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SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS-JUNE I960—PAGE 9 Maryland DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA (Continued From Page 8) sought to enroll young Alvin in the predominantly white Aberdeen High School rather than in the all-Negro Havre de Grace Consolidated School. Judge Thomsen did not go so far as to say that Harford County school of ficials must enroll young Pettit in the tenth grade of the Aberdeen academic course next fall. He left it to the of ficials to place the boy after he com pletes the ninth grade at the Baltimore junior high where his father has been paying tuition so that he could take an academic course. After saying that the boy was entitled to a chance in tenth grade of the Aberdeen academic course, the judge wrote: “I will sign a decree appropriately worded to require defendants to admit the infant plaintiff to the Aberdeen High School at the beginning of the 1960-61 school year, to the same grade and course as white children similarly situated, and according to the same procedure that white children are ad mitted to that school. “The principal of the Aberdeen High School or other appropriate personnel may counsel the infant plaintiff to pur sue such course of studies as, in the regular operation of the school, they would counsel white children similarly situated to pursue. He will be required to conform to such advice to the same extent that white children similarly situated are required to conform. At no time shall he be assigned to a course of study, graded, promoted or demoted, except in accordance with the regular policy of the school to assign, grade, promote or demote white children similarly situated.” TOOK TEST IN 1956 While finding it “unnecessary for this Court to review the action of [screen ing] committee,” Judge Thomsen noted in his review of the facts that Pettit had been judged not to be ready for transfer to the white high school on the basis, in part, of an achievement test taken in 1956 and an intelligence test in 1957. The screening occurred dining the summer of 1959. “In future border line cases,” Thomsen said, “up-to-date test results should be obtained.” In passing, Judge Thomsen in his de cision added some fuel to what the Baltimore Sun earlier this year de scribed editorially as the “quietly smoldering, ultra high-toned feud” be tween the State Board of Education and the District Court. The judge dis agreed with the position that the state board had taken in the Pettit case, when Pettit appealed to that admin istrative body last October. The board said, in effect, that the action of the county screening committee was not the responsibility of the county super intendent or the state board, because the committee was strictly an “arm of the court.” Judge Thomsen’s decision states a contrary view of the state board’s re sponsibility. It says: “I do not agree with the conclusion of the State Board that the [screening] committee is ‘an arm of the court.’ The decree in the Moore case approved and gave effect to the plan of desegregation as adopted and modified by the county board [of education]. That plan estab lished the committee and the criteria upon which it should act in making its ‘evaluations.’ The several applications for transfer were approved or disap proved by the county board, and the formal rulings were communicated to the applicants by the county superin tendent. LEGAL QUESTIONS “Under Maryland statutes and de cisions an appeal lies to the State Board of Education from such action with respect to any administrative problems involved, although legal ques tions may be taken immediately to the courts ... Of course, many problems involve both administrative and legal questions, and this court decided in Robinson and in Moore that it was generally desirable, as a matter of com ity and discretion, for a federal court to defer decision until the state board has been given an opportunity to pass on such a problem. “In the instant case, the administra tive and educational questions involved in the ‘evaluation’ made by the com mittee, and in the decision made by the county board and the superintendent on the July 1959 application, were mat ters which could better be decided by the state board than by this court, leav ing to the courts the legal questions in volved. “I hope that the state board will be willing to pass on such administrative and educational questions in the future; otherwise it would be futitle for this court to continue to insist that appli cants appeal to the state board before seeking relief in this court.” # # # House Passes Anti-Segregation Amendment A 1.3 billion dollar federal school construction aid bill, which included the controversial Powell amendment to deny funds, to segregated schools, was passed by the House of Representatives May 26. It threatened to set off a legislative battle, which could kill the measure. (See “National Af fairs.”) Delegates to a school-sponsored Human Relations Conference charged that job discrimination against Negroes is a major cause of educational problems in the city’s desegregated school system. (See “District Schools.”) Educators reported that a “tal ent search” project launched at a junior high school last fall to raise the educational and voca tional goals of underprivileged students is pointing the way toward higher scholastic achieve ments. (See “District Schools.”) President Eisenhower signed the 1960 Civil Rights Bill into law, said it holds “a great prom ise” for securing voting rights, but voiced regret at deletion of a school integration section. (See “National Affairs.”) The House, traditional burial ground of school aid bills, voted 206 to 189 for a four-year measure sponsored by Rep. Frank Thompson Jr. (D-NJ). A coali tion of conservative Republicans and southern Democrats failed to kill the bill even after the anti-segregation amendment offered by Rep. Adam Clayton Powell (D-NY) was inserted by a 218 to 181 vote. Southern senators served immediate notice that they would try to knock the Powell amendment out of the bill. There was some doubt that the meas ure would even get to a conference to compromise with a Senate-passed ver sion, since transmittal to conference would hinge on the conservative House Rules Committee. Before approving the anti-segrega tion rider, the House rejected 151 to 78 an “anti-Powell amendment” offered by Rep. Phil Landrum (D-Ga), which would have guaranteed federal funds to school districts regardless of their compliance with desegregation orders. Powell said the Landrum amendment would have “completely destroyed” the Supreme Court’s 1954 desegregation de cision. The Thompson bill would provide 325 million dollars a year for school con struction, with states or localities matching federal funds dollar for dol lar. Distribution would be based on the school-age population in each state. The House defeated an attempt by Rep. Carl Elliott (D-Ala) to introduce a “need formula,” based on average personal income, which would have stepped up the grants to the southern states. SIGNS RIGHTS’ BILL President Eisenhower signed the Civil Rights Bill into law May 6 and said it holds “a great promise” of guar anteeing the constitutional voting rights of all Americans regardless of race. But the President expressed regret that Congress eliminated from the bill his recommendations for federal aid to communities trying to formulate school desegregation plans and for a perma nent commission to assure equal job opportunities among government con tract workers. The law authorizes federal judges to appoint referees to determine the vot ing qualifications of persons whom local officials refuse to register. It also cracks down on “hate bombings” of churches, schools and other buildings, makes it a federal crime to interfere with court-ordered school desegrega tion and provides for federally-spon sored schooling of servicemen’s chil dren when local schools are closed by desegregation disputes. HAILS NEW LAW Mr. Eisenhower hailed the law as “an historic step forward in the field of civil rights” and appealed to “all re sponsible persons” to help assure equal treatment under law regardless of race. The Justice Department invoked the new law May 9 to check a backlog of alleged voting discrimination cases in the South. Atty. Gen. William P. Rogers an nounced that the FBI had been directed to ask voting registrars in four south ern counties to make their registration records available for inspection “imme diately.” He called it the beginning of a “widespread program” to protect voting rights. The four areas were McCormick County, S.C.; East Carroll, La.; Webs ter County, Ga.; and Wilcox County, Ala. All are rural counties where more than half the adult residents are Ne groes, but where no Negro is registered to vote. Later in the month, Rogers added four more southern counties to the in vestigation list: Early County, Ga.; Montgomery County, Ala.; and Oua chita and East Feliciana counties, La. News reports early in May quoted “sources close to Vice President Nix on” as saying that the vice president believes that “moral persuasion” from the next president will do more than additional federal legislation to reduce racial tensions. Nixon was reported to think that civil rights will not figure prominently in the election campaign this fall. Unequal job opportunities in the capital were cited as a major factor contributing to educational lags at a Human Relations Conference held May 21 under sponsorship of the school ad ministration. The conference sought to involve parents, teachers and community lead ers in promotion of better racial under standing in the District’s desegregated schools. “Countless Negro students drop out of school or don’t perform up to their ability because of the employment doors which are closed to them,” Sterling Tucker, executive secretary of the Urban League, told a conference session. NO STIMULATION “There is no real stimulation in the community for the Negro student,” he said. “The job of providing incentive is left up to the schools and the parents who are not equipped to carry the load alone.” The conference groups urged the 700 school and civic leaders attending the meeting to wage an all-out campaign to break down racial bias among la bor unions and employers. They also saw a need for stepped-up vocational programs beginning in the elementary grades for students who will not continue their education be yond high school. The delegates called on businessmen to cooperate with the schools in a “work-study” program which would provide jobs for students while per mitting them to continue their educa tion. OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS Other recommendations for speeding integration of Negroes into the com munity included: • Courses in consumer education for children and adults to help low-income DELAWARE Suit To Abolish Negro School District May Be Filed in State Chancery Court DOVER, Del. elaware Court of Chancery may be asked to abolish a Negro school district that has the same boundaries as a white dis trict. The State Board of Educa tion has denied it has the right. (See “Legal Action.”) Rep. Chester Bowles (D-Conn) told a Law Day gathering in Wil mington that difficult days he ahead for racial understanding. (See “What They Say.”) Dr. Jerome H. Holland, president of Delaware State College since 1953, will become president of Hampton (Va.) Institute in July. (See “School Boards and Schoolmen.”) The State Board of Education has been asked to abolish a Negro school district that has the same boundaries as a white district. The state board denied it had that authority, although it created the Ne gro district in 1948. A suit on the matter will be filed in Delaware Court of Chancery, accord ing to Sidney J. Clark, attorney for Millside School 182, which has similar boundaries to Rose Hill-Minquadale. Clark appeared before the board May 20, requesting the board “as sume the same inherent power you used in 1948 when you created the dis trict.” TAXES IMPOSED At issue are taxes imposed in Dun- leith, a Negro community in which the Millside school is located. Taxes for support of the predominantly white Rose Hill-Minquadale District are in cluded in their mortgage payments. Dunleith residents claim their school receives no benefit from the arrange ment. Clark said that both Rose Hill and Millside have the authority to raise taxes by referendum. The weight of population in Rose Hill, he said, en ables that district to successfully raise taxes, which are levied against both white and Negro residents. But Mill- side, as a minority, cannot do the same, he said. The board, rejected Clark’s plea, referring to an opinion by Atty. Gen. Januar P. Bove Jr., who pointed to the chapter of the school laws dealing with consolidation of contiguous dis tricts. NOT CONTIGUOUS Clark held that this section doesn’t a Pply, because the two school districts are not contiguous but have one com mon boundary. “Well, then, why don’t you file suit?” said Vincent Theisen, president of the state board and a lawyer himself. At the hearing, Theisen said Clark “had made a good legal argument. But this is not a court of law, and we can not flout an opinion by the attorney general.” Theisen pointed out to Clark that an opinion by the attorney general has the force of law until it is overturned by a court. Dr. George R. Miller, state superin tendent of public instruction, said at one point that “I cannot find where we had any authority to create the dis trict.” He said that it had been set up at the request of P-TA members in the school district. Clark said he will file suit “very shortly.” In other legal activity during May, the Laurel School Board was advised (See DELAWARE, Page 10) groups make better use of their money. • Relocation of welfare services to neighborhood areas where they can provide “on-the-spot” assistance. • Assignment of roving instructors to teach health habits and provide family counseling to parents. "TALENT SEARCH’ School officials reported May 3 that a “talent search” project launched at a local junior high school last fall under a foundation grant is demonstrating that extra effort devoted to economically and culturally deprived students pays off in improved academic performance. After just a few months of special counseling, remedial instruction and contact with cultural experiences to which they are normally not exposed, students have sharply reduced their scholastic failure rate and—in some in stances—raised their scores on stand ardized IQ tests. The “talent search” program involves some 200 seventh grade students at Macfarland Junior High School. About 92 per cent are Negroes. Matched against a comparable control group which is not receiving the special at tention, the students in the project are scoring notable gains, school officials said. If the project shows demonstrable ac complishments over a longer period, ef forts will be made to extend it to other schools in the system. A similar expe riment launched in New York City four years ago will operate in 63 schools next fall. DC STUDENTS HOLD OWN District senior high school students held their own or scored slight gains on standardized tests administered this year, School Supt. Carl F. Hansen an nounced May 19. Standardized test scores for elementary and junior high students will be announced in June. Hansen said results of the city-wide testing program showed that “our sec ondary school program is making more than its normal contribution to the ed ucation of students.” Average test scores were broken down by the four tracks of the city’s ability grouping system. They showed students in the top honors track and in the college preparatory program scoring well ahead of national norms. Honors students came close to the top of the testing scale. In the general track for students not planning to go to college, gains were made over last year’s scores, but av erages still trailed far behind national standards. MAY CUT ELECTIVES Hansen said he was concerned about the performance of these students and was considering the possibility of cut ting down on their elective courses while increasing the number of re quired basic subjects. In the remedial basic track, students also made gains over last year, but continued to lag, on the average, three to four years behind their normal grade level. More than 2,000 high school seniors whose scores this year were compared with their performance in the 10th grade two years ago showed “signifi cant evidence of real growth,” Hansen said. They made average gains of four to six points in the Iowa test series. A gain of two points a year is consid ered “normal.” COLLEGE PROPOSAL KILLED A House District subcommittee voted May 24 to kill for this year a proposal to establish a two-year junior college division in District Teachers College. The subcommittee headed by Rep. D. R. (Billy) Matthews (D-Fla) decided it wanted to await an accrediting reevalu ation of the Teachers College scheduled for next February by the Middle States Assn, of Colleges and Secondary Schools. School officials and community lead ers who backed the junior college pro posal said it would open higher educa tion opportunities for several hundred students who graduate from District high schools each year with the ability —but not the financial means—to go to college. The District now provides pub licly-supported higher education only in the field of teacher preparation. School officials voiced disappointment with the subcommittee’s action in kill ing the bill, which cleared the Senate last summer. Withdrawal of the col lege’s accreditation was threatened in 1958, but the school was full accredited after the Board of Education moved to remedy deficiencies cited by the Middle States Assn. # # #