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SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS—Jan. 6, 1955—PAGE 3
Arkansas
LITTLE ROCK, Ark.
THEN the Arkansas General As
sembly convenes Jan. 10 for its
biennial legislative session, schools
and money will be one of its chief
problems.
The state department of education,
supported by professional and lay
groups in the field of education, is
seeking an additional $12,500,000 a
year from state sources to finance a
minimum educational program which
would include large steps toward
equalizing salaries of white and Ne-
i gro teachers and toward equalizing
: facilities for the two races.
If the department persuades the
i legislature to increase its budget from
the present $29,500,000 a year to 42
I million dollars a year, the legislature
i may have to do one of several things
i to raise that much money—increase
the sales tax from 2 to 3 per cent, put
the state into the liquor business on a
monopoly basis, increase several
taxes already in effect, create new
taxes, put the state back into the
property tax field or overhaul the
1 property assessment system.
; Not all of the $12,500,000 would go
1 for equalization of facilities and sal
aries between races. A substantial
* portion would be used to reduce dif—
* ferences between rural and urban
1 districts.
COMMITTEE POSITION
On this point, the United Commit-
1 tee for Better Schools, a lay group
supporting the education depart-
r ment’s request, headed by Hugh B.
s Patterson, Jr., publisher of The Ar-
karisas Gazette, says:
“The disparity between white and
s Negro schools in Arkansas has its
1 counterpart in the inequalities be
tween urban and rural schools,
i “There are counties in Arkansas in
l which the best white schools, by any
standard of comparison, are inferior
. to the worst Negro schools in some of
D our larger cities.
Q “While the May 17 decision of the
a Supreme Court in no way alters the
impact of the significant disparity of
funds available for the education of
the children among the various school
it
t
districts of the state, it does bring the
problem more sharply into focus and
clearly defines the alternatives; on
the one hand, the increasing of the
financial support for education; or on
the other hand, the reducing of the
educational services provided white
children in order to equalize the serv
ices provided the Negro children.”
The additional $12,500,000 figure in
cludes $1,370,000 which should be
allotted to districts for capital outlay.
The state education department
would allocate this money to districts
that are financially unable to con
struct new buildings to eliminate the
gap between white and Negro facil
ities. The $1,370,000 would provide
the annual principal and interest pay
ments for retiring about 19 million
dollars of construction bonds.
The $12,500,000 also includes seven
million dollars which would be used
to provide a salary scale with a min
imum of $2,400 for teachers with the
bachelor degree. The average salary
for teachers in Arkansas now is about
$2,260, the lowest in the nation.
WIDE DISPARITY
In Arkansas, Negroes represent
24.1 per cent of total school enroll
ment but only 12.5 per cent of the
value of school property is available
to them. The difference between the
average annual salary for white and
Negro teachers now is about $400,
but the disparity is much greater in
some school districts.
Arkansas leaders in the campaign
for additional school funds are point
ing out that the May 17 decision of
the Supreme Court will have a se
rious financial impact upon the pub
lic schools, whether the Court orders
gradual or immediate desegregation.
“It means that school districts at
least will have to equalize facilities
for white and Negro students and
equalize salaries for white and Negro
teachers,” State Education Commis
sioner Arch W. Ford said.
“In some districts with heavy Ne
gro school populations, the Negroes
will want to keep separate facilities
but they will want equal facilities,”
Louisiana
NEW ORLEANS, La.
j JJY almost universal agreement, the
integration - segregation issue
rested undisturbed in this state over
the Christmas-New Year’s holidays.
A. P. Tureaud, attorney for the Na-
' tional Association for the Advance-
j m ent of Colored People in New
l Orleans, summed it up this way:
It looks like everybody’s been
waiting ’til the old year goes out be-
°re starting anything new.”
! Despite the apparent calm, how-
• ® yer > there was some activity
i throughout the state.
On Dec. 17, U. S. District Judge Ed-
Wlr ). h 1 - Hunter, handed down a decree
Charles which ordered Mc-
eese State College to admit 16 Ne-
Sro students.
The suit was filed by Mrs. Hilda M.
’ ®mbre and five other persons, to-
‘ ."er with 10 minors living in the
■ ll C ,i nity hlcNeese State College in
7 iq?5'^ aldes > who said that on June
f > 54 they applied for admission and
We re denied.
1 Judge Hunter’s decree read:
a cerm° rdere< ?’ adjudged and decreed t
ter injunction issue in this m
the t- • . at accordingly the defendai
and T? uisiana State Board of Educati
Presirtoi defen dants, Lether E. Fra:
• rar .. and Mrs. Inez S. Moses, reg
the t~, e .agents subject to the authority
govern' lslana State Board of Educati
ao.cj,,, r \ g anc i controlling the accepta:
to the t v SIOn °t applicants for admiss
Charles J °T McNeese State College, L;
servants ija ” eit her through their aget
their suc° r em Pl°yees, and each of the
and etnn? eSsors hr office and their age
re strained° yees ' ' 3e anc * they are here
from ref,, • an( t Permanently enjoir
to admit S1 , ng ' on account of race or col
cit hen?L P -, iffs ' and any other Ne|
‘he John ,? rly qualified and situated,
Charles , MaNeese st ate College, La
their train?’ ™ r the purpose of receivi
McNeej -J 1 ® and education in said Jo
se State College.
°Pinion e add ^ nter ’ s memorandl
of rented? obvious importar
issuers and because educ
tion is perhaps the most important
function of state and local govern
ments, the court feels it should make
this additional observation.
“The decision here is limited to
the material uncontroverted facts,
wherein the classification is based
solely upon race.”
SECOND COLLEGE
The order opens the doors of the
second state undergraduate college to
Negro students. Southwestern Louis
iana Institute at Lafayette, began
registering Negro students after a
ruling this past summer.
Suits are still pending against
Southeastern Louisiana College at
Hammond, and the undergraduate
colleges of Louisiana State University
in Baton Rouge.
However, reports from Baton
Rouge have it that the state attorney
general’s office will appeal the rul
ing of Judge Hunter in the McNeese
case.
Many persons contend that the
actual ruling of the Southwestern
case is in itself a continuation of the
old “separate but equal” theory in
that by the decree doors of the school
were open only to Negro students
from 11 surrounding parishes.
In other words, many say that the
school was opened to Negro students
only because that area could not sup
ply the Negro students with proper
educational facilities.
That will be the basis of the ap
peal of the McNeese decision, since
it opens the doors of McNeese to all
Negro students in the state.
The McNeese ruling may also bring
another interesting situation into the
public light.
President of McNeese is Lether A.
Frazer, who is being talked of as a
possible candidate for lieutenant
governor in 1956, running with Earl
K. Long, former governor of Louis-
Ford said. “If facilities aren’t equal,
the Negroes will be going to court.”
Ford said there would be integra
tion in some districts next year (in
addition to Charleston and Fayette
ville) but that “another legislature
and probably several legislatures will
meet before some districts integrate.”
“If districts keep separate facil
ities,” Ford said, “they won’t be able
just to talk about equalization. They
will have to do it and comparatively
soon. And we assume tthat no district
will want to reduce its program for
whites to achieve an equalized pro
gram.”
FORD GETS NEW TERM
On Dec. 13, State Education Com
missioner Ford was re-named by the
state board of education to a second
two-year term. He had been endorsed
by Gov.-elect Orval E. Faubus for
continuance in the job. The job
usually is considered to be under
patronage and Ford’s selection ap
parently means that the education
department’s program, including the
equalization and integration phases,
will not be changed.
Also on Dec. 13, Marvin Bird of
Earle, chairman of the state board of
education, said that members of some
local boards which hope to continue
segregation on a voluntary basis were
“upset.”
They suffer from indecision, Bird
said, uncertain whether they should
equalize Negro and white school fa
cilities or wait until the Supreme
Court hands down a final ruling on
its May 17 decision.
Bird said the schools face two prob
lems:
1. New schools might be almost ob
solete because of their location if the
Supreme Court should order imme
diate integration.
2. The schools would face certain
litigation if they have done nothing
to equalize facilities when the Su
preme Court remands the pending
cases to federal district courts.
“The only hope the schools have
of maintaining segregation,” Bird
said, “is on a strictly voluntary ba
sis.”
He said this meant that the districts
would have to make Negro facilities
so attractive that “the Negroes will
not demand integration.”
“That’s not a scare, that’s a reality,”
Bird said. “However, if the districts
build adequate facilities now, in most
instances the new buildings will be
located in Negro districts.”
A ruling for immediate integration
then would place the school boards
in the difficult position of getting
white children to attend school in a
Negro section, Bird said.
LEGISLATION SEEN
On Dec. 16, Education Commis
sioner Ford predicted that the 1955
legislature would take some action to
help carry out the Supreme Court
ruling on segregation.
Ford said the problem virtually
was out of the hands of the state
board of education and that it must
be solved by the legislature in co
operation with local school districts.
He said that if the pending cases
are remanded by the Supreme Court
to the courts of original jurisdiction,
it would mean that “the problem will
be worked out on a district-by-dis
trict basis and not a statewide basis.”
“That means it becomes a prob
lem for the legislature and the local
districts, and it removes the state
board from any responsibility.
“The remanding of the suits back
to the federal district courts will
bring a significant time element into
the implementation of the Supreme
Court decision,” Ford said. “The time
will vary from district to district in
accordance with the judgment of lo
cal courts.
“Many districts will attempt to
maintain at least substantial segrega
tion by providing facilities for Negro
students at least as good or better
than those for white students. In such
cases, equalization without integra
tion can be achieved through volun
tary agreements.”
Ford said this meant the legislature
would have “the opportunity for co
operation” with local school districts
in the equalization of facilities—a
task which would require additional
state aid of several million dollars a
year.
On Dec. 14, Federal District Judge
Thomas C. Trimble completed at Lit
tle Rock a two-day hearing on a suit
based on the state hospital’s refusal
to admit a Negro child in July, 1953.
Judge Trimble said he probably
would rule on the case in February.
The suit is not concerned with seg
regation in schools but some of the
legal points may later be involved in
school suits.
The hospital contends that the
child, Maurice Johnson, 11, of De
troit, was not admitted because the
hospital was crowded. It also con
tends that the child was mentally re
tarded, not mentally iff, and there
fore not a proper patient for treat
ment. Attorneys for the child, hand
ling the case for the National Asso
ciation for the Advancement of Col
ored People, contend that facilities
were available and that the child
was not admitted because of his color.
Dr. E. W Crawfis, superintendent,
defended the hospital’s segregation
policy as part of the treatment of
mental illness. He said the hospital
sought to “keep in tune” with the
community.
-- xnic wun Lire com-
murnty trend.” He said for this rea
son he followed the segregation pol
icy in Arkansas where separation of
the races was accepted custom.
Two doctors disagreed with Dr
Crawfis.
he didn t think a child with a mental
age level of up to four years could
understand the meaning of segrega
tion. 6
Dr. Earl Parsons, a Little Rock
psychiatrist, testified he opposed seg
regation because it was the result of
abnormal thinking. “I know that I’m
not popular in certain quarters for
my views,” he said, “but desegrega
tion—not segregation—is the reality
of the times.
James L. Sloan, assistant attorney
general, represents the state hospital
in the case. Attorneys for the child
are U. Simpson Tate of Dallas, re
gional NAACP attorney, and Thad
D. Williams of Little Rock, also re
tained by the NAACP.
iana and brother of the late Huey P.
Long.
Earl Long has gone on record al
ready as being opposed to integration
of the races in the public school sys
tem.
Now that McNeese has been order
ed to admit Negro students, there has
been some speculation about the ef
fect of Frazer’s dual capacity as a
potential candidate and a college
president.
BAR GROUP PROBE
The state bar association’s commit
tee on grievances and ethics is con
sidering briefs against two Negro at
torneys charged with solicitation of
clients. They are Alex Pitcher and
John A. Jones, both of Baton Rouge.
It is alleged that prior to the open
ing of the fall school session, they
approached various parents in the
Scotlandville district of Baton Rouge
and offered to represent them in an
effort to have some 30 children ad
mitted to an all-white school in the
area on Sept. 3.
Both sides have submitted briefs,
and the committee is presently con
sidering the cases.
A state legislative committee study
ing the integration-segregation issue,
headed by Sen. Willie Rainach of
Summerfield, is continuing its survey
of white and Negro facilities.
However, Sen. Rainach has made
no public statement since last month
when he hailed the passage of the
state’s constitutional amendment
which allows Louisiana to use the
state’s police power to maintain seg
regation in the public schools.
Since that time, Joseph A. Davies
of Arabi, who in January will take
over as president of the state board
of education, has said.
“We will fight every case of inte
gration.”
The state board is an elective one,
and serves in an advisory capacity,
sketching general policy for the state
department of education.
Davies added:
The State Board of Education was
created by the same state constitu
tion which set up segregation in the
public schools.
“How can we go against it?
“We must follow the constitution
and laws of Louisiana.”
In a general discussion of segrega
tion-integration trends throughout
the state, Davies intimated that the
state board may concede defeat in its
efforts to stop Negro entrance into the
state colleges.
He said that, generally, the state
board would concentrate its efforts to
stop integration in the grade school
and high school levels.
OTHER TRENDS NOTED
Three minor trends were also noted
over the past month in the New
Orleans area.
Two Negro citizens of New Orleans
declined to accept appointment to
Mayor Morrison’s Negro Advisory
Committee. Creation of such an ad
visory group was authorized by the
city’s new charter, which was official"
ly adopted May 1.
Tureaud, New Orleans NAACP at
torney, said, “We don’t know what
that committee is, and what it’s go
ing to do. It hasn’t even held a meet
ing yet.
“What does the mayor want us to
recommend? That we keep quiet?”
U. S. Congressman, F. Edward
Hebert, from the First Congressional
District of Louisiana, has announced
the hiring of Gilbert Porterfield, a
New Orleans Negro, to his staff.
Hebert’s announcement of the ap
pointment said Porterfield was being
hired “in an effort to expedite the
handling of matters which concern
Negroes on the congressional level.”
Loyola University of New Orleans,
which five years ago ended segrega
tion in its undergraduate ranks, let
it be known that its giant new field
house (6,500 capacity) would not be
closed to any person because of race.
The university has not made an of
ficial statement doing away with seg
regation, but university officials have
recently sanctioned basketball games
between Loyola and teams that have
Negro players.
And the university’s officials have
generally let it be known that they
will make no effort to segregate blocs
of seats for white and Negro.
Since the Sugar Bowl’s famed bas
ketball tournament will henceforth
be played at the Loyola Field House,
this also means that teams with Ne
gro players will be invited to the
tournament.
In past years, teams invited to the
Sugar Bowl basketball tournament
which had Negro players quietly left
their Negro players at home.
Generally, however, the situation
around the state is calm and quiet.
There has been no announcement
of any new legislative plan to insure
segregation. Indeed, there seems to
be a general belief that Louisiana will
base its opposition to the desegrega
tion ruling on the constitutional
amendment adopted by a 4-1 margin
last Nov. 2.
Specifically, the amendment would
allow the state to preserve segrega
tion by using its police power under
the constitution “to promote public
health, morals, better education,
peace and good order.”
Any other legislation would require
a special session of the legislature.
And because of a current battle be
tween Gov. Robert Kennon and other
political leaders over a highway
building program, there is very little
indication that the governor would
call the legislature into session for
any reason, lest that body be side
tracked into a fight over the road
building program.
The next regularly scheduled meet
ing of the Louisiana Legislature is
in May of 1955—but that session will
be limited specifically to fiscal mat
ters, and will last for only 30 days.
The governor is also prohibited
from calling a special session 30 days
before or 30 days after the fiscal ses
sion.