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PASE 8—JUNE 1959—SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Major Fight In Prospect On Schools, WASHINGTON, D.C. NOTHER MAJOR BATTLE Over school desegregation and civil rights bills shaped up in Congress as Senate and House subcommittees wound up hear ings on various legislative pro posals. In the Senate there were indications an extended civil rights debate could prolong the session far into the summer. (See “National Affairs.”). Rep. James C. Davis (D-Ga.), who conducted an investigation of deseg regation in Washington’s public schools three years ago, clashed publicly with School Supt. Carl F. Hansen and ac cused Hansen of “going out of Washing ton apparently promoting integration in schools where they don’t have it.” (See “District Schools.”) The District Board of Education put the four-track system of ability group ing on a permanent basis in Washing ton high schools and considered pro posals to establish a three-track pro gram on the elementary and junior high levels. Senate and House subcommittees completed hearings on civil rights bills and there were predictions in each house of legislation in this session of Congress. Senate hearings ended May 29. Min ority Leader Everett M. Dirksen (R- 111.) predicted a “concerted effort” in June to draw up a bill that will go fur ther than the “moderate” recommen dations of the Eisenhower administra tion. CIVIL RIGHTS Earlier in the month, Majority Lead er Lyndon B. Johnson (D-Tex.) listed a civil rights bill as one of the major legislative objectives of this session. His decision dashed the hopes of south ern Democrats that they could avoid a showdown on civil rights this year— and in the election year 1960. Johnson is author of a middle-of-the- road measure which would set up a federal conciliation service—similar to the one which functions in labor dis putes—to meditate in local racial con troversies. He was reported hopeful of a Judi ciary Committee bill which would not spark a southern filibuster. But there was speculation that even a “moder ate” bill would set off prolonged debate and carry the session far into the sum mer months. ‘UNACCEPTABLE’ Johnson’s bill was assailed as “a fraud and a deception” May 2 by Roy Wilkins, executive director of the Na tional Association for the Advancement of Colored People. “Since no Negro in his right mind in tends to submit his citizenship rights to a conciliation board instead of a court, why should the NAACP or any one else pretend . . . that the Johnson bill might be acceptable? In its present form it is unacceptable,” Wilkins de clared. Wilkins urged passage of stronger bills, such as those sponsored by Sen. Paul H. Douglas (D-Ill.) and Rep. Emanuel Celler (D-N.Y.). PART III These would grant the attorney gen eral the power to initiate court suits and use the injunction process to en force school desegregation. Such a pro vision was proposed as Part III of the Civil Rights Act of 1957 and had the backing of the administration, but was not enacted. The administration is not supporting Part IH legislation this year. Instead it has called for strengthening of the laws dealing with obstruction of court orders in school cases; extension of the life of the Civil Rights Commission, which is due to wind up its work this fall; broad ening of the attorney general’s power to inspect election records, and exten sion of federal financial aid to states and localities in working out their school problems. The “moderate” approach of the John son and administration proposals was Civil Rights questioned May 25 in a New York speech by Sen. Hubert Humphrey (D- Minn.). He said it was “folly” to evade the issue by “substituting for responsible legal action presidential counsels of patience’ and ‘education’ or even legis lative gestures limited to ‘conciliation,’ or to other forms of exhortation not backed by the equal protection of the law guaranteed by the Constitution.” DOUGLAS COMMENTS Congressional demands for action in the civil rights field were spurred by the lynching incident in Poplarville, Miss. Sen. Douglas told a reporter he was sure “the decent elements in the South are just as indignant about the Poplarville affair as we are in the North.” But Douglas added: “The tragedy does indicate the need for added protection of the colored population beyond that which local au thorities are either willing or able to give.” Sen. Jacob K. Javits (R-N.Y.) an nounced May 26 he would try to in clude a federal anti-lynching amend ment in any civil rights legislation en acted this year. HEARINGS OVER On the House side, two months of civil rights hearings ended May 1 with strong statements of the northern and southern views. W. Scott Wilkinson, Shreveport, La., attorney, called all the bills “unwar ranted and unconstitutional invasions” of states’ rights and added that the South would prefer no schools to de segregated schools. Joseph L. Rauh, Jr., Washington law yer making a rebuttal statement for 20 civil rights groups, said the testimony of southern officials “made the case for civil rights legislation in a way that its proponents never could.” “They have made clear they will never act until Congress does,” Rauh asserted. “The time has come to stop arguing the merits of the Supreme Court decision and start enforcing it.” Chairman Celler of the Judiciary Committee said he hoped to get a civil rights bill to the House floor in June. Rep. George Huddleston Jr. (D-Ala.), whose district includes the city of Bir mingham, said May 14 a highly ex plosive situation could develop there if racial tensions continued to increase. SAYS WALL DIVIDES RACES Huddleston told the Senate civil rights subcommittee a wall has been built up between the white and Negro races since the Supreme Court handed down its desegregation decision in 1954. Leaders of the two races no longer are able to meet and discuss problems, he said. “You’re not going to get people to sit down and discuss their problems if someone is looking over their shoulder and pushing them,” Huddleston added. Deputy Atty. Gen. Lawrence E. Walsh praised the NAACP May 11 for “dem onstrating to communities of doubting people the inevitability of complying with the law of the land.” Walsh told a religious leadership con ference of the President’s Committee on Government Contracts the NAACP’s work in behalf of school litigants is one of “the finest political education activ ities that has been conducted in our lifetime.” Walsh restated the administration’s position that school desegregation cases should be initiated not by the govern ment but by individuals and organiza tions such as the NAACP. “The wisdom of this conclusion,” he said, “is under lined by the success of integration in Virginia.” WATCHING SOUTH But Walsh added the government may have to change its position if cur rent anti-NAACP legislation in south ern states curtails the organization’s power to act. “We are looking out for this development,” he said. The House Education Committee ap proved a $4.4 billion federal aid bill for school construction and teacher salaries after rejecting an amendment by Rep. Phil Landrum (D-Ga.) specifying the funds could not be withheld solely be cause a state practiced race segregation. Landrum said he would offer the amendment again on the House floor. Rep. Adam Clayton Powell (D-N.Y.) announced he would offer a floor amendment denying federal funds to any school district not complying with the Supreme Court’s desegregation de cision. Rep. Carl Elliott (D-Ala.), author of the 1958 National Defense Education Act, warned that passage of some of the proposed civil rights bills would lead to the “collapse” of federal aid-to-educa- tion programs. He said the science-education law and federal aid for “impacted” school districts “met with great public accept ance” because they avoided any fed eral interference in local school affairs. But he said some of the civil rights pro posals would use the U. S. Office of Ed ucation, which administers federal edu cation aid, to encourage school integra tion and would thus identify the office with federal interference. SEES DESTRUCTION Public education will be destroyed in many areas of the South unless the states are guaranteed control of their schools, Sen. Herman E. Talmadge (D- Ga.) said May 12. He urged approval by a Senate judiciary subcommittee of a proposed constitutional amendment to give the states exclusive control over their public schools. Attacking what he called the illegali ties of the Supreme Court’s desegrega tion decision, Talmadge called for ac tion to nullify or modify it. He and eight other southern senators are spon soring the proposed amendment. “Whether one likes it or not,” Tal madge said, “the overwhelming major ity of the people of the south will neith er accept nor submit to the forced im plementation of that decision and there is no prospect of any change in that position within the foreseeable future.” Atty. Gen. William P. Rogers, an nouncing the Justice Department’s “strong opposition” to the proposed amendment, commented May 14 it would free states from the obligation to provide even “separate but equal” schools and would remove public edu cation from the free speech and reli gion protection of the Fourteenth Amendment’s due process clause. STEWART CONFIRMED The Senate voted 70 to 17 May 5 to confirm the nomination of Potter Stew art, 44, an Ohio Republican, to be an as sociate justice of the Supreme Court. The dissenting votes were cast by southern senators. Potter had been serving on the court since last October under a recess appointment. In a report opposing Stewart’s con firmation, Sens. Olin D. Johnston (D- S.C.) and James O. Eastland (D-Miss.) said they would not approve his ap pointment “because it is evident from the hearings that Justice Stewart thinks the Supreme Court has the power to legislate and to amend the Constitution of the United States.” Stewart had stat ed specifically that he was certain the court lacked such power. The two senators complained about the practice of giving recess appoint ments to federal judges and asked the Senate not to confirm such appointees in the future. The Supreme Court agreed May 18 to decide whether Little Rock, Ark., can, ostensibly for tax reasons, force the NAACP to turn over its member ship list. NAACP CHALLENGES Last year the court ruled Alabama could not force the NAACP to produce its lists and expose members to possi ble retaliation, because the state had no “overriding interest” in the names. Little Rock and North Little Rock have passed ordinances requiring all organi zations to produce membership lists to help determine whether the city is los ing revenue from organizations im properly given tax-exempt status. The NAACP is challenging the ordinances. GEORGIA CASE The Justice Department told the Su preme Court May 12 a federal district court in Georgia went far afield in April when it held parts of the 1957 Civil Rights Act unconstitutional. The Supreme Court was asked to accept a direct appeal in the case, skipping the usual review by a circuit court. The case was the first action brought by the Justice Department under the 1957 Act to protect voting rights. Filed at Macon, Ga., last September, the pe tition alleged that the voting registrars of Terrell County consistently discrim inated against qualified Negro voters seeking to register. Dist. Judge T. Hoyt Davis dismissed the action April 16, asserting portions of the act are invalid because they give the attorney general the power to seek injunctions not only against state offi cials but against private citizens as well. In seeking the Supreme Court re view, the Justice Department said the act, “properly construed,” applies only to official actions and that no private citizen is involved in the Macon suit. The House elections subcommittee announced it will go to Little Rock ear ly in June to start a two-stage investi gation of the election of Rep. Dale Al ford (D-Ark.). Alford, a write-in can didate who formerly served as a seg regationist member of the Little Rock School Board, defeated the veteran Democratic incumbent, Brooks Hays, in last November’s election. There have been charges of irregularities in the election. Chairman Robert T. Ashmore (D- S.C.) announced that his subcommittee would examine some 60,000 ballots about June 22. DISTRICT SCHOOLS Dist. School Supt. Hanson engaged in a sharp exchange with a Georgia con gressman who has been critical of school desegregation in the Capital. Hansen appeared before a House Dis trict of Columbia subcommittee May 8 to testify on a teacher pay bill. When he concluded his testimony he was questioned by Rep. James C. Davis, who headed an investigation of District schools in 1956. The investigation re port, which recommended a return to segregation, has been widely distribut ed in the South. ‘WHO PAID?’ “I notice you have been going out of Washington apparently promoting in tegration in schools where they don’t have it. Who paid for these trips?” Da vis asked. Hansen said he had accepted an in vitation to appear before the federal Civil Rights Commission at a hearing in Nashville, Tenn., and the commis sion had paid his expenses. He said he had also been to Atlanta, in Davis’s dis trict, to appear on a television program sponsored by the Georgia Council on Human Relations, which picked up the tab. “I went down to talk about the Wash ington schools. I did not go down to support integration,” Hansen said. He described the Georgia council as “high ly reputable people” who are trying to “improve the capacity of the citizens of our country to live better with one another.” “Stripped of all that fancy language, what it means is people who are pro moting integration,” Davis declared. Hansen replied: “That is one of their goals. But the larger goal is to promote the rights of fellow citizens. I subscribe to that wholeheartedly.” “The goal you subscribe to is race mixing, isn’t it?” Davis asked. Hansen said he would rather not answer that question. “I’d rather put it in other terms,” he said. “There should be no discrimina tion based on race—in any public insti tutions, at any rate. We should get away from it.” SWAP REMARKS Davis said that apparently Hansen was not content to stay in the District and run his own school system. Han sen replied it was part of his job to help alter the attitudes held by some people concerning the condition of the District schools. Under further questioning by Davis, Hansen acknowledged he recently re fused to give Davis the name of a Ne gro youth and a white girl—both for mer District students—who have left school and are now married. Hansen had disclosed details of the affair dur ing his appearance before the Civil Rights Commission in Nashville. He said he would not give the names to Davis because it was not a proper in quiry and because publicity would only help “hate mongers and others who use this information.” Hansen added: “This I’ll have no part of.” “I wonder if you are simple-minded enough to think I couldn’t have gotten the information if I wanted it?” Davis asked. He added that he had known the names for some time. Hansen was praised by Rep. John R. Foley (D-Md.), another member of the House District subcommittee, for “ex ercising the right of a free citizen to go anywhere and speak and say” anything he feels. Immediately after the session Hansen left for South Bend, Ind., to take part in a seminar on race relations at Notre Dame Law School. ATTACK RENEWED Davis renewed his criticism of Dis trict schools May 26 in a speech to the Rotary Club in Alexandria, Va. He said results of desegregation in the capital are “almost directly opposite” to the progress reported by Hansen. Davis re viewed the investigation he conducted in 1956 and said the situation has not improved. In his Atlanta television appearance May 3, Hansen said integration has been good for the Washington schools. He said educational opportunities have been improved, juvenile delinquency among Negroes has dropped significant ly and teacher recruitment standards are among the highest in the Nation. “We are definitely assured in our minds that where there is competence, children soon forget whether teachers are Negro or white,” Hansen declared. Desegregation at first “tended to accen tuate the problem of discipline,” Han sen said, “but by and large these were just the problems of children.” ASKS RESTRICTIONS In a May 21 speech at Howard Uni versity, Hansen scored individuals who use racial prejudice as an excuse for their own shortcomings and suggested that “it is time to restrict the use of this scapegoat device.” He said he would tell people who want to improve themselves here that: “You have the time, you have the schools, you have the books, you have the opportunity, you have the means to self-improvement . . . Why not use the means rather than litter the roads you are following with the opiates of self- pity . . . and self-indulgent explanation for lack of effort.” Hansen conceded that equality of job opportunities for Negroes has not yet been achieved in the capital. But he said Negroes formerly suffered psycho logical handicaps in segregated schools and these handicaps are now being overcome. GIVEN AWARDS An organization of Negro doctors at Howard presented Hansen with a plaque and praised him as an “impar tial educator and administrator, believ er in the principle of equal opportunity for all students according to ability.” Addressing the District Congress of Parents and Teachers May 4, Hansen put Washington parents on notice their schools will be making greater demands on students—and on teachers. He spelled out a first-things-come-first ap proach to the future development of education in the Capital. Hansen criticized the “postponement theory” in education which holds that tough subjects should not be intro duced early in the curriculum. “That approach, he said, “has been, I believe, wrongly adduced from the studies of child growth and development.” Citing recent gains in pupil achieve ment levels, Hansen said the District school system is “writing educational history that is now eliciting the favor able attention of the entire Nation.” But he added “the struggle for the im provement of education has only really begun.” He called for increased stress on the basic subjects, constant re-examination of curriculum content, improvement of textbooks, emphasis on “order, preci sion and routine” in the classroom and expansion of special educational serv ices for pupils with educational handi caps. 4-TRACK PLAN At a May 20 meeting, the District school board put its stamp of approval on the three-year-old four-track sys tem of grouping high school students by ability level and established the four-track approach as a permanent part of the school program. The four-track plan, introduced as an experiment at the 10th grade level in 1956 and extended each year since, in cludes a tough honors sequence for gifted students, a regular college pre paratory program, a general course for students not planning to go to college, and a remedial basic sequence. School officials have reported that students at each ability level have made notable gains because courses could be geared to their specific needs under the four-track system. In approving the four-track idea, the school board tightened academic re quirements up and down the line and ordered uniform administration of the system in all 11 senior high schools. There had been complaints during the experimental phase that practices of assigning and grading students in the various tracks differed substantially from school to school. A report submitted by Hansen and approved by the board gave high pri ority to the “upgrading aim of the basic curriculum.” It stated: “It has been en couraging that students in the basic curriculum have moved into the regular program, and it is felt that with in creased emphasis and further in-serv ice training of teachers, this feature of the program can be even more success ful.” PLAN EXTENTION Pending before the school board for action in June is a proposal by the su perintendent to extend a modified form of the track system down into the jun ior high and elementary schools. R would provide for a basic program for mentally retarded pupils and slow learners, a regular course for students (Continued On Next Page)