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VOL. V, NO. 5
'JNESSEE
$2 PER YEAR
NOVEMBER, I95C
Bombings and Private Schools Top Events
Private Schools Off To Slow, Limited
Start; Students Say Better Than None
By OVERTON JONES
RICHMOND, Va.
A community Youth Center which used to shake
with rock ’n’ roll dancing now witnesses schol
astic bouts between serious-minded teenagers and
the intricacies of high school algebra.
A Sunday school classroom where the scriptures
are recited on the Sabbath hears spelling recitations
on weekdays.
A basement recreation room in a
private home bulges at the walls with
youngsters learning the rudiments of
“reading, ’riting, and ’rithmetic.”
This is a part of the picture of Vir
ginians’ efforts to continue the educa
tion of their children in the wake of
the shutting down of nine public
schools in the clash between state law
and federal court desegregation orders.
OVER 6,000 ATTEND
About half of the 12,700 children
locked out of public schools are re
ceiving instruction in private classes.
Many others are attending public
schools in other Virginia localities. Still
others have moved from Virginia to
live temporarily with relatives and to
continue their education in the public
schools of other states.
In Norfolk, where 10,000 white chil
dren were affected by the closing of six
high and junior high schools, scores of
public school teachers are conducting
“tutoring groups,” mostly in Sunday
school buildings.
In Charlottesville, where 1,700 pupils
were left school-less with the shutting
down of Lane High and Venable ele
mentary schools, private classes are
meeting in an Elks’ Lodge hall, in
numerous private homes and in the
educational buildings of several
churches.
CLASSES IN MUSEUM
In Warren County, where the clos
ing of the county’s white high school
affected 1,000 boys and girls, more than
100 seniors are poring over their books
at the Front Royal Youth Center.
Classes for juniors have begun at the
United Daughters of the Confederacy
Museum in Front Royal.
Two problems—in addition to that of
locating adequate facilities in which to
hold classes—have plagued sponsors
of the private operations.
The first—teachers.
The second—money.
Dr. Davis Y. Paschall, state Superin
tendent of Public Instruction, told
Southern School News “The state
Board of Education has expressed a
willingness to consider the accredita
tion of the private schools, and our
staff is taking steps in that direction.
We expect that within the next few
weeks, members of the staff will be
visiting some of these schools, at their
request, to examine the physical fa
cilities, curriculum and teacher quali
fications.”
(Most colleges will admit students
from non-accredited high schools, or
even without high school diplomas,
provided they pass an entrance exam
ination.)
TEACHERS DECLINE
In Norfolk, not a single public school
teacher answered the plea of the Tide
water Educational Foundation for help.
Ike foundation is a segregationist
Sr°up, and the teachers took the posi
tion that a private school system set
U P by this organization would be in
effect a part of the “massive resistance”
Program.
So the teachers themselves, through
the Norfolk Education Association
(NEA), took the lead in establishing
what they call “tutoring groups.”
t hese classes, meeting mostly in Sun-
hay school buildings, were set up with
h® understanding that they were
str ictly temporary, to fill the gap until
Public schools re-open in some way.
, °°ut 30 churches were being used by
e end of October, and somewhere
around 4,000 children were enrolled,
ut, in the eyes of the NEA, the
COMMUNITY TUTORING GROUP
Makeshift in Norfolk
concerned over getting public schools
re-opened quickly.
ONE TERM ONLY
As a result, the members of the
NEA voted to withdraw from the tu
toring arrangement at the end of the
current semester.
Meanwhile, as October neared its
end, the Tidewater Educational Foun
dation finally was able to open what it
called the Tidewater Academy at the
Bayview Baptist Church. About 25
high school seniors began classes there
under four teachers not currently in
the Norfolk system.
In Charlottesville, the segregationist
Charlottesville Educational Foundation
joined hands with the Parents Commit
tee for Emergency Schooling for joint
sponsorship of classes for Lane High
School students. Separately, they also
operate classes for elementary school
children in private homes.
TEACHERS RESTRAINED
Public school teachers are being used
in Charlottesville. On Oct. 8 U. S. Dis
trict Judge John Paul ruled that pub
licly-paid teachers cannot teach in a
temporary program unless the program
is “non-discriminatory.”
Since the Charlottesville public
(See PRIVATE SCHOOLS, Page 13)
By WILLIAM T. SHELTON
LITTLE ROCK, Ark.
week after classes started at the private high
r school operated by the Little Rock Private
School Corporation, some of the students stayed
after school one afternoon to help install pencil
sharpeners and do other small chores.
If this was a symbol of how fast the school had
been organized and with such meager means, it
wasn’t recognized as such by the stu
dents and their parents. After a week
their view, as represented by a dozen
families interviewed, was “we love it.”
Right behind that, the next sentiment
most often expressed was a mixture of
pride and determination. It was pride
that a school—just any school—was
running, and determination delivered
in categorical statements that it would
be a success.
Both students and parents were
asked how the school was making out
and how they felt about it, not about
their personal views on desegregation.
But their answers almost invariably
reflected a preference for segregation
and some of them carried the interview
into that field on their own initiative.
SEE ONLY ADVANTAGES
There was a strong inclination, es
pecially among the parents, to see
everything about the school in a most
favorable light. When invited to men
tion the advantages and disadvantages
they had noticed in the first week, they
mentioned only advantages.
Their view seemed to be an adjusted
one; that is, they weren’t expecting a
school with all the space, equipment and
extras of the regular public schools, so
what they did have at the private school
was “wonderful,” a word used by both
students and parents.
One mother, whose daughter is a sen
ior in the private school, said “They
have the same subjects, the same text
books, the same teaching methods” (as
at closed Central High School). This was
an exaggeration, and as far as the sub
jects are concerned isn’t even the inten
tion of the school, which for now at least
is offering only required courses and no
electives. And in at least one course,
English Literature for seniors, the stu
dents must buy a different text book
than the one they would have used in
the public schools. Otherwise the text
books are the same.
EXTRAS LACKING
Another mother, with a daughter in
the senior class, was asked about the
school’s advantages and she said it was
a smaller school and that individual stu
dents would have a better chance to be
noticed. She explained she was talking
about school functions and organiza
tions. As yet the private school has no
function outside of classroom work but
it is getting ready to start a student
newspaper which apparently will be the
first extra-curricular activity.
All the parents interviewed were
asked about transportation, since the
school is three blocks from a city bus
(See PRIVATE SCHOOLS, Page 8)
D ynamitings and opening of the first private schools as a sub
stitute for those closed by the desegregation controversy high
lighted October developments in the South.
The Clinton, Term., high school, desegregated under federal cour'
order in 1956, was shattered by a three-blast dynamiting in the early
hours of Oct. 5.
A week later the Temple of the He
brew Benevolent Congregation in At
lanta suffered severe damage from a
dynamite bomb.
Investigating authorities said racial
motivations were behind both bombings.
Bomb hoaxes, but no explosions,
alarmed other southern communities.
SLOW START
The private schools got off to a be
lated and limited start in Little Rock,
Ark., and at Norfolk, Charlottesville and
Front Royal, Va.
While these makeshift classes began,
the public schools closed by the two
states rather than comply with federal
orders to desegregate, stayed shuttered
and there was no indication when they
might open.
Reaction of parents and pupils was
that the private schools, while inade
quate, were better than no school at all.
SIX DESEGREGATE
A new tabulation showed meanwhile
a total of 796 of the South’s 2,896 bi-
racial districts with desegregated
schools.
This was an increase of six over the
previous tabulation. It resulted from
new Kentucky figures showing 123 of
175 of that state’s bi-racial districts
now have mixed schools.
Other developments by states:
Alabama
Pro-segregationists announced forma
tion of a private school corporation as
a standby measure against any future
federal order for public school integra
tion.
Arkansas
A private school sponsored by Gov.
Orval Faubus opened while anti-inte
gration steps were being taken at Ozark
and Van Buren.
Delaware
At Dover the state Board of Educa
tion said it would await conclusion of
legal formalities before complying with
a federal order to formulate statewide
school desegregation plans.
District of Columbia
A report by District officials showed
about one fourth of Washington’s senior
high students quit school before reach
ing their senior year.
Florida
Dade County ordered a study to de
termine possibility of integrating a Mi
ami elementary school on a demonstra
tion basis.
Georgia
Five men were indicted following the
dynamiting of the Jewish Temple in
Atlanta.
Kentucky
The state Department of Education
reported an increase of 15 pier cent in
school districts with desegregation pro
grams.
Louisiana
A federal district court handed down
an order making permanent an injunc
tion against separation of the races in
New Orleans public schools. Counsel
for the school board said the decree
would be appealed.
Maryland
The statewide political campaign
neared the Nov. 4 election with racial
issues occupying a prominence un
precedented in recent history.
Mississippi
Gov. J. P. Coleman said closing of
schools to prevent integration would be
as harmful as the Civil War; that such
action would be taken only as a “last
resort.”
Missouri
University of Missouri officials said
desegregation, started eight years ago,
has been accomplished without inci
dent.
North Carolina
The state attorney general’s stand in
public addresses for recognition of the
U. S. Supreme Court’s school decisions
as “law” stirred heated debate and
mixed reaction.
Oklahoma
A federal judge in a two-ply ruling
held the state is not under mandate to
maintain only integrated schools and
that a Negro pupil is not denied his
constitutional rights if he is required to
follow regular transfer procedures.
South Carolina
Religion became entangled in the seg
regation-desegregation issue during a
flareup over a scheduled meeting
planned on the State House grounds by
Evangelist Billy Graham. The meeting
was moved to Fort Jackson after Gov.
George Bell Timmerman Jr. protested
use of the capitol grounds.
Tennessee
Three dynamite blasts caused an es
timated $250,000 damage to desegre
gated Clinton high school.
Texas
A test in state courts of the law
barring racial mixing in schools in Dal
las was postponed until Nov. 10.
Virginia
The future of Virginia’s entire public
school system remained uncertain as
12,700 pupils stayed away from regular
classes in nine closed schools of three
communities.
West Virginia
The state’s general election campaign
entered its last week with candidates in
a major contest avoiding the integra
tion issue.
# # #
Index
State Page
Alabama *2
Arkansas *
Delaware “
District of Columbia I®
Florida
Georgia
Kentucky 12
Louisiana ®
Maryland 2
Mississippi 4
Missouri 4
North Carolina 15
Oklahoma ®
South Carolina 5
Tennessee I 4
Texas ®
Virginia 13
West Virginia 1
C^uote rod
School Crisis Impact Said
Slight on Bond Rates
oring program has proven too suc-
essful. Many teachers said that par-
s w ere being “lulled” into the feel-
? that the school crisis had been
-1 through those classes, so they
e Parents) were no longer greatly
T se price of borrowed money for
schools in the southern and border
states has gone up gradually the past
four years. But people whose job it is to
buy and sell the school bonds say this
reflects more the general state of the
economy—i.e., the availability of cash
—than the effect of the school segre
gation-desegregation crisis.
Opinion is not unanimous on this
point, but it is substantial. And a look
at the school bond statistics displayed
in the table on page two led Dr. Frank
E. Morris, research director of the In
vestment Bankers Association of Amer
ica in Washington, to observe:
“I see no indication that the segre
gation business has had any significant
effect on the rates at which southern
school bonds are sold. To some extent,
I think this reflects the fact that a large
proportion of the southern school bonds
are sold in the South.”
APPLAUDS SOUTH BUYING
An editorial hallelujah was added by
the Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser,
which said: “There are those who be
lieve this small added cost would be
more than offset, in the long view, by
the advantage of keeping southern
capital in the South.”
For the expert, the businessman or
professional who deals in bonds, the ac
companying table, prepared by IBAA
for Southern School News, speaks for
itself. For the layman, a couple of ob
vious comparisons are pointed out.
Quarterly school bond statistics for New
York state were included along with
the southern states for this purpose.
It will be noted that Kentucky, a
border state which is essentially de
segregated, and Louisiana, a Deep South
state maintaining complete segregation,
were the only states where interest rates
ran consistently higher than in the non-
South. Oklahoma and Maryland, both
border states, were the only states that
drew bond rates consistently below New
York. All others varied.
Virginia, locked in its “massive re
sistance” struggle with the federal
courts, sold bonds at rates lower than
New York during five of the periods
and above during four.
In all, quarterly median rates higher
than New York’s are listed 63 times in
the table and lower than New York’s
72 times. This comparison shifts slight
ly in the period beginning in July 1957
with quarterly median rates higher
than New York’s recorded 38 times
and lower than New York’s 34 times.
FLUCTUATION FACTORS
A couple of built-in limitations to
the figures in the table also must be
pointed out. Especially it should be
noted that the bonds issued recorded
in the table are not homogenous from
the standpoint of maturity and quality
and the range of yields listed here as
median may vary widely.
The data, as designated, cover
nine periods of three months each
since the Investment Bankers Associa
tion of America began compiling such
information. And, of course, the bond
market fluctuates from day to day, just
as does the stock market, and at any
given time may be affected by the same
(See SCHOOL BONDS, Page 2)