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SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS —Oct. I, 1954—PAGE 15 Arizona PHOENIX, Ariz. he United States Supreme Court decision on segregation in May, 1954, found a permissive segregation law in the Arizona statutes. However, the Arizona law had been held un constitutional by two superior court judges, and it was generally felt that it could not survive a state supreme court test, if one were made. There was no noticeable demand to make one. In 1953, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Fred S. Sturckeyer Jr. held that college and high school students could not be segregated. Early in 1954, Maricopa County Su perior Court Judge Charles C. Bern stein held the same way in regard to grade schools. Both judges, who hold court in the state capital of Phoenix, ruled that separation itself was a form of inequality, and hence denied the “separate but equal” doc trine. On May 7, 1954, the superior court judges’ ruling was given teeth by Maricopa County Attorney William P. Mahoney, who warned school boards that they could not legally appropriate public funds for purposes of segregation. “During the past year,” said Ma honey in a letter to the county’s vari ous school boards, “superior court judges have held that segregation of pupils in our schools by reason of color is not authorized by our consti tution or by our statutes, and as a result school boards do not have the power to segregate pupils because of racial differences.” He added: It is a familiar principle of law that a school district may engage only in those activities which are authorized by law and that they hold school funds in a trust capacity for legally authorized purposes. The two decisions, in effect, hold that expenditures for racially segregated fa cilities are for a purpose no longer au thorized by the law of Arizona, and we feel that this pertains not only to ex penditures for construction, but to those for maintenance of existing facilities. As your attorneys, we feel that it is in cumbent upon this office to bring this sit uation to your attention as you begin the SANTA FE, New Mex. acial integration in New Mexico’s public schools has been accom plished “in a quiet, orderly manner,” according to State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Wiley. The last three New Mexico communities practicing segregation in the school systems have consolidated their Ne gro schools into the regular organi zations. The transfers have been vir tually without incident. New Mexico is one of the four states where segregation has been permitted by law on the local level, provided the “separate but equal” doctrine is applied to the facilities and curricula of the Negro schools. Only a small handful of communities, however, had ever required segrega tion in the schools. Integration of Negro students into previously all-white schools has been & continuing process in New Mexico for the past several years. Problems have not been too great; the state’s Negro population, about 9,000, founts to only 1.2 per cent of the entire state population. The com munities requiring segregation in the Past all are located on New Mexico’s East Side, the so-called “little Texas,” where population centers have sprung up about New Mexico’s boom- mg oil and livestock industries. Alamogordo, a southern New Mex- fco community of some 8,500 persons, a °nfhed segregation several years ?g° f° r the twin reasons of socio- gical advancement and economic necessity. Supt. Barney Caton ex- messed his opposition to the princi- 6 of segregation, and school board embers also agreed that the Negro ^opulation was not sufficient to war- iti ® aintena nce of separate facil- es The transfer was made without 'ncident. ^.^bad was the next major New mco community to abolish segre- business of preparing budgets for the coming financial year. The federal Supreme Court decis ion came as an anticlimax four days later. Segregation of races in Ari zona’s schools was on its way out quite independently of the high trib unal’s decision. Arizona’s School Set-Up In 1952-53, the last year for which complete figures are available, the enrollment figures of Arizona public schools were: elementary, 151,605; high school, 36,528. These figures are somewhat deceptive, however, be cause Arizona has a large migrant farm labor population. State aid is given to school districts on a basis of average daily attend ance, and the state superintendent of public instruction reported average daily attendance, also for 1952-53, as: elementary schools, 117,905; high schools, 29,796. The per capita cost of operating the schools excluding con struction costs was $235.72 for ele mentary pupils, and $412.50 for high school students in 1952-53. State school officials have no way of break ing down the difference, if any, be tween per capita costs for white and Negro pupils. The expense of education is bom by the state, which apportions $95 per year per pupil to each school on the basis of average daily attendance; by the county, which apportions $20 per year per student on the basis of aver age daily attendance; and by the school districts which levy on real property within the district. In the Greater Phoenix area, school district rates in 1953 ranged from $1.15 per $100 of taxable property in the Riverside district to $4.69 per $100 in the Roosevelt district. The discrep ancy results from a large total of tax able property and a small enrollment in Riverside compared with little tax able property and a large enrollment in Roosevelt. All efforts to equalize school taxes, although pushed by Gov. Howard Pyle, have failed in the state legislature. gation, with white high school stu dents petitioning School Supt. Irwin P. (Pat) Murphy for the absorption of Negro students into the municipal school system. The integration plan has been continued under Supt. Tom Hansen, who said the program this year is “about three-quarters com plete.” The high school and junior high schools have been completely integrated, and the movement is ex tending this year into the elementary schools. The Carlsbad school board, Hansen stated, “is dedicated to the nonsegregation policy.” Two of the five remaining segrega tion areas adopted integration plans during the 1953-54 terms. The Las Cruces city and county schools were consolidated, and in the redistricting program Negro students were as signed to the schools nearest their homes. The Roswell school board this September closed the Carver elemen tary school, the last segregated school in the system. Enrollment this year had dropped from 154 Negro students in the spring quarter to 13 at the opening of the current school year. These 13 attended the Carver school voluntarily. Wendell Sweatt, who had been principal at Carver, was reas signed as counselor for Negro stu dents in the city system, and other Negro teachers have been designated to give remedial teaching assistance, upon student request, in other Ros well schools. Following the May 17 opinion of the Supreme Court, Hobbs School Supt. Charles Mills said the Hobbs system “would comply as fast as we can learn the requirements of the ruling.” In July the Hobbs school board issued an order barring segre gation in the public schools, and in tegrating Negro students and teach ers into the regular system. The Hobbs decision aroused strong protests from a group headed by In Arizona, as a whole, property taxes raised by school districts have increased from $4,159,960 in 1943-44 to $31,150,000 in 1953-54. During the same 10-year period, the state’s levy on property has risen from $4,860,026 to $8,996,210. In that decade average daily attendance in the state’s high schools rose from 16,313 to 33,050. In the elementary schools average daily attendance rose from 69,056 to 126,473 A break-down of the 1953-54 fig ures shows the source of school funds for the entire state was as follows: State, $14,031,595; counties, $4,689,146; school districts, $31,150,000; federal and miscellaneous, $6,686,086. Half of the state’s population is located in Maricopa County. Propor tionately more Negroes live in Mari copa than elsewhere in the state. The largest elementary school district in the state is the Phoenix Elementary School district, which in places ex tends beyond the city limits. There are 12,500 pupils in the district’s schools, of whom, 1,700 are Negroes. That is roughly 15 per cent. Although state-wide figures are not available, best guesses are that less than 10 per cent of all enrolled pupils in Arizona are Negroes. In the Phoenix Elemen tary School District there are 477 teachers, of whom 65 are Negroes. Before integration, there were three all-Negro schools in the Phoenix Ele mentary District, namely the Booker T. Washington, the Paul Lawrence Dunbar, and the Mary E. Bethune Schools. They were located in pre dominantly Negro districts. The few white children living in those dis tricts went to other schools. The few Negro children living out of the dis tricts were forced to attend the all- Negro schools although they might pass other district schools en route. The first step toward desegregation was taken in 1953. All students were allowed to go to the school closest to their homes, regardless of color. The result was that a few Negroes went to former all-white schools, and a very few white children went to for mer all-Negro schools. However, no effort was made to force white chil dren into former all-Negro schools. Baptist minister Bill Carter, who claimed he represented some 8,000 residents of the Hobbs area who had signed petitions opposing the integra tion plan. Carter predicted violence in the event the plan was put into effect, and called upon Gov. Edwin L. Mechem to invoke martial law to prevent any incidents. Carter’s protests notwithstanding, the program was put into operation in late August, and Negro and white students stood side-by-side in reg istration lines throughout the city. There was no violence, nor were any threats reported by either Negroes or whites. Hobbs school board member G. W. Mansure was quoted as saying there had been “no rough spots whatsoever” in the changeover. Hobbs today has 13 Negro teachers in its staff of 225 teachers and admin istrators, and reportedly several of the Negro teachers are teaching all- white classes. The Hobbs student en rollment of about 6,000 includes some 400 Negro pupils. Artesia has integrated its Negro children into the formerly all-white schools without incident as has Clo vis. In the latter community, almost astride the Texas border, some Negro parents had complained of “gerry mandering” in the redistricting pro gram which in effect was alleged to have retained the essential idea of segregation. Hubert LaGrove, state president of the NAACP investigated the charge and reported, “There is a sincere effort by the Clovis school board to bring about integration.. ..” Citizens Group Active One of the most effective programs for integration of the races was put across in Lovington, county seat of oil-rich Lea County in the south eastern comer of New Mexico. There Supt. H. C. Pannell had an active citizens’ group which took the initia tive in staging a quiet talking cam paign among friends and neighbors. The group reasoned that desegrega tion was an issue that must be faced; that the younger child knew no prej- Nor was any attempt made to put Ne gro teachers in white schools. This year it was made mandatory for all kindergarten pupils to go to the school in their own district. Dr. Lauron Vaughan, Superintendent, re ports no resistance to the program. The next step will be to require all children to attend the school in their own zone. That probably will await the opening of the 1955 school year. Phoenix high schools are under the jurisdiction of the Phoenix Union High School and College District. It also maintains Phoenix College, a two-year junior college, and the Phoenix Technical School, a trade school at the high school age level. Phoenix College and Phoenix Tech were never segregated. However, throughout the 1952-53 academic year, all Negro students were re quired to attend Carver High School. At the beginning of the 1953-54 academic year, the Phoenix high schools were desegregated. All pupils were allowed to go to the high school in their own zone, although no Negro was forced to attend a former white school and no white child was re quired to go to Carver. The Carver faculty was kept intact. Negro pupils left Carver at such a rate that authorities saw its days were numbered. Even at its peak enroll ment, it had never had more than 600 students, compared with 2,000 in North Phoenix, West High, and Phoe nix Union. It was estimated that Car ver’s per capita cost was anywhere from $150 to $250 more than the other schools. Rather than run an uneconomical high school, the school board voted this spring to close Carver at the be ginning of the 1954-55 year. Begin ning in September the high school district was zoned, and pupils were required to go to the high school in their zone. The bulk of the former Carver students went to Phoenix Un ion and South Mountain. Since the students’ color is not shown on school records, there is no way of knowing how many of the 11,750 high school students in the Phoenix school are Negroes. However, it is estimated that South High School has about 10 per cent Negro students. So far no udice; and that it was up to the adults of the community to set an exam ple for the remainder of the state in working out a program of integra tion. By the time the change in pol icy was adopted by the school board, it had the backing of a great propor tion of the town’s residents. The transfer went off without incident. There is no accurate figure on the number of Negro teachers in New Mexico schools. State law prohibits designation of race on accreditation forms. It is estimated, however, that there now are about 60 Negro teach ers in eight New Mexico communi ties, and that all but a few are teach ing mixed classes. These few excep tions, it was pointed out by the State Education Department, are due to geography, rather than a segregation policy. The state board of education on August 2 issued a policy pronounce ment which recommended disband ing of segregation in the public schools. Adoption of the policy, how ever, remained within the discretion of the local boards. The statement reads: The state board of education feels bound by the decision of the U. S. Su preme Court regarding the unconstitu tionality of segregation in the public schools and requests the public schools in New Mexico to follow the Supreme Court decision. The state board approves the action of our local school systems which have attempted to comply with the U. S. Supreme Court decision. And Supt. Wiley noted: Segregation in New Mexico schools has been on the wane for many years; there has been marked progress in a quiet and orderly manner at the local level, and I am proud of the foresightedness of the local school boards and the cooperation they have received from their communi ties. I can say today that there no longer is segregation in the New Mexico school system. During the period in which segre gation existed in New Mexico schools, Negro teachers were paid at the same rate as their white counterparts who had similar educational backgrounds. New Mexico teaching positions as a Negroes have applied for admission to North, West, or Camelback High. When and if they do, they will be ad mitted, if their residence qualifica tions are in order, according to Supt. Harold Gear. Faculty Integrated The Carver faculty was fully inte grated this year. At least two Negro teachers were assigned to each of the other high schools. Principal William A. Robinson, a Negro, was made ad ministrative counsel to the superin tendent. Some parents of white children ob jected to Negro teachers. No record was kept, but the best unofficial guess seems to be that from 10 to 12 persons registered objections. Principals were advised to meet each situation as it arose. In most cases they simply changed the student over to a white teacher. In three or four instances, however, they were able to persuade parents that the Negro teacher was well qualified to instruct their chil dren. As a matter of fact, before it was abolished Carver had higher av erage teachers’ qualifications than any other high school in the district. So far as the public is aware, there was not a single incident in the de segregation of the high schools or the integration of the Carver faculty. On the university level, Arizona supports the University of Arizona at Tucson, Arizona State College at Tempe, and Arizona State College at Flagstaff. None of them has ever prac ticed segregation. Outside of Phoenix and Maricopa County, the segregation map was a spotty one. Tucson, second largest city in the state, never had segrega tion in its high schools. Tucson pri mary schools were integrated sever al years before the court decisions. At the time of the Supreme Court decision, a survey showed school seg regation in varying extent in Flag staff, McNary, Coolidge, Casa Grande, Stanfield, Eloy, Yuma, and Marana. None of them has reported any inci dents in connection with desegrega tion. (This special Arizona report was writ ten by Frederick S. Marquardt, editorial page editor, The Phoenix Arizona Re public.) matter of fact have proved attractive to both Negro and white teachers. The average annual salary for a New Mexico teacher is $4,059, placing the state in seventh place nationally in the rate of teacher pay. This compares with the 1933-34 low mark of $951. (This special New Mexico report was written by Joe Lawler, managing editor, The Santa Fe New Mexican.) West Virginia Continued from Page 14 per cent of the school population (350 of 4,401) is colored. There are 29 colored students at Philippi High School with 70 more scattered in 16 different elementary schools. Colleges Integrated Full-scale integration got under way, meanwhile, on the higher edu cation level. Officials at each integrated state- supported college or West Virginia University expressed satisfaction with the progress realized. Approximately 40 Negroes were understood to be registered at the university in Mor gantown. On the other side of the in tegration picture, white students were being accepted at the normally all-Negro Bluefield and West Vir ginia State colleges. New enrollment reported by Dean Harrison Ferrell of West Virginia State shows 64 white day students and 102 white night stu dents with figure “still going up.” To tal enrollment for both day and night classes is now 955. Here are other figures: Concord College at Athens—16 Ne groes out of 800 enrolled. Fairmont State at Fairmont—16 out of 800. Potomac State at Keyser—4 out of 453. Shepherd College at Shepherds- town—4 out of 550. West Virginia Tech at Montgom ery—5 out of 640. West Liberty State at Wheeling— 6 out of 615. New Mexico