were $1,487 for MACON, Ga. ANTICIPATION of an eventual U.S. Supreme Court decision on segregation in the public schools and the knowledge that the ruling would have great impact on the state had laid close to the hearts and minds of all Georgians, white and colored, for several years. But when the high court degree was announced on May 17, it found all of Georgia’s important state gov ernment officials and a great number of Georgia’s white citizens totally unprepared to accept or to follow the Supreme Court decision outlawing segregation in the public schools. Georgia’s pre-decision strategy to preserve segregation has been based upon the “separate but equal” con cept. Realizing the schools were sep arate but not equal, the state legisla ture in 1951 enacted into law a three per cent retail sales tax to finance a Minimum Foundation Program for Education advocated by Georgia school teachers and school adminis trators. The MFPE increased the salaries of all teachers and equated the pay of white and Negro teachers. It also pro vided numerous other benefits to ed ucation with the colored schools Jointly sharing in the increased state revenue. Funds from the state treas ury were distributed to the individ ual school systems under a formula which had as its basic consideration the amount of help given the schools locally. In 1952, the State School Building Authority was created by the state X legislature. Bonds were sold to ob- (r, ~n money to build needed educa tional plans in various systems, al- Enough the bond obligations were not considered as debts of the state. The idea was that a great amount °t money was needed quickly for many urban and rural, and white and Negroes and $2,069 for whites in 1946-47. For 1952-53 they were $3,166 for Negroes and $3,393 for whites. Florida’s school system leaves a great deal of responsibility to the county boards. But the Minimum Foundation aid program (152 million dollars for the current biennium) gives the state a great influence which it exerts to raise standards. Admission policies and other ad ministrative matters are in the hands of the elected county boards, and on them will fall the responsibility for carrying out the implementation of the Supreme Court’s ruling. Counties have elected superin tendents, who have full executive au thority, and boards which make pol icy. In many fields, boards cannot initiate action without a recommen dation from the superintendent. Counties also have school trustees, who have custody of the school prop erty and must initially approve the appointment of teacher and adminis trative personnel. In 1950, Florida citizens had a per capita income of $1,201 and a total income of $3,387,000,000. School ex penditures that year were 95 million dollars, or 2.8 per cent of income. In 1952 there were 344,319 white and 112,524 Negro school children. This was a gain of 44.1 per cent for white pupils since 1940, while the Ne gro school population increased 29.3 per cent. With this increase went an upward spiral in per pupil expenditures. In 1940, these were $62.78 for white and $27.36 for Negro children. In 1952, this had become $195.01 for white and $153.24 for Negro children. The gain for white pupils was 44 per cent while expenditures for Negro children in creased 79 per cent. REACTION TO DECISION The decision on May 17 caused very little apparent reaction. Although a heated gubernatorial primary was in its final stages, there was no attempt Negro schools in the rush toward equalization. Provisions cutting off state finan cial help for any schools which mixed the races were already in the State Constitution and in the Appropria tions Act, but the General Assembly of Georgia in late 1953 took further steps to prevent integration in event the Supreme Court outlawed segre gation. COMMISSION CREATED A resolution passed by the State Legislature created a Commission on Education to study and make plans for the state to provide adequate ed ucation consistent with both the state and federal constitutions. The gov ernor was to serve as chairman. The state superintendent of schools, va rious other important state officials, educators, attorneys and private cit izens were named to the commission. The legislature also passed a pro posed state constitutional amendment which would allow the General As sembly to provide for grants of state, county or municipal funds to citizens of the state for educational purposes, in discharge of all obligations of the state to provide education for its cit izens. This was widely interpreted and labeled as a “private school plan.” It was opposed by some legislators, some Georgia newspapers and, among others, such organizations as the State PTA Congress, the Georgia Ed ucation Association, the Georgia Fed eration of Labor, the Georgia League of Women Voters and the directors of the United Church Women of Geor gia. The fate of the proposed constitu tional amendment will be decided in the general election in November. In Georgia the State Board of Edu cation has only supervisory and ad to make this an issue. Acting Gov. Charley E. Johns said he saw no ne cessity for calling the legislature into extra session. The next regular as sembly is in May, 1955. Discussion in the state cabinet was confined to the form of the brief which Atty. Gen. Richard W. Ervin would file in re sponse to the Supreme Court’s invi tation for suggestions on implement ing the decision. One of the first official reactions came from the Continuing Education Council, a quasi-public body of busi ness and professional people set up to advise on procedure on the ques tion of integration. At a meeting attended by Atty. Gen. Ervin, State School Superin tendent Thomas D. Bailey, and lead ers of the House and Senate, the Council agreed to do everything le gally possible to put off integration in public schools. But it declared that a strong school system must be maintained for every child, regardless of race or locality, and said that any attempt to do away with the public school system to cir cumvent the Supreme Court decision was unthinkable. NO ISSUE IN PRIMARY Though segregation was no issue in the decisive Democratic primary, J. Tom Watson, former attorney gen eral who switched to the Republican party and is now seeking the gover norship, has been opposing integra tion. If elected, he said, he would do everything possible to “preserve ra cial segregation in our schools.” Late in August, an attorney for the NAACP announced in Miami that test cases probably would be made in larger Florida counties for admission of Negro children to white schools at the beginning of the 1954 school year. This brought a rejoinder from state school officials that segregation is still the law in Florida until the Supreme Court implements its decision. Dade County (Miami) officials said flatly that if Negro children sought to en ter white schools this September they would be turned away. In a formal statement two days la ter, NAACP officials said they were planning no drastic action and would visory powers. Local boards may hire the teachers they desire. The state board sets the salaries and the State Department of Education organizes the curriculum and the supervisory and administrative program. Local boards can supplement teacher sal aries or adjust qualifications to meet local conditions. Free textbooks available are listed by the state board although local boards may use unlisted textbooks so long as local money is used in the purchase. One restriction on local boards, re cently cited in a ruling of the attor ney general of Georgia, is that local boards cannot employ teachers who are not recommended by local super intendents of schools. Georgia has an estimated 13,259 white teachers with degrees and an estimated 6,323 Negro teachers with degrees this year, according to a re port from the governor to the mem bers of the General Assembly. There are 150 county and 43 inde pendent school systems in the state, a total of 202. Of the school boards op erating these systems, two are self- perpetuating, 16 are elected and oth ers are named entirely or in part by grand juries. There are four Negroes who are members of public school boards in Georgia. One each has been elected to the Atlanta and Augusta boards and two have been appointed by the City Commission to serve on the Gainesville board. State help is parcelled out in ac- cardance with the ability of local committees to support their schools. A little more than 11 million dol lars is received annually in federal funds in Georgia, according to Dr. M. D. Collins, State Superintendent of Schools. It is divided this way: lunchroom, $2,500,000; vocational ag riculture, $6,500,000; vocational re habilitation, a little more than $2,- 000,000. Some systems in war impact areas receive federal money for school building purposes. In 1950, Georgia’s per capita in SOUTHERN SCHOOL work for “social transition without social disorganization.” Court action would be taken before the Supreme Court’s final decision only if “abso lutely necessary.” SURVEY CONDUCTED In June the state cabinet decided to conduct an extensive survey of opinion on the issue in 12 “guineapig” counties, including a range in size, wealth and location. A sum of $10,000 was appropriated and faculty mem bers of Florida State University and the University of Miami were selected to conduct the study. Trained researchers sent out 7,749 questionnaires to peace officers, school principals and supervisors, PTA leaders, editors and radio and tele vision station managers, county and school officials, legislators, and min isters. Returns exceeded 50 per cent. A large number of key people, of ficial and lay, in each of the test counties, were interviewed person ally. Anonymity was protected. Results were announced late in August. Summarized, the findings were: Approximatey one-fourth of the white leaders polled agree, in princi ple, with the decision. There is, on the other hand, a minority who vio lently disagree with the decision to the extent that they would refuse to cooperate in any move to end segre gation, or would actively oppose such a move. A large majority of Negro leaders acclaim the decision as being right. Only a small majority of leaders of both races advocate immediate, com plete desegregation. White leaders, if they accept the idea that segregation should be ended, tend to advocate a very gradual, indefinite transition period, with a preparatory period of education. There are definite variations be tween regions, counties, communities and sections of communities. While a minority of both white and Negro leaders expect serious violence to occur if desegregation is attempted, there is a widespread lack of confi dence in the ability of peace officers to maintain law and order if serious violence does start. This is especially true of the peace officers themselves. come was $967; her total income $3,336,000,000. A total of 88.9 mil lions of dollars was spent on schools in 1950; a percentage of 2.6 of the total state income. HEAVY OUTLAY According to Gov. Herman Tal- madge, the state’s outlay for educa tion in the 1953-54 fiscal year, count ing teacher retirement and. the Uni versity System, was $115,400,438, or 53 per cent of the state government’s revenue. Gov. Talmadge claims no other state is supporting its schools and colleges at a higher level based upon its income and no other south eastern state comes within 10 per cent of it. Georgia had 429,951 white school children and 207,578 Negro (32.2%) in 1952. This represented a 12.8 per cent increase in white and 2.5 per cent increase in Negro school chil dren since 1940. Dr. Collins estimates 875,000 pupils will attend Georgia’s public schools this fall and approxi mately one-third of these will be col ored. Educational expenditures per white pupil in Georgia in 1952 averaged $163.76, compared with $46.70 in 1940. Expenditures per colored pupil in Georgia in 1952 averaged $110.59, compared with $14.61 in 1940. Fourteen years ago, 31 per cent of what was being spent on each white pupil in the state was being expend ed for each Negro child. In 1952, the Negro student received an average of 68 per cent of the average amount spent on a white student. The average annual salaries of classroom teachers is indicative of the educational effort made through increased financial help in Georgia. In 1940, white teachers averaged $863 annually; Negro teachers, $390. In 1952, the figure for whites was $2,599; for Negroes, $2,410. The average an nual salary for all teachers in the 1953-54 school year was $2,820, ac cording to the Governor. In the middle of this accelerated effort for education, the Supreme Court decision outlawing segregation dropped with a bombshell effect It Georgia NEWS—Sept. 3, 1954—PAGE 5 Yet it is pointed out on the basis of experience, the report adds, that accomplishment of efficient desegre gation with a minimum of social dis turbance depends on: A. A clear and unequivocal state ment of policy by leaders with pres tige and other authorities; B. Firm enforcement of the changed policy by authorities and persistence in the execution of this policy in the face of initial resist ance; C. A willingness to deal with vio lations, attempted violations, and in citement to violations by a resort to the law and strong enforcement action; D. A refusal of the authorities to resort to, engage in or tolerate sub terfuges, gerrymandering or other devices for evading the principles and the fact of desegregation; E. An appeal to the individuals concerned in terms of their religious principles of brotherhood and then- acceptance of the American tradi tions of fair play and equal justice. OTHER FINDINGS Further summarizing, the report pointed out that: Elected officials, county and school, also show a high degree of opposi tion to desegregation. There is a strong likelihood that many white children will be with drawn from public schools by their parents and entered in private schools. It is evident that a vast area of misunderstanding as to each other’s feelings about desegregation exists between the races. Although relatively few Negro leaders and teachers show concern about the problem, white answers in dicate that Negro teachers would en counter great difficulty in obtaining employment in mixed schools. The report concludes: In view of white feelings that imme diate desegregation would not work and that to require it would constitute a ne gation of local autonomy, it may be pos tulated that the chances of developing firm official and perhaps public support for any program of desegregation would be maximized by a decree which would create the feeling that the court recog nizes local problems and will allow grad ual transition with some degree of local determination brought immediate defiance from Georgia’s chief executive. Gov. Talmadge declared that Geor gians would not accept racially mixed schools and Atty. Gen. Eugene Cook declared Georgia would not be represented at the Supreme Court sessions to argue implementation procedures this fall. Cook argued, and the governor backed him up, that to do so would make Georgia a legal party to the instructions which would be issued. The high court ruling built a fire under an already hot Georgia gu bernatorial campaign. Nine candi dates have qualified for the post of chief executive in the Sept. 8 Dem ocratic primary, tantamount to elec tion. All of the candidates except one, an Atlanta woman lawyer, have an nounced in favor of segregated schools. The lone dissenter advocates compliance with the Supreme Court decision. The candidates all have a plan or plans or a combination of plans to avoid segregation. The plans, as ad vocated by the candidates, include: Enforcement of segregation in the schools at the local level. Proposing a federal constitutional amendment granting states the rights to control their schools. Giving students a choice as to whether they wish to attend all- white, all-Negro or integrated schools and arranging of psychiatric tests for those indicating a preference for in tegrated schools. Assignment by each school super intendent of individual schools on the basis of aptitude, environment, prox imity to school and other factors so as to effectively separate white and colored, but not alone on a basis of color. Setting up 100-member school boards in each system to assign stu dents to specific schools. Moving all Negroes out of Geor gia, setting up employment agencies throughout the nation to find jobs for Georgia colored citizens. Abolishment of the U.S. Supreme Court