Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 2—APRIL 1957—SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS
DEAN GEORGE REDD
Fisk Educator Formally Takes
Johnson’s Place On SERS Board
Curriculum
(Continued From Page 1)
ly cultural courses of study. Some feel
vocational courses are not really helpful.
For example, since desegregation,
Negroes enrolled at the new O’Fallon
Technical High School in St. Louis have
found that once graduated they have
been unable to find jobs, along the lines
for which they prepared, outside the
Negro community. And even before de
segregation, the Sumner High School for
Negroes found most of its students turn
ing to curricula “that seemed unreal to
the white man.” There, only four or five
pupils chose shop classes despite an ex
cellent offering in this field, while the
vast majority of pupils chose languages
and the classics. When questioned about
this situation, the state education de
partment official said, Sumner authori
ties pointed out that the “Negro child
wants to be like all people. He wants
skills the average person does not pos
sess.”
Before and since desegregation, St.
Louis Negro children have turned
toward music and dramatics, courses for
which many are found to have special
aptitudes, he added.
FOR MENTALLY RETARDED
The one big addition to the St. Louis
curriculum since desegregation has been
the program for the mentally retarded.
Limited by law to children with intelli
gence quotients ranging from 50 to 78
and more than 15% years old, the pro
gram provides a two-year terminal
course with emphasis on pre-vocational
and trade-training. In some measure, it
was designed to bridge the gap between
the time when most children in this
category reached the age when they
were no longer covered by the compul
sory education law and the time when
they were generally employable at 18.
This is the period when juvenile de
linquency breeds among the idle.
Courses of study required in the pro
gram included language arts, social
studies, arithmetic, science (health, per
sonal safety, etc.) and gym. Electives
include art, band, foods, music, shop,
woodwork and typing.
According to R. M. Imbody, director
of secondary education, the program
was conceived prior to 1954. But it was
inaugurated after desegregation when
space became available with the balan
cing out of enrollments between the
heavily overcrowded Negro schools and
the under-utilized white schools. Six
classes, each with about 20 pupils, have
been under way since November, 1954.
Class size is limited to 25 and there is a
need for “several” more classes, he de
clared. However, state regulations spec
ifying additional teacher preparation
have made it impossible to obtain the
necessary teachers to expand the pro
gram.
Since no records are kept of the race
of St. Louis pupils, Imbody declined to
say what the racial composition of the
classes was.
NO CONNECTION
The terminal education program is
but the latest of the developments in
curriculum in St. Louis. Programs for
“major learners” at the high school
level and for the gifted at the elemen
tary level also are provided. Like the
terminal education program, these cur
ricula were developed before desegre
gation and inaugurated after. But there
is no relation between these events,
Imbody said.
In the District of Columbia, however,
the establishment of a similar four-track
plan of education was a direct result of
desegregation. Begun in 1956 at the 10th
grade level, this program included:
1) An honors curriculum for gifted
students interested in accelerated study
programs or college preparatory work
in such professional areas as engineer
ing, medicine, law and science.
2) A regular college preparatory
First U. S. Court Order in Delaware
Calls for School Integration Plans
WILMINGTON, Del.
The first federal court order
directing a Delaware school
district to come up with a plan for
integration has been handed down
bv Chief U.S. District Court Judge
Paul Leahy in the case against the
trustees of an eight-grade school
in central Delaware.
Indications are that this case
(Civil Action No. 1816) will bring
the opposition to desegregation in
Delaware to a head. (See “Legal
Action.”)
Thirty-two per cent of the total
school population of Delaware is
now attending school in “integ
rated situations.” (See “Under
Survey.”)
A state senator said that perhaps the
U.S. Supreme Court should be pre
vented from reversing its decisions.
(See “Legislative Action.”)
A segregated school district may con
solidate with five other districts, includ
ing one that has a non-segregation
policy. (See “Community Action.”)
A University of Delaware professor is
under fire because of a speech he made
on mixture of races. (See “Legislative
Action.”)
versity, had no comment to make on
the reported quotes of Dr. Parker ex
cept to say that Parker had assured him
that he had been misquoted in the
Philadelphia newspaper.
Here is what was attributed to
Parker:
“The mixing of races is not biologic
ally harmful and some inter-mixing is
actually beneficial. When inferior chil
dren result from inter-racial breeding,
it is because the parents are inferior
members of their races.”
The joint budget committee of the
Delaware General Assembly, headed by
State Sen. Walter J. Hoey of Milford
(D), deviated from a recent discussion
of finances of the University of Dela
ware to talk about a speech reported
to have been made by a university de
partment head relating to race.
The department head is Prof. Freder
ick B. Parker of the University of Dela
ware’s section of anthropology and
sociology.
Senator Hoey, an outspoken segre
gationist, was reported as having
“smouldered” in the session of the Joint
Budget Committee when he read quotes
from what Dr. Parker was purported to
have said at a session of the Community
Leadership Institute on Inter-Group
Relations at the Cleveland, O., Park
Branch Library.
‘SUPERIOR TRAITS’
The article also stated that Dr.
Parker had said that “with scientific
evidence at hand, there are signs that
some intermixing is actually beneficial
in producing children with traits su
perior to either parent.”
Parker was also quoted in the Phila
delphia newspaper as having denied
that racial purity is attainable or desira
ble or that races “differ in native in
telligence or capacity.”
In reply to the protests by Sen. Hoey
against such speeches, Dr. Parker
claimed that he had been misquoted in
the Philadelphia paper and that his re
marks had also been taken out of con
text.
Parker added, “in the course of my
remarks I stated that scientific evi
dence indicates that racial intermixing
is in itself not biologically harmful. As
with many plants and animals, hybrid
vigor may result.
“I also reported the scientific evidence
that there is no pure race. I said noth
ing about the desirability or the unde
sirability of pure races.”
TO FORBID REVERSALS
State Sen. Elwood F. Melson, a young
Wilmington attorney and son of a
Family Court judge, made headlines
during the past month when he
“thought out loud” about a federal con
stitutional amendment forbidding the
U.S. Supreme Court to reverse its de
READS QUOTES
He read these quotes from a Nov. 10,
1956 issue of the Philadelphia Inde
pendent under a Washington dateline.
Dr. Carl J. Rees, acting president of
the university, who appeared before the
Joint Budget Committee for the uni
course for students wanting a wider
range of elective subjects.
3) A general curriculum for students
wanting a terminal program and a still
wide range of electives leading to em
ployment opportunities.
4) A basic curriculum for students re
quiring remedial instruction in the basic
skills and offering opportunities for ed
ucational experiences preparing the stu
dent for employment.
None of the other major city systems
which have begun desegregation have
similar programs directly traceable to
the end of segregation. In response to
questions along this line, the following
replies are representative of those given
by curriculum specialists:
Harry Broad, Oklahoma City, former
ly of Tulsa, Okla.: “There has been no
impact on curriculum.” He added that
in terms of counseling and assistance in
securing jobs, the work of school ad
ministrators has changed somewhat. In
Tulsa, for example, the school system
works with the Urban League in search
ing out job possibilities for Negro stu
dents.
Harry Bard, Baltimore: “As far as the
content of the curriculum is concerned,
there has been no significant change be
cause what is involved is another group
coming in, and since you emphasize in
dividual differences in method, there is
no need for difference in content.” Bard
said there have been no demands for
special courses of study in Baltimore.
‘EMPHASIZE UNITS’
“We emphasize the school building
unit as the center for curriculum change
and adaptation,” Bard asserted. “This
holds true now as under segregation.
No four-track system is necessary. We
have as many tracks as we have build
ings and within the school building units
we have adaptation to change as race,
economic status or interest of the pupils
change.”
Eddie W. Belcher, director of cur
riculum at Louisville, “There has been
no change in the curriculum guide.
a rapid climax with his recent order,
directing the trustees of the Clayton
elementary school in Kent County to
come up with an integration plan within
30 days and that within 60 days, the
State Board of Education submit the
plan to the court for further instruc
tions. (See partial text on this page.)
This judgment was handed down by
Judge Leahy March 6, but he has not
yet issued the specific order. Court of
ficials explain that the 30-day and 60-
day period will not begin until an order
is entered on the opinion.
Counsel for the plaintiffs—Louis L.
Redding of Wilmington, appearing for
several Negro children—is preparing the
order in conformity with the court’s
holdings. It will be presented to the
counsel for the defendants and then
submitted to the court for signature.
The defendants are the State Board of
Education of Delaware and the trustees
of the Clayton School District.
The case is expected to affect the
course of litigation in seven other school
districts against which similar suits
were filed.
Eighteeen school districts out of an
over-all total of 106 have integration
policies but 12 actually have integration
on varying bases.
The total school enrollment in Dela
ware is 65,315. Of this figure, 11,411 are
Negroes, including 8,163 Negroes at
tending separate Negro schools.
Total enrollment in school districts
with mixed classes is 21,013, including
3,248 Negroes.
COMMUNITY ACTION
Six school districts in New Castle
County may be consolidated. These in
clude one district, Delaware City, that
has an integration program.
Proponents of consolidation have
argued that consolidation and integra
tion are separate issues.
One of the districts involved is the i
Odessa white school with six grades and
115 pupils.
TOWN MEETING
One other school district—Christiana,
in New Castle County—has already
adopted an integration plan. The re
maining six defendants, farther south in
Delaware, have taken the position that
they should not be singled out for de
segregation when other districts in the
same county are not named defendants
in similar suits.
An Odessa town meeting was held in
the middle of March to discuss consoli
dation with the five other districts in
cluding the integrated Delaware City i
school.
PLAINTIFFS’ REQUEST
The plaintiffs asked the court either
to order the school to admit Negro chil
dren immediately or submit to the State
Board of Education a plan for integra
tion providing for admittance of Negro
children not later than September, 1957.
One of the speakers at the meeting
was 76-year-old James T. Shallcross,
who farms 1,200 acres in the area. He
said:
“I’ve been thinking about that [inte
gration] too; I’ve decided it won’t
bother me. And I’ll tell you why. I’ve !
slept in the same horse stall with a
colored boy who was my friend; eaten
from the same lunch basket with him,
I’ve employed Negroes all my life. I ,
don’t think I’ve been contaminated by
them.
cisions.
In the course of a committee hearing
in the General Assembly, relating to
the finances of the Delaware Supreme
Court, Sen. Melson said, “I have been
disturbed by the manner in which the
U.S. Supreme Court has overruled its
prior decisions. I can’t help but feel that
such changes lie really in the field of
legislation. I wonder whether the Su
preme Court should not be bound by
its decisions.”
“But that’s not the main point. The
main point is that the Supreme Court
has spoken. If we’re not willing to abide
by its decisions, we had better go to
Russia or some other country to live
Dr. John G. Parres, director of re
search for the State Department of Pub
lic Instruction, has issued the latest re
vised figures pertaining to integration
in Delaware:
in. »
After Shallcross finished his speech,
the vote was taken and the town meet
ing in Odessa voted 77 to 1 to merge
with the five other districts including
the desegregated Delaware City district.
A week later, a public meeting in the
larger district of Middletown, which is
still segregated, voted for the merger.
# # #
District Given 30 Days to Act
Chief Judge Paul Leahy has brought
one of Delaware’s eight integration
cases in the U.S. District Court toward
Here is the major portion of the de
cision rendered March 6 by District
Judge Paul Leahy in the case of Evans
v. Board of Trustees of Clayton School
District No. 119.
Teachers have made a point to make no
differences because of color. There have
been no demands for new or different
courses of study.”
In certain areas where segregation has
been maintained in the public schools,
the situation is much the same. For ex
ample, Orris Bailey, director of science
curriculum in Houston, Texas, said:
“There is no difference in the science
curriculum for white and Negro pupils.”
Bailey said no change would be re
quired even if the Houston Independent
School District, now facing a court suit,
were ordered to desegregate. “Remedial
work would be the same within the in
dividual schools [under a desegregated
program], as would programs for the
gifted and accelerated courses.”
IDENTICAL STANDARDS
Bailey pointed out that under the seg
regated program identical standards
are maintained throughout the system.
Teacher qualifications in the white and
Negro schools are the same. Having op
erated on the basis of equality for a
number of years, Bailey said, no cur
riculum changes would be required
should segregation be ended.
The same is generally true in Miami,
though in Florida as a whole the prob
lem has been somewhat different. Ac
cording to Sam Moorer, director of in
struction for the State Department of
Public Instruction, trial runs of testing
procedures which may be employed on
a statewide basis have shown some sig
nificant differences between scholastic
achievements and intellectual ability of
white and Negro students.
“Negro educators have accepted these
findings as a challenge to improve their
schools in buildings and in instructional
practices,” he said.
The testing procedure in Florida may
be made statewide since the Pupil As
signment Act adopted in 1956 requires
testing as a basis for placing pupils in
schools. What this holds for the future
of curriculum development ,if anything,
educators could not foresee. # # #
. . . Plaintiffs’ prayer for relief is in
the alternative: 1) That this court issue
interlocutory and permanent injunctions
ordering defendants to admit infant
plaintiffs and all others similarly sit
uated to the public school in Clayton
School District No. 119 on a racially
nondiscriminatory basis, or 2) That the
local board be required to submit to the
State Board of Education a plan for in
tegration of that school providing for
admittance not later than the school
term beginning in September, 1957.
The local board answers on several
grounds. They contend they are im
proper parties to this action since they
are not vested with the power to make
or determine educational policy, but
function only in advisory capacity, and
this power can not be delegated by the
state board or altered by orders origi
nating therein. However, the mere fact
the local board is required only to rec
ommend educational policy does not
make the local board an improper party
to this action. The state board having
charged the local board with the duty
to submit a plan for desegregation, both
boards are now properly before the
court.
Defendant local board alleges “that at
no time has a person of Negro blood or
ancestry been denied admission to the
Clayton school.” After the refusal of the
local board to grant the petition of
plaintiffs requesting desegregation, it
would be hollow formality to require
them literally to knock on the school-
house door . . .
It is further alleged the load of ad
ministrative work involved, the lack of
facilities or transportation, and the in
adequacy of personnel and school space
prevents the Clayton school from being
presently operated on a non-segregated
basis. Finally, it is alleged the sudden
change which would occur in the pres
ent social make-up of the Clayton
School District would do great damage
to eventual integration. But the mat
ters of defense dealing with administra
tive problems are, at this time, pre
maturely raised by the local board. The
issue here is whether or not “a prompt
and reasonable start toward full com
pliance” has been made. Despite the
fact that on May 17, on Aug. 19, and on :
Aug. 26, 1954, the state board requested
local boards to present plans on or be
fore Oct. 1 of that year for the inte
gration of the public schools, no pl at '
of any kind has been forthcoming b;
the Clayton school board. And, al
though expressions of community dis
sent may stay racial desegregation f® ,
a reasonable time in order to meet loc®
problems through good faith implemen
tation, they can never become an instru
ment to color interminably the govern; t
ing constitutional principles as declarer
by the Supreme Court. Here, there ha ;
been no prompt and reasonable start
The State Board of Education argue
that if the Clayton Board of Trustees 1
required to present a plan for integrt
tion, it should be filed with this cou[
directly and not with the state l ,oa .
It argues the prime responsibility *,
formulating a plan belongs to the 1°°
board, that since the rules of the sP 1
board contemplate voluntary subnu 5511
of these plans, the effect of the P rese
litigation is to hold the local board a»
swerable to this court; and that ou>
wise the state board would be P^**”
difficult and unsatisfactory position
suiting in harm both to it and the
tire school system.
The state board would thus be .
tent to submit its views to this c0 '
iveve r ;
when requested to do so. H° v '
while the board may require the ^
boards to cope with local probl eII1 U
the first instance, it should not rem 1
itself directly from the scene becu^
a litigant has sought the judicial ^
to secure his rights. At this P8 u Lj J g
time, I see no reason for not fol•
the usual practice set out by the ^
board itself in its published rules
regulations.
J ^
Summary judgment is granted an
order should be submitted directing
Board of Trustees of the Clayton S ^
District No. 119 to submit a plan >° r ^
integration of the public school ,
State Board of Education, in acc ° T \ rll ly
with their existing rules and
tions. Such plan by the local board .j
be submitted to the state board " p
a period of 30 days. Within 60 daJ LP
State Board of Education shall s ..
its plan to the Court for further i |lS ^ j
tions. #