Newspaper Page Text
SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS—APRIL, 1962—PAGE 9
MISSISSIPPI
^
Yid Withdrawal Could Cost State Schools $1 Million
„ JACKSON
or;
a,. 1 N estimated 2,650 children of
vhe; servicemen attending segre-
^ -ated public schools in Missis-
1^‘ jppi would be affected if the fed-
ste,; oral government denies federal
wife ,ayments of about $1 million an-
■ually to those institutions.
The problem facing educators and
ixpayers in four Mississippi school
districts stems from a statement in
Washington by Abraham Ribicoff, sec-
•elary of health, education and wel-
jre, that the Kennedy administration
: ians, in 1963, to deny federal pay
ments to racially segregated schools
Irving children of servicemen and
government workers.
State Supt. of Education J. M. Tubb
jeclined comment until he studies all
ibases of the proposed order. How
ler, he said it could have a serious
effect on areas where local schools are
giving tuition and building funds
from the federal government in return
jr enrollment of children of service
men stationed in the “impacted” areas
if the state.
Supt. Tubb said the seriousness of
he proposed order depends on whether
I will affect the buildings constructed
with federal funds. Those monies were
jranted for new buildings and ex
pansions of others to care for the ad
ditional students.
The proposed order would affect
ibout 1,000 children at the Columbus
Air Force Base; an estimated 1,400 at
feesler Air Force Base at Biloxi; and
250 at the Meridian Naval Auxiliary
Air Station.
Tulane
(Continued From Page 7)
ie constitutional restraints on govem-
lenal action, to the same extent as
private persons who govern a company
town ... or control a political party
l ■ . or run a city street car and bus
*rvice ... or operate a train terminal
‘State Connections’
Reason and authority strongly sug
gest that the Constitution never sanc-
■ons racial discrimination in our
drools and colleges, no matter how
private” they claim to be. But the
?ecial circumstances of this case do
rot require us to go so far. Under the
present facts, we need only apply the
toaching of the cases that private own-
ttship or operation of a facility im
pressed with a public interest does not
Mtomatically insulate it from the reach
the Fourteenth Amendment. A re-
'' lew of its history and an analysis of
actual state connections will suffi-
-ently disclose that Tulane University
® answerable to the Constitution . . .
history to one side, the pres
et involvement of the state is sufficient
to subject Tulane to the constitutional
‘ 5 straints on governmental action. In-
the University still operates
torder a special legislative franchise; it
Continues to enjoy a very substantial
subsidy in the form of a unique
tox exemption for commercially leased
Property; it still receives considerable
Venues from lands which the state
^ not altogether relinquished; and
toree public officials remain on its gov-
'roing board. Clearly, it falls within the
■"To of Cooper v. Aaron . . . that “State
^Pport of segregated schools through
arrangement, management, funds,
r property cannot be squared with the
ourteenth) Amendments command
jj- • The consequences is that Tulane
diversity cannot discriminate in ad-
toissions on the basis of race.
‘Designed to Rescue’
This case has overtones of litigation
., es rgned to rescue the University from
6 unfavorable position in which it
^ finds itself, particularly with re-
to large foundations created to
j^Pense funds to institutions of higher
L^uug. The statement of the Board
^eating that it “would admit quali-
j|fr students regardless of race or color
d Were legally permissible” supports
* s suggestion. On all the evidence,
’Wever, this court cannot say with
iJ J> ' ance that this suit is, in fact, a
tiddly” proceeding. This court would
•jj Reluctant to so hold. The bitter fruit
the Board’s segregation policy of the
Jjt should not be visited on the young
f. n an d women of the future, of all
• . Ce ?> who seek admission to the Uni-
£ lty - .
ia mtifF s motion for summary judg
ment
*s granted.
/s/ J. Skelly Wright
'"' Orleans, Louisiana
rd i 28, 1962
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT JUDGE
# # #
Officials do not believe the 476 serv
icemen’s children in Washington
County at Greenville would be in
volved since they don’t live on the
Greenville Air Force Base.
At Columbus, Supt. J. E. Goolsby
said the order “would affect us very
adversely because we are educating
some 1,000 children who live on the
Columbus Air Force Base.” An addi
tional complication results from a pact
between the federal government and
school officials under which children
from the base are permitted to attend
city schools rather than those in
Lowndes County.
Supt. Goolsby said about $160,000 is
received annually from the federal
government in lieu of certain state
taxes that are not collected from base
personnel.
Dangerous Overcrowding
“The Columbus school board could
return the children to federal govern
ment care as they are not in our school
district,” he pointed out. “However, if
the children are placed in the county
school system, it would mean a dan
gerous overcrowding of all facilities.”
At the same time, the shift would
not erase the imposition of the federal
order.
About 170 children from the Colum
bus base are enrolled in the county
school system, which County Supt. T.
B. Gunn said “is already overcrowded.”
He estimated it would require an ad
ditional one and one-half mill property
tax assessment to make up for the lost
federal grant.
Supt. Gunn said, “It won’t ruin us,
but we’ll miss it.”
Biloxi Mayor Daniel Guice said, “It
would be difficult to educate the fed
erally-connected children without fed
eral assistance.”
“The tax burden would be more
than the state allows at this time,”
Mayor Guice said.
Federal aid totaling $2 million was
received by the Biloxi school system
last year for new schools and expan
sions of others. Additionally, the sys
tem is paid $180 per student.
Relative to the tuition paid by the
federal government to the Biloxi sys
tem, Supt. R. D. Brown said about half,
or $90, is for students who live off the
base but whose parents are employed
Mississippi Highlights
Four Mississippi school districts
would be affected under a planned
order of the U. S. Department of
Health, Education and Welfare,
denying federal funds to segregated
schools serving children of service
men or those working in federal
installations. They are Columbus,
Greenville, Biloxi and Meridian.
The president of the 7,000-mem
ber Mississippi Teachers Associa
tion (Negro) told his annual con
vention that “unless some way is
found for peaceful, coexistence of
the races in Mississippi, we are in
great danger.” The message was
delivered by retiring President 0. E.
Jordan of Carthage.
on the base. He estimated that
amounted to $500,00 federal aid last
year.
School officials at Greenville indi
cated the proposed order would have
little effect there. Supt. B. Hal Bucha-
nen said the 476 children of military
personnel and government employes do
not live on the air base. He said the
district receives about $85 per pupil,
and amounts to between $35,000 and
$40,000 annually.
District Not Affected
Western Line Consolidated School
District of Washington County, out
side the Greenville municipal separate
district, serves 21 pupils from the
Greenville base at the rate of $74 each.
Supt. Charles Morris of the Western
Line District said his area would not
be affected since he does not have the
necessary three per cent of the stu
dents who are children of federal per
sonnel.
Secretary Ribicoff said the ruling
would not affect payments on behalf
of persons who work at federal instal
lations but live elsewhere.
At Meridian, Lauderdale County
Supt. of Education Dan B. Johnson said
the system serves about 220 students
from the naval auxiliary air station
located about 16 miles from the city.
“The children live in our district so
we will continue to educate them,”
Mr. Johnson said. “The job apparently
will be done without federal funds.”
Few Attend
A few of the Meridian base children
attend Meridian city schools in the
municipal separate district, about 30.
The others are enrolled in the county
district system.
The biennial report of State Supt.
of Education Tubb shows that for the
1960-61 session, direct federal grants
totaled $2,272,222, of which $927,470
went to areas of the state because of
impacted conditions resulting from
federal activity. That included $797,465
under the National Defense Education
Act and $394,907 for adult education
and other programs supported partially
with federal funds. In addition to those
allocations was the $3,631,540 for the
school lunch program.
As yet, officials have not disclosed
their plans for the period when—and
if—the federal grants in the “im
pacted” areas are stopped if desegre
gation is not observed.
Schoolmen
Negro Educator Says
Racial Coexistence
Necessary in State
Retiring President O. E. Jordan of
the Mississippi Teachers Association
(Negro) told the annual convention in
Jackson March 2 that “unless some
way is found for peaceful, coexistence
of the races in Mississippi, we are in
great danger.”
“As we look at the world today, we
find confusion in every country, every
community and every organization,”
the Carthage school principal said. “It
seems to me some of these world
troubles might be alleviated if all na
tions could have respect for one an
other, if all races could become tolerant
of each other—then a lessening could
be achieved.”
"For those who live in Mississippi,
it seems to me that if we do not find
some avenue for peaceful, coexistence,
mutual respect for the individual based
on his ability, we are in great danger,”
Professor Jordan said.
He recalled a statement made in
open court by Circuit Judge O. EL
Barnett of Carthage, in Leake county
where Negro parents have petitioned
for school desegregation. Barnett said
that “if the better thinking folk of
each race do not work together,
eventually we are going to hang sepa
rately.”
The Leake county school board has
taken on the petition. That is the
county where Jordan is principal of
one of the Negro schools. Several of
the parents have withdrawn their
names from the petition.
‘Most Adequate Preparation’
In Mississippi where few Negroes
are qualified as voters, Professor Jor
dan pointed out that “education is the
most adequate preparation for citizen
ship.”
“Citizenship implies more than the
fulfillment of elementary political du
ties, it implies the need for tolerance
and social justice and the development
of genuine social conscience,” he said.
“Effective citizenship demands not only
a verbal allegiance to democracy, it
requires also the daily application of
democratic principles in the home,
classroom, business and political af
fairs.”
The association president urged that
the legislature, now in session, make
funds available to the county boards
of supervisors “so that they will be
able to keep the roads in condition in
predominantly Negro communities so
that buses can get to where the chil
dren are.”
“It is false economy to put buses on
roads that will soon cause them to
be in need of repair,” he said. “Many
of the roads, where these children live,
are hardly passable when they are
bone-dry.”
Professor Jordan also urged that the
legislature provide more Negro per
sonnel in a supervisory capacity in
the State Department of Education. He
suggested a Negro music supervisor, a
Negro science and mathematics super
visor, an elementary education super
visor and a guidance supervisor.
WEST VIRGINIA
Study to Determine Fate of Bluefield State
CHARLESTON
he fate of Bluefield State Col
lege, West Virginia’s major
problem in the field of higher edu
cation, was left in doubt March 16
when the State Board of Educa
tion called for a study of the in
stitution’s needs and potentiali
ties.
Bluefield has had trouble ever since
it was changed from a Negro to a de
segregated college in 1954. Mainly it has
not attracted enough students to hold
down per-student costs, and today it is
the highest cost college in the state sys
tem.
L. B. Allen, Bluefield State president,
was directed by the board to study this
summer future curriculum needs in the
areas of teaching, liberal arts and tech
nical education. The study is intended
to determine Bluefield’s needs over a
number of years, and will include
surveys of educators and industrial
representatives in Southern West Vir
ginia, plus state agencies concerned
with vocational retraining and employ
ment security.
Board members said they hoped Allen
would have the survey report in interim
form by next fall so the findings could
be presented to the State Board of Pub
lic Works prior to budget making time
for the next fiscal year.
Thorough Study
Dr. Allen told the board a thorough
study should be made before deciding
whether the college should become a
two-year technical school. This was
proposed in legislation that went to the
legislature in January but failed. Dr.
Allen said the faculty, students and
most Bluefield city officials favor pre
serving the college as a four-year lib
eral arts institution.
He further said, in discussing the
survey, that adult education, community
colleges, technical institutes and the
availability of training to the point of
gainful employment should be studied
simultaneously.
“It would not be infeasible,” he said,
“to study all the ramifications of effect
ing a technical institute at Bluefield
West Virginia Highlights
Struggling Bluefield State College,
biggest problem West Virginia has
in the higher education field, will
start a study to determine for the
State Board of Education whether
the school should remain a four-
year college or become a two-year
vocational training center.
The West Virginia Human Rights
Commission will assist a local
agency in Bluefield on racial prob
lems. Bluefield has been under fire
from several points in recent years
for its school and other desegrega
tion programs.
Three colleges will assist the
Charleston Human Rights Commis
sion in trying to determine why Ne
gro high school and college grad
uates in the Kanawha Valley cannot
find jobs.
State College within the framework of
the present program. Rather, this would
be desirable. It would, on the other
hand, be highly impractical and unwise
to make such an innovation simply as a
futile and vain attempt to solve fiscal
problems of the institution.”
Community Action
State Commission
Commends Bluefield
Human Rights Group
The West Virginia Human Rights
Commission, now winding up its first
year’s work, promised co-operation to
the local rights commission in Bluefield,
a city on the state’s southern-most
border that has been under fire for its
racial relations. Particularly, there has
been criticism in the educational field,
both as to the treatment accorded Blue
field State College staff members and
the lack of generalized desegregation in
the schools.
The Rev. N. W. Looney of Bluefield,
chairman of the Commission on Human
Rights there, met on March 20 with the
state commission for a general discus
sion, which pointed up limited opportu
nities for the Negro race.
A resolution adopted by the state
commission commended the efforts of
the Bluefield group, and noted that the
state agency anticipated working with
the local organization in ways that
prove feasible.
Also at the meeting, the state com
mission reviewed information obtained
at a Feb. 20 public hearing in Charles
ton on all fields of desegregation, in
cluding education, and decided that the
approach was a good one. That was the
first such hearing the commission has
arranged. McKinney said other such
hearings will be scheduled elsewhere in
the state, and their scheduling will be
contingent upon the interest shown by
various local groups.
★ ★ ★
One of the biggest problems growing
out of school desegregation has been
employment for the Negro graduate of
both high school and college. Officers
of the National Association for the Ad
vancement of Colored People have long
contended lack of employment oppor
tunities was one failure of the desegre
gation program, and have campaigned
for a change of attitude on the part of
employers.
A special Negro Employment Oppor
tunities Committee has been appointed
in Charleston, and it will work
throughout the spring and summer for
an answer to this question:
“What happens to the young Negro
worker in the Kanawha Valley and
what happens to his white brother?”
The Kanawha Valley, running from
Point Pleasant on the Ohio River to
Gauley Bridge, is one of the most de
segregated sections in the state. But
surveys previously made have shown
that the Negro can find few jobs of any
consequence in the chemical industry,
which dominates the valley’s teeming
manufacturing complex. As a conse
quence, many Negroes have moved
northward to other states after they
finish school.
“If the study is to be meaningful,”
Chairman Miles Stanley told fellow
members of the Mayor’s Commission on
Human Rights March 14, “we must
have a comparison between opportuni
ties for the white and Negro youth.”
What They Say
Ambassador Sees
‘Vast Improvement’
An African ambassador, visiting in
Charleston March 9, said he was so op
timistic about racial equality in Amer
ica that in another 10 years the present
may be referred to as “the bad old
days.”
Dr. Richard E. Keifa-Caulker, Sierra
Leone’s first ambassador to the United
States, said he had good reason for his
optimism: He had only to look back.
About 30 years ago he came to this
country as a young foreign student. In
those days, he said, school desegrega
tion in America would have been
“quite unthinkable.”
“I can see a vast improvement since
then, especially for the Negroes,” he
said.
Schoolmen
Board Reappoints
Supt. Rex M. Smith
The State Board of Education de
parted unexpectedly from its agenda
March 15 and reappointed State School
Supt. Rex M. Smith more than three
months before his current term expires.
The $12,000-a-year superintendent
serves at the board’s will and pleasure.
(See WEST VIRGINIA, Page 15)