Newspaper Page Text
SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS—JULY, 1962—PAGE 3
TENNESSEE
» ha
soft
ith
e 0!
Supreme Court Refuses To Review Ruling
Against Memphis Plan Using 'Placement’
:rug NASHVILLE
^ rp HE U.S. Supreme Court has
M -*• refused to review a decision
fur ^ the Sixth Circuit Court of Ap-
peals which struck down the de-
ssipj segregation plan initiated last
ifiec year in Memphis city schools,
cor “We will have to start all over and
formulate a new plan for school deseg-
:red regation as soon as feasible,” said Wil-
lack Ham D. Galbreath, president of the
Scial Memphis Board of Education,
ts h By refusing to review the appeals
court ruling, the Supreme Court in
effect upheld the lower court’s decision
that Tennessee’s 1957 Pupil Assignment
Law could not be used as a desegrega
tion plan. (SSN, April.)
The Supreme Court’s ruling came on
June 25, only two weeks after the
Memphis Board of Education asked the
high tribunal to review the case.
Surprised at Speed
Jack Petree, attorney for the board,
expressed surprise at the speed with
which the Supreme Court made its
ruling. “The appeal only reached the
court on the 11th of June,” he said.
Galbreath said “it is difficult to spec
ulate on the sort of plan we will come
up with” and added, “It will probably
take several months to arrive at some
solution. The situation is very compli
cated, and I don’t think we’ll have
anything before school starts in the
fall.”
The school board president indicated
the new plan will follow geographical
or neighborhood patterns.
In its March 23 ruling, the U.S. Sixth
Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a
decision by U.S. District Judee Marion
S. Boyd of Memphis who held that the
board’s use of the pupil assignment law
had ended compulsory segregation in
the Memphis schools. (Northcross et al
v. Memphis Board of Education, SNN,
May. 1961.)
Under provisions of the assi a nment
aw, 13 Negro first-graders were en
rolled in four previously all-white
Schools last Fall. Forty-two Negro chil-
Iren are seeking transfers to predomi-
lantly white schools for the 1962-63
school year and three other Negro
students on June 11 became the first
)f their race to attend summer classes
it East High School.
The appeals court directed the board
o devise a “realistic plan for the
rganization of the schools on a non-
acial basis.” It held that the assign-
ent law, which establishes 22 factors
or assigning pupil to schools, was in-
dequate. The law does not mention
lace.
Prior to the Supreme Court’s refusal
to review the case, a board official
the c
JJfi Mississippi
expressed surprise at few requests by
Negroes to attend predominantly white
schools next year.
William O. Butler, director of the
division of records and attendance, said:
“We don’t know why there have been
so few requests.”
The board had said it intended to
enforce its policy of accepting trans
fer requests only during the 10-day
period ending June 12. A four-man
board was scheduled to review the ap
plications, similar to the plan used last
year.
‘In a Hiatus’
After the court decision was an
nounced, the school board attorney said
he did not believe a new plan would
be submitted to the district court be
fore the beginning of the school term.
He added:
“The old plan has been destroyed.
We don’t know yet what the new plan
will be. We are in a hiatus.”
Petree also said the board will begin
a “concentrated study of a plan that
will fit the situation in Memphis. . . .
We are not going to be rushed into any
decision. We don’t want to make any
mistakes when we have the education
of 110,000 school children to consider.”
Meanwhile, Galbreath said an elec
tronics data processing course at Tech
High School is expected to be open to
both white and Negro students this fall
“If this course is the only one (of its
type) operated in Memphis this fall, it
will be open to whoever can pass
the entrance requirements without any
other consideration,” he said.
In its ruling, the Supreme Court per
mitted the filing of a “friend of the
court” brief by the Memphis Citizens
Council, which had asked to intervene
in the case.
★ ★ ★
Tribunal Asked to Review
Davidson, Knoxville Plans
Negro attorneys have filed petitions
asking the U.S. Supreme Court to re
view provisions of the Davidson County
and Knoxville desegregation plans.
Avon N. Williams Jr., Nashville attor
ney, said Negro plaintiffs are attacking
transfer provisions in both plans. He
also said the certiorari petitions, filed
June 28, are based on the contention
that gradual desegregation in the two
systems offered no relief to some of the
students who are in grades too high to
be affected.
The U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Ap
peals on April 5 upheld the Davidson
County plan, under which the first four
grades were desegregated in January,
1961 and the fifth grade last fall.
(Maxwell et al v. Davidson County
Board of Education, SSN, September,
1961.)
Under the plan, an additional grade
will be desegregated each year through
all 12 grades.
of all grades in the entire system by
September, 1968.
At the same time, he struck down
admissions and transfer provisions pro
posed by the board.
Negro plaintiffs filed a notice of ap
peal of three other phases of Judge
Wilson’s ruling.
Neither the board nor the plaintiffs
asked Judge Wilson to stay the entire
proceedings. Raymond B. Witt Jr., gen
eral counsel for the board, emphasized
that his appeal dealt only with admis
sions and transfers.
The motion filed with the appeals
court stated that the board is asking
that the court “stay enforcement of
such portions” of the district court rul
ing “as may affect the choice aspects
of the admission and transfer provi
sions of the Chattanooga plan of de
segregation ... as to prohibit the de
fendants from adopting a policy ap
plicable to the beginning of the school
term in 1962 that would extend to the
parents of children newly zoned to
schools selected for desegregattion . . .”
Political Activity
Major Candidates
For Governor Skip
Segregation Issue
Tennessee’s three major candidates
for governor in the Aug. 2 Democratic
primary officially opened their cam
paigns during June without mentioning
school desegregation.
The candidates are former Gov.
Frank G. Clement, Nashville lawyer;
CLEMENT FARRIS
OLGIATI
Memphis Public
Works Commis
sioner William W.
Farris and Chatta
nooga Mayor P. R.
(Rudy Olgiati.
Clement made
his opening speech
at Gallatin on
June 23, the same
day Olgiati began
his campaign at
Winchester. Farris
officially launched
his campaign a week earlier at Le
banon.
While all of the candidates have
called for a general improvement in
Tennessee’s education programs, no
issue over school desegregation has de
veloped.
The three men appeared before the
Tennessee Voters Council on June 9 to
outline their views before the statewide
group of Negro leaders. The council’s
executive committee later endorsed
Clement.
Both Farris and Olgiati reviewed
their efforts for the advancement of
Negroes in employment in Memphis
and Chattanooga and pledged to ap
point a “committee on human rights”
to study Negro problems in the state.
Farris said he favored opening state
parks to Negroes.
Clement reviewed his record as gov
ernor between 1953 and 1959. He also
is on record as looking with favor
toward appointment of a Negro to the
State Board of Education.
All three candidates previously had
submitted answers to a questionnaire
prepared by the Negro leaders.
Schoolmen
Knoxville Board
Approves Speedup
Of Gradual Program
The Knoxville Board of Education
voted June 25 to speed up its gradual
desegregation program by allowing Ne
groes to attend previously all-white
classes in the third and fourth grades
this fall.
Action by the board, which came
during an executive session, followed a
decision by the U.S. Sixth Circuit
Court of Appeals on April 3 that “more
grades than contemplated” under the
board’s original plan should be deseg
regated.
Under the original grade-a-year plan,
approved by U.S. District Judge Robert
L. Taylor, only the third grade would
have been desegregated this fall.
Supt. Thomas N. Johnston said the
board’s action was “in response” to the
order by the appeals court.
Amended Plan
The board said it expects to file an
amended plan with the court by Aug. 1.
Following the appeals court ruling, a
Negro group filed a petition in U.S.
District Court asking that the program
be accelerated.
Although the Sixth Circuit Court of
Appeals rejected the grade-a-year plan
and ordered the speedup, it said it did
not intend “to require immediate total
desegregation.”
Tennessee Highlights
The U.S. Supreme Court on June
25 refused to review the Memphis
desegregation case, in effect uphold
ing a decision by the U.S. Sixth Cir
cuit Court of Appeals which struck
down the plan based on Tennessee’s
pupil assignment law.
Negro plaintiffs on June 28 filed
petitions with the U.S. Supreme
Court, asking the high tribunal to
review provisions in both the David
son County and Knoxville desegrega
tion plans.
A motion requesting a stay order
on a proposed admissions and
transfer plan was filed June 25 by
the Chattanooga Board of Education
with the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of
Appeals after U.S. District Judge
Frank Wilson rejected the plea.
A speedup in Knoxville’s deseg
regation program was approved by
the Knoxville Board of Education
on June 25 with two additional
grades instead of one scheduled for
biracial classes this fall.
Obion County school officials on
June 18 registered 75 Negro stu
dents for classes at five previously
all-white schools, beginning this fall.
The U.S. Commission on Civil
Rights held hearings in Memphis on
Tune 25 and 26 with Memphis school
officials receiving praise for their
efforts toward school desegregation.
“In the light of the board’s experience
with the present plan,” the court said,
“it should be able to submit an amend
ed plan that will accelerate desegrega
tion and more nearly comply with the
mandate of the Supreme Court for
‘good faith compliance at the earliest
practicable date.’ ”
The first grade was desegregated in
the fall of 1960 after Jud<?e Taylor ap
proved the plan. (Goss et al v. Knox
ville Board of Education)
During the past school year, 52 Negro
students in the first two grades attend
ed previously all-white schools.
75 Obion County Negroes
Register for Five Schools
Seventy-five Obion County Negro
students on June 18 were registered to
attend five previously all-white schools
this fall.
School officials said the registration,
which followed a U.S. district court
order, was completed without incident.
“I am quite proud of all the students,
both white and Negro, for their en
rollment attitudes,” Supt. C. D. Parr
said.
In three areas Negro and white stu
dents rode the same school buses, offi
cials said.
“The white children seemed to be
sympathetic to the Negroes,” one school
official added.
Largest number of Negroes to regis
ter at a formerly all-white school was
35 at South Fulton High School, on the
Kentucky border. Others were regis-
(See TENNESSEE, Page 4)
(Continued From Page 2)
He said the positive approach was
taken in an effort to better human re
lations in the state. The June issue of
S\ Southern School News lists the ave
nues under the heading:
“Support of the following was ex
pressed.”
However, at the formal organiza-
]0 U !onal meeting the council planners dis-
:arded the tentative “bill of particu-
. >rj? rs ” an< ^ carried by the June Southern
0 School News under the heading:
lege “What it opposes. The council stated
the hat it stands in opposition to:”
i Co Dr. Beittel said Mrs. Wallis Schutt
_ J] Jackson, member of the state ad-
N R t iS<>ry committee to the U.S. Civil
tha fights Commission, was elected secre-
er o ary of the council, and I. S. Sanders
r vis°hf Jackson, was named treasurer,
cha u®
a btif^egislative Action
called]— —
T ° legislature Ends
which
ESfrfmg 1962 Session
n a< ^'. ^he recent 1962 biennial session of
anizaj^e legislature, which adjourned June
e h a after the longest session since 1870
prese i convened Jan. 2), adopted a resolu-
°t P memorializing the State Board of
litionS ducation to include in the state course
ive study the book, “Race and Reason,
‘ Yankee View” in the school cur-
ositivewulum.
rded No action has been taken as yet by
id ll^f e board composed of Attorney Gen-
ieittel Joe Patterson, Secretary of State
the ^ e ° er Ladner and State Supt. of Edu-
ig J- M. Tubb. The book was writ-
ilthodF n by Carleton Putnam, former air-
ar. nes executive. # # #
;e 3)
Transfers Upheld
Two days earlier, the appeals court
also upheld transfer provisions in the
Knoxville plan but asked the school
board to speed up its desegregation
plan. On June 25, the board announced
that two grades instead of one would
be desegregated this fall. (See School
men.)
Williams said a decision by the Su
preme Court on each of the petitions
is possible sometime in August.
The Supreme Court never has ruled
directly on similar transfer provisions
in other plans although in the Nashville
case (Kelley et al v. Nashville Board
of Education) it refused to grant cer
tiorari, allowing the Sixth Circuit deci
sion which upheld the plan to stand.
A similar provision in the Dallas case
(Boson v. Rippey) was struck down by
the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
★ ★ ★
Judge Wilson Overrules
Motion for Stay Order
U.S. District Judge Frank Wilson on
June 14 denied a motion by the Chat
tanooga Board of Education for a stay
order on the board’s proposed admis
sions and transfers plan.
On June 25, the board filed a motion
in the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Ap
peals asking a similar stay order pend
ing outcome of appeals in the case.
(Mapp et al v. Chattanooga Board of
Education, SSN, March, and previous.)
Judge Wilson on March 1 ordered the
board to desegregate the first three
grades in 16 designated schools at the
beginning of the 1962-63 school year
and, thereafter, to follow a stairstep
plan which would bring desegregation
What They Say
Memphians’ Efforts Complimented
Memphis school officials received
praise during hearings conducted by
the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights
in Memphis June 25-26.
“I think you have taken a big step
forward and think you should be com
plimented,” said the Rev. Theodore
Hesburgh, president of Notre Dame
University and a member of the com
mission.
John Hannah, president of Michigan
State University and chairman of the
commission, told school officials he
sympathized with their problems.
Their comments were made as school
officials concluded their testimony be
fore the commission and, coincidental
ly, the same day the U.S. Supreme
Court refused to review the Memphis
desegregation case.
W. D. Galbreath, president of the
Memphis Board of Education, told the
commission of the first steps taken
toward desegregating Memphis schools
last fall.
Put Education First
“I will state to you frankly that . . .
the board considers that education is a
more important problem than rapidity
of desegregation,” Galbreath said. He
added:
“The board as presently constituted
does not intend to allow itself to be
used as an agency of social reform at
the expense of sacrificing our aims of
educational excellence.”
Jesse Turner, president of the Mem
phis chapter of the National Associa
tion for the Advancement of Colored
People, voiced criticism over the slow
pace of desegregation.
Galbreath confirmed that different
sets of standards are used to hire Negro
and white teachers. “But if we applied
equal standards,” he said, “83 per cent
of our Negro teachers would be elimi
nated.”
Achievement Level
Father Hesburgh commented that
educators generally recognize a two-
year variation in the achievement level
between Negroes and whites graduating
from segregated Southern schools and
that some Negro applicants for entry
to Notre Dame had difficulty with en
trance requirements.
“Our basic goal is better education
for all Americans,” he said, “Memphis
has taken a big step forward in a
peaceful way.”
Memphis School Supt. E. C. Stimbert
said the achievement gap slowly is be
ing closed in Memphis and that Ne
groes at the fourth-grade level now are
above the national norm. He said the
school system is attempting to get
various Negro groups interested in the
drop-out problem.
Mrs. James T. Walker, president of
the Negro Bluff City Teachers’ Asso
ciation, told the commission that some
of the differences might be eliminated
if the white PTA council would consent
to meet with the Negroes.
The commission also heard a com
plaint by Turner that “there are too
many inferior teachers in our school
system because they are products of
inferior Negro schools.”
Other Fields
During its two-day hearing, the com
mission also looked into the fields of
housing, employment, and the avail
ability of medical and health facilities
for Negroes and whites.
Berl I. Bernhard, commission staff
director, said at the conclusion of the
hearings that “more progress in race
relations in Memphis has been blocked
by a serious lack of communication
between education and employment.”
Bernhard added:
“You must correlate employment
with your education system—try to
bring together business with education.
Educators should determine what type
of employe is needed so proper school
training can be administered. Business
leaders should tell the educators the
type of workers they are looking for.
“Now your Negro pupils are not re
ceiving the inspiration not to drop out
of school. You have got to give it to
them by telling thgjj^J^__you train
yourselves
from high
employme:
you.’ ”
The st:
Memphis
said the c<?
race relations
duate