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PAGE 18—June 8, 1955—SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS Alabama MONTGOMERY, ALA. A s THE date neared for the Su preme Court’s expected decree on school segregation, Alabama had taken no positive action to meet the challenge to its traditional system of separate facilities for Negro and white pupils. Several proposals, all designed to retain segregation in one way or an other had been presented to the state legislature, now in its regular bi ennial session. But none of the bills had yet been reported out of com mittee. State Superintendent of Education Austin R. Meadows has maintained that the decree probably won’t affect Alabama because this state isn’t in volved in the cases before the court. On May 20, Dr. Meadows said that classroom segregation would be pre served if his school budget and class room construction program, endorsed by Gov. James E. Folsom in his ad dress to the legislature May 7, is ap proved. The proposed school program calls for a record $123,000,000 budget for the coming fiscal year—up to $43,000,- 000 over the current figure—plus au thorization of a $150,000,000 bond is sue to finance school construction. Both Meadows and Folsom have em phasized the need for bringing Negro facilities up to a par with those of white children. If better Negro schools are provided, Meadows said, “we would please 95% of the popu lation and only about 5% would gripe.” Folsom has said the state must get Negro children out of the “shotgun shacks” now serving as schools for some of them. GETS MIXED REACTION Meadows’ ambitious proposals have met with mixed reaction. Some lawmakers agree with him that equalization of facilities will counter an attack on the state’s segregation policy. Others had expressed re luctance to go along with any bond issue until they know what the Su- MACON, GA. HTHE segregation issue has been brought into an attempt to gain public and legislative support for a proposed $65 million tax increase in Georgia. A State Programs Study Commit tee, created at the last session of the General Assembly, has recommended additional taxes, with the bulk of the extra revenue thus gained going to education, and suggested that state school funds be distributed to county and independent school systems on a per-pupil basis. At present, funds are allocated on a per-teacher basis. State Auditor B. E. Thrasher, a member of the committee, told Geor gia school leaders that the shift in the distribution methods would help get the state ready to defend its tra ditional stand against integration. Under a constitutional amendment approved in the last November’s gen eral election, Georgia is prepared to implement a segregated private school plan, with state funds dis tributed on a per-pupil basis, as a last resort to avoid compliance with the Supreme Court ruling outlawing segregation in the public schools, ac cording to state officials. The transition to per-pupil allot ment of funds would tie in with plans to distribute state money to indi viduals “for educational purposes,” as envisioned in the segregated pri vate school proposal. BOARD BANS TEXTBOOKS Three school textbooks, character ized as not in accord with the “South ern way of life,” have been banned by the state board of education. A songbook, Together We Sing, published by the Lafollette Company, was banned because the word “broth ers” had been substituted for the word “darkies” in two of Stephen Foster’s songs, “Old Folks at Home” and “My Old Kentucky Home,” as reported in the May issue of South ern School News. preme Court will order. Among the latter are two Black Belt senators, Sam Engelhardt of Macon County (84% Negro and home of famous Tuskegee Institute for Negroes) and Walter Givham of Dallas County (65% Negro). Engelhardt is author of several bills, already introduced, aimed at blocking any Supreme Court action. Givham has been active in the White Citizens Council movement in Ala bama. Both had said they would not vote to authorize any kind of school bond issue until the Supreme Court acts. One of Engelhardt’s bills would submit a constitutional amendment to the people to abolish the state’s compulsory public school system; another would pave the way for crea tion of a private corporation to oper ate the schools on a “free private” basis; another would set up a place ment system in each of the state’s school districts. In addition to the Engelhardt bills, a lengthy set of recommendations has been presented the legislature by a special committee studying segre gation. The report, although formally presented to the legislature only a few weeks ago, was made public last fall. The then governor, Gordon Per sons, refused to call a special session of the legislature or to take any ac tion to consider what he calls a “half- baked plan.” WAIT-AND-SEE STAND Persons adopted a wait-and-see at titude, which seems to be the posi tion of Gov. Folsom, who took office in January. Like Persons, Folsom has refused to commit himself to any plan designed to alter the public school system of the state. His com ments on the subject have been few, but he has been reported as saying that he would not “make the good colored people of Alabama ... go to school with us white folks.” Several newspapers referred to this as a “new twist.” The company, saying someone in Washington instigated the changing of the words but declining to elabo rate, offered to change the wording which was objectionable to the board but members decided not to adopt the songbook even if the change was made. A sociology book, Our Changing Social Order, published by D. C. Heath Company, was banned under the charge by George C. Dean of College Park, a member of the pro fessional textbook committee, that it taught whites are unfair to Negroes in elections, and in school and recre ational facilities. The book, he said, follows the NAACP line and tries to “condition” white children to the idea that color doesn’t matter. Dean’s objections were stated in a minority report of the textbook committee. The majority report, de livered by Harvey Brown, Man chester school principal, declared teachers on the committee were not happy over recommending approval but felt on the whole the “good out weighs the bad.” It was felt, he said, that Georgia teachers could adjust the instructions to fit their classes. A history book, America, Land of Freedom, also published by D. C. Heath Company, was banned at the request of Mrs. Julius Y. Talmadge, board member, who said it didn’t give the South sufficient credit in the Revolutionary War. In a discussion of the advisability of employing teach ers during summer vacations to re view books for possible classroom use, Mrs. Talmadge urged that teach ers be “screened” to show that “they have the courage of their convic tions.” ‘JOURNAL’ IS CRITICAL Plans to establish a more perma nent working professional textbook committee to review books and “pre vent ‘isms’ from creeping into our schools” were made by the board. Board Chairman George P. Whitman Jr. said, “There is no place in Geor- The legislative committee studying school segregation (headed by Sen. Albert Boutwell of Birmingham) rec ommended the abolition of all con stitutional references to “public” edu cation and the institution of a vol untary plan of school attendance. Theoretically, the Boutwell recom mendations admit of the possibility of some integrated schools, if parents want them. But, if allowed, these would be subject to the approval of the legislature which could, if it chose, abolish such schools in the in terest of law and order. Boutwell has said that his committee’s recom mendations contemplate “private schools” only as last resort. The pri vate schools would be supported by public funds. The recommenda tions, if enacted, would give the leg islature “flexibility and discretion ary power” in meeting situations as they arise. As analyzed by Prof. Jay Murphy of the University of Ala bama Law School, in a lengthy critique of the Boutwell plan (Southern School News, April 7), the proposal would have this effect: “(1) The public school system would remain about as it is now, but (2) white people and colored people may elect to attend public segre gated schools, and (3) some public unsegregated schools may be con ducted for those persons willing to attend them, but (4) if Negroes seek, against the will of white persons, to force their admission to white schools, then the state in the interest of pre serving harmony, efficiency and good order, would be under no duty to furnish education to such persons un der such unharmonious conditions. And as a last step to prevent the use of public schools under such condi tions of disrupted order, the legis lature may delegate to local authori ties the power to discontinue public schools and to grant aid to both Ne gro and white children to permit them to attend segregated private schools.” BILL KILLED IN 1953 The Engelhardt bills have been de scribed as somewhat more drastic. One would abolish the public school system forthwith and set up “free gia schools at any time for anything that disagrees with out way of life.” The Atlanta Journal, largest paper in the state, editorially warned the board that there was a risk in ban ning or censoring a book “simply because it may express opinions op posite to those of some officials.” The editorial said the “supervision should be such that it grants the greatest possible intellectual freedom in the expression of opinions.” Gov. Marvin Griffin, in a speech attacked proposed federal aid to edu cation plans as encroachment on “the sovereignty and solvency ... of the 48 states” and reaffirmed a determi nation to go to a private school sys tem in Georgia before accepting in tegration. Former Gov. Herman Talmadge has also discussed the implications of the decision outlawing segregation in numerous public addresses in which he has termed the Supreme Court “a glorified board of education.” CIRCULARS ASK ACTION In mid-May, circulars urging stu dents to begin “creative political ac tion” in studying the problem of race relations “intelligently and objective ly” were distributed on the Univer sity of Georgia campus at Athens. Arthur Warren McDonald, a senior from Milledgeville, said the circulars were a project of the university’s Stu dent Citizens Committee. They urged the reading of such books as Now is the Time, by Lillian Smith; The Ne gro and the Schools, by Harry Ash more and The Christian Way in Race Relations, by William S. Nelson, and suggested that legislators be con tacted to discuss ways of preparing to “face the coming implications of the U. S. Supreme Court decision.” Roy V. Harris, a member of the state board of regents which over sees the university system, said only seven students were involved in the distribution of the circulars and claimed they were dupes of the American Friends Service Commit tee and of the Southern Regional Council. Separate white and colored dele gations to represent Georgia at the White House Conference on Educa tion Nov. 28-Dec. 1 have been named private classrooms.” This bill was killed by the 1953 legislature before the Supreme Court returned its rul ing outlawing public school segrega tion. Under this plan the schools would be turned over to privately operated corporations made up of school patrons supposedly free from direct control by state or local gov ernments. The legislature would be given authority to make grants of public funds to the school corpora tions, which would have the power to restrict attendance to either race. Engelhardt’s school placement bill would set up local boards empowered with the authority to decide where each pupil should attend school. Board members would be designated as judicial officers, and hence theo retically immune from lawsuit. The placement bill makes no mention of race but it permits the local boards to consider such factors as the follow ing in designating the school for a particular pupil: (1) Distance of school from his home. (2) His educational background. (3) His home environment. (4) Whether or not the assignment would sever long established ties of friendship and place the pupil in hostile surroundings from which his former friends and associates are completely missing. (5) The pupil’s wishes as evidenced by written request from his parent or guardian to be as signed to a particular school. (6) Whether or not, in the judg ment of the board, the assign ment would cause or tend to cause a breach of the peace, riot or affray. COULD GIVE TESTS Local boards would also have the authority to give intelligence and aptitude tests to determine which school or class the pupil would be best suited for. The bill defines its purpose as the following: “To establish a practical school sys tem whereby the state’s school pro gram can be adopted to each pupil’s by Gov. Griffin. Twenty white per sons and nine Negroes were named with the governor emphasizing that the committee is divided into two segments. The two groups will travel separately, stay in separate hotels and will be associated with each other only at the Washington conference. They will attend meetings as indi viduals and not as an integrated group, according to the governor’s office. Chairman Whitman of the state board of education is also chairman of the white group. No chairman will be named for the colored group. NEW DIVISIONS SET UP Speaking to the annual Grand Masters Conference of Prince Hall Masons in Atlanta, Thurgood Mar shall, director of the Legal Defense and Education Fund of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said that two new divisions have been set up within the organization to give Negro teachers in the South maximum protection against discrimination during the transition period from segregation to integration. These divisions are called the Department of Teachers Informa tion and Security and the Committee of Social Scientists. Marshall thanked the group for the annual contribution of approxi mately $25,000 to the Prince Hall Mason Legal Research Department. The department, which works with the NAACP, did much of the legal research on the briefs filed in the school segregation cases last year. _ Many requests for research mate rial were received from over the na tion, Marshall said, adding that the department has also assumed the re sponsibility of developing necessary legal theories to protect Negro teach ers during the transitory period. Desegregation was the main item on the agenda of a joint meeting of the Departments of Christian Social Relations of the two Episcopal dio ceses of Georgia. It was decided that the two chair men should contact leaders of the Georgia Council of Churches and try to arrange a meeting of the denomi national representatives in the coun cil to discuss implementation of the ability to learn. To this end it p ro _ vides a modem school placemen system, so that pupils can be ^ grouped that the less advanced pn. pils shall not be penalized by bein E placed in the class with pupils who are more advanced or capable of learning at a more rapid rate, and conversely, that exceptionally bright and able pupils shall not be held back to a level below their ability to leam. Therefore, this act shall be liberally construed to effectuate this avowed purpose.” In the event that the legislature refuses to approve either his private school plan or his placement pro- posal, Engelhardt has introduced a “last resort” bill providing: “.. . State aid for teachers’ salaries and all other appropriations for the operation of the public school sys tem, shall cease and become inopera, tive for the time that any pupil or pupils shall by order of any court attend a school other than that which he or she is now attending or may be assigned by local board of trustees or other governing body of such school. This provision shall not in any way affect the operation of any school other than the school affected by such court order.” IDENTICAL BILL IN HOUSE A bill identical to the Engelhardt placement proposal has been intro, duced in the House by Reps. Reginald Richardson and Charles Ramey of Hale County (70% Negro). Rep. Gregory Oakley of Wilcox (79% Negro) has introduced a bill to retain public schools but prohibit compulsory mixed attendance. The bill says in part: “The legislature may provide sep arate schools for white and colored children whose parents, legal custo dians or guardians voluntarily elect that such children attend school with members of their own race. No white or colored child shall be compelled to attend a school where the races are commingled.” No action has been taken on any of the above plans. None has been reported out of committee. Supreme Court decision. It was sug- gested that specialists in the fields of law and education, as well as reli- ; gion, should be present at such a meeting. Hardly any public discussion meet ings on the integration issue have been held in Georgia in recent months, except at the conference of interracial groups, as is emphasized in a report on the state at the annual meeting of Region IV (Georgia, Flor ida and Alabama) of the Philoso phers of Education Society. The report contended that Geor gians, whose reactions to the situa tion generated by the Supreme Court ruling were not uniform nor settled, have been irretrievably committe to an inflexible and pre-set response that segregation be maintained at a points as it is now, regardless of the price, even if it be the destruction of the public schools. , The report continued to say tna all public enlightenment on the q u f s " tion has ceased for the time beine and the machinery of public inform^ tion and education stalled. “To 6 it going again,” the educators at meeting were told, “will P 1 ] 0 ” 3 ' take more than an implementing cision . . . from the Supreme Cou ^ for this will only set in motion official reaction already laid down the state. The situation is such tha public learning can be initiated til the state is hit in the face by 1 ,f ing its schools hauled into court. SEEK ‘PILOT EXPERIMENTS’ The cessation of public discuss^ the report further stated, ^ aS . ce prived the people of the experi ,. of preparing the state to lay its P lem before the Supreme Cour . , What is needed, it was conten ^ are “pilot experiments” in m e tion to inform and educate on public level, even granting ^ will be a long time before the u jjjc proceeds to integrate any P school in any manner or f° ujj Finally, the report concludes ^ the assertion that “the state i oS ivC exorably headed toward an exp ^ and unpredictable experimen the private school device desp ijy fact that few if any Georgian®. » ‘intend’ it this way to begin Georgia