Newspaper Page Text
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KAtob 16—AUtoUbl, 1962—bUU I HfcRN SCHOOL NEWS
Maryland
(Continued from Page 14)
Coppin is the last of the five state
teachers colleges to earn the coveted
accreditation.
During the last semester, Coppin had
one white student in an enrollment of
357 and several white instructors.
Coppin’s academic recognition came
just after a state commission on higher
education, known as the Curlett Com
mission, had left in doubt its future
and that of Bowie, Maryland’s other
formerly segregated Negro teachers col
lege.
The commission recommended that
the three formerly white teachers col
leges be developed as full-scale liberal
arts institutions but cited ‘uncertainties”
as to the future of Coppin and Bowie
and left the final decision to a proposed
new State Board of College Trustees.
The Curlett Commission not only
recommended that the five teachers
colleges be placed under a new state
educational board, taking them from
the jurisdiction of the Maryland Board
of Education, but also that Morgan
State College be placed under the same
board. A predominantly Negro liberal
arts college with some 2,600 students,
Morgan up to the present has had an
independent status under its own board
of trustees.
The proposal brought an immediate
adverse reaction from Morgan. Its
trustees in a statement released in July
called for “the continuance of a separate
and independent Board of Trustees for
Morgan State College,” saying that “to
place these essentially unlike institu
tions under a single board would in
evitably result either in the neglect "
the needs of Morgan State College or
in forcing the college to be—like the
others—a predominantly teacher-train
ing institution.”
A 16-year-old Negro girl is to attend
the College of Notre Dame in Baltimore
this fall after having been denied ad
mission to the University of South Car
olina.
Henri Monteith of Columbia, S.C., is
to begin pre-medical studies at the
Baltimore institution on Sept. 23. Her
mother, Mrs. R. R. Monteith, a Colum
bia school teacher, told the Baltimore
Evening Sun on July 31 that she was
considering filing a suit against the all-
white University of South Carolina but
that nothing had been decided. (South
Carolina report.)
According to Sister Mary Agnesita,
director of admissions at the College of
Notre Dame, the young Negro girl had
been accepted for admission a month
before her rejection by the University
of South Carolina but that financial
problems stood in the way of her com
ing to Baltimore.
Two scholarships from separate funds
for Negro students and some financial
assistance from the College of Notre
Dame subsequently solved the problem.
Henri was graduated this past June
from the St. Francis De Sales High
School in Powatan, Va., where she
ranked high scholastically and served
as class president. Catholic colleges in
Maryland have been desegregated for
some time.
Schoolmen
Biracial Faculties
Reported Planned
In Prince George’s
Prince George’s County was reported
by the Washington Post in July to be
““quietly preparing to desegregate
teaching staffs in some schools next
fall.”
„ The ne wspaper said one report,
“which school officials will neither con
firm nor deny,” was that Negro teachers
from the laboratory school at Bowie
State Teachers College would be as
signed to schools in Lam-el, Seat Pleas
ant and Clinton.
In a follow-up story, the Baltimore
Evening Sun could get nothing more
definite from school officials but did
quote one as saying it was “quite prob
able” that Negroes would be teaching
white students this fall. The Baltimore
reporter was referred to the February,
1962, desegregation policy statement of
the Prince George’s Board of Educa
tion, which said in part,
“The [board] has no policy of segre
gating teachers and accordingly advises
its staff to assign teachers without re
gard to race, keeping in mind, however,
at all times that teacher assignments
are to be made in accordance with
established academic standards which
take the teacher’s qualifications, wishes
and benefit to students in view.”
More than a week earlier, the Balti
more Sun had reported, without en
larging upon fhe fact, that a member
FLORIDA
r
Court of Appeals Orders More Rapid Pace
In Escambia County, Starting Next Year
MIAMI
he U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of
Appeals at New Orleans re
versed the District Court’s ruling
in the Escambia County (Pensa
cola) school desegregation case
(Augustus et al v. Escambia
County Board of Public Instruc
tion).
In its ruling July 24, the appellate
court directed the lower court to issue
an order to eliminate “dual school dis
tricts based on race,” starting with the
first two grades in the fall of 1963 and
continuing with a grade a year. The
appeals court said it probably was too
late for the revised plan to take place
this fall.
The court in New Orleans also or
dered the District Court to rule on a
request that the assignment of teach
ers, principals and other administrative
personnel on a racial basis should be
ended. However, the court said that the
District Court may prefer to postpone
this decision “until the desegregation
of the pupils has either been accom
plished or has made substantial prog
ress.”
In his original decision in the case
on March 17, 1961, U.S. District Judge
Harrold Carswell eliminated from the
petition the request for teacher deseg
regation. The issue has appeared in
several school suits but either has been
dismissed or held in abeyance.
Before the 1961-62 school year began,
Judge Carswell approved a one-year
delay in the board’s desegregation plan.
Under the State Pupil Assignment Law,
the Escambia school board first assigned
13 Negroes to formerly all-white schools
for this September and then approved
another 16, making 29 Negroes in 12
biracial schools (See “Schoolmen”).
‘Considerable Part’
The appeals court said in its decision
that the Escambia board “has now gone
a considerable part of the way toward
compliance with desegregation of the
public schools. Nonetheless, we are
forced to conclude that it has not gone
far enough . . .”
“There cannot be full compliance
with the Supreme Court’s requirements
to desegregate until all dual school dis
tricts based on race are eliminated,” the
court said.
The unanimous decision was given by
Chief Judge Elbert P. Tuttle of Atlanta,
and Judges Richard T. Rives of Mont
gomery, Ala., and John R. Brown of
Houston, Tex. Judge Rives wrote the
opinion.
The teacher desegregation issue has
appeared in other Florida cases. It was
an essential factor in the pending cases
in Duval and Volusia counties and the
Sarasota County case was amended to
include it. In the Volusia County case,
the court threw out this part of the
petition on the grounds that the plain
tiffs, school children and their parents,
were not the proper parties to raise
the issue.
Teacher desegregation also has been
requested in suits filed in Chatham
County (Savannah), Ga.; Durham and
Greensboro, N.C.; and Chattanooga,
Davidson County, Humphreys County,
Memphis, Wilson County and Obion
County, Tenn.
Schoolmen
Threatened Suit
Florida Highlights
The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of
Appeals ordered a faster pace of de
segregation, to begin in 1963, in
Escambia County public schools.
The court also ordered the District
Court to consider on its merits the
issue of teacher desegregation.
Escambia’s school board already
has assigned 29 Negroes to attend
12 biracial schools under a plan ap
proved by the District Court and
scheduled to begin in September.
Monroe County, which includes
the Florida keys and Key West, was
reported ready to admit some 60
Negroes to previously all-white
schools in September. The county
prepared for desegregation under
threat of a federal suit.
Dade County’s (Miami) long-
range plans call for integration of
the white and Negro branches of its
junior college and a pattern of de
segregation adapted to a rapidly
shifting population. The applications
of several Negroes to enroll in a
white junior high school were de
nied on grounds of overcrowding.
Negro educators attending a na
tional convention in Miami said Ne
gro teachers must be prepared to
lose their jobs in desegregated
schools unless they raise their pro
fessional standards.
pacted school districts that practice
segregation was getting its first work
out here.
There still has been no official an
nouncement. But some weeks ago an
assistant attorney general, accompanied
by an assistant state attorney general,
arrived in Key West. He had a peti
tion ready for filing in federal district
court asking that the federal govern
ment be allowed to sue Monroe County,
as friend of the court, to require de
segregation of the schools.
The government’s interest, the peti
tion contended, was based on its finan
cial contributions, which amounted to
$325,000 last year.
Traditional Policy
The Justice Department emissary said
the suit would be filed unless the tra
ditional policy of segregated schools be
changed. A series of closed-door con
ferences was held with the school au
thorities, resulting in an agreement to
accept some desegregation.
The first step was the mailing of let
ters to all parents notifying them of
their right under the state assignment
law to apply for admission to any
school. Wording of the letter was ap
proved in advance by a federal repre
sentative.
As a result about 70 Negro children
applied for transfer to white schools,
according to Horace O’Bryant, county
school superintendent. About 60 were
from Key West proper, the others from
families living along the Overseas
Highway. Each request, O’Bryant said,
will be handled individually.
Every school in Key West is involved
What They Say
except the Poincianna Elementary.
Most asked for transfer to Sigsbee Park
Elementary, near a Navy housing pro
ject, and Harris Elementary. The board
has given indication that Sigsbee may
be fully desegregated. There is nothing
to indicate if any other school will have
mixed classes.
Monroe County’s situation is highly
unusual. The entire population is strung
along the keys linked by the Overseas
Highway. The heaviest concentration is
in Key West where 48 per cent of the
school children come from families of
enlisted and civil personnel at Key
West naval installations.
Of the 7,550 school children last year,
940 were Negroes, but only 47 of these
lived in Navy housing.
A local school board offiiial said the
federal government had sent several
agents for conferences and surveys and
was in close touch with the situation.
Belief in Key West
If they are satisfied with the extent
of desegregation, the belief in Key West
is that no suit will be filed. Otherwise
the matter will be taken to court.
The federal government’s financial as
sistance to the Monroe County school
system is vital to its operation. Should
aid be withdrawn. School Board Chair
man Glynn Archer said, the result
would be “disastrous.” He added that
some desegregation was preferable to
a possible cutback in the quality of ed
ucation.
In addition to the $325,000 in direct
assistance last year, Monroe County
was pledged $604,000 toward the cost
of a new junior high school.
★ ★ ★
Dade Board Denies Eight
Negro Transfer Requests
After a seven-hour session at which
the discussion occasionally grew heat
ed, the Dade County school board de
nied the appeals of eight Negro parents
to transfer their children to white
schools.
Most of the discussion involved Wil
liam H. Miles of Richmond Heights.
Miles and six neighbors sought to have
their children transferred from Mayes
Junior-Senior High to Palmetto Junior
High, which has no Negro students.
Miles said the atmosphere at Mays
was bad for his children, school buses
were crowded and educational oppor
tunities lacking. Most of the children
involved live closer to Palmetto than
to Mays, he said.
Dr. Joe Hall, school superintendent,
said the appeal was denied because
Palmetto was badly overcrowded with
ts present enrollment.
‘Very Displeased’
After the board voted 3-1 to deny
these applications, Miles said he was
‘very disappointed and very displeased”
by the action. He accused some board
members of being evasive and stated
that he would be forced to send his
child to a parochial school.
The eighth case involved Myra Stan
ley, 11, who was graduated last June
from the desegregated Gladeview Ele
mentary School. Myra’s mother, Mrs.
Mary Stanley, said she wished the child
to continue in a biracial situation be
cause of her excellent progress. She
requested assignment to Madison J c
ior High. ,
Dr. Hall recommended the request
denied because the girl was a
achiever.” The neighborhood arou
Madison Junior High, he said, “is t
ready to accept a Negro student thet f
The board upheld this view by t -
same 3-1 vote.
G. E. Graves, attorney for the Ne;
families, said no decision has bt
made on a possible appeal, leading evt *■
tually to court action.
★ ★ ★ ^
Long-Range Plans Made |
On More Desegregation
The school administration has co
tinued long-range planning for progn
sive desegregation as neighborhoc
evolve. J
According to this projection, Earlin t 1
ton Heights Elementary, which be? n
the last term with 280 Negroes and 1 t
whites, will be practically all-Ne? . *
next year. Gladeview Elements
which began with five Negroes, is ra s -
idly losing white population in its 4
trict and will soon be mostly Negi y<
Allapattah Elementary, which beg s€
with nine Negroes last year, may th
about 50-50 when next year’s registt er
tions are complete. st
The school board expects these tra ra
sitions to be orderly as neighborho ^
changes are taking place quietly a
without community upheaval. i n
Negro leaders have been conferri N
with school officials on the future
Dade Junior College, which has se co
arate campuses but a policy of integr cii
tion whenever there is an insuffidi ne
number of students of each race no
justify separate classes. They have be ha
told a fully desegregated single camp
is in the works in the next few years en
ric
★ ★ ★ ua
tei
Escambia County Board ba
Assigns 16 More Negroes bi
The Escambia County school boai ne
under court order to desegregate tl
fall, assigned 16 more Negroes to ;
white schools. Two of the schools we w j
among the eight involved in the pt t ^ (
vious assignment of 13 Negro child! an
to eight schools. co
This means 12 Escambia Coin (
schools, most of them in Pensacola, w p) v
have some mixed classes next year. T p e
proportion of Negroes, however, will p r ,
small. The largest groups will be fi i
each in Pensacola High School s So
Navy Point Elementary. Most of the en ,
will come from families employed g a
Navy installations. r ; c
Two more children were assigned Bu
the E. J. Wilson Elementary, which! cas
ready was assigned two. One additiot ru ]
was assigned to Weis Elementary. 0t c is
er schools involved in the new assig he!
ments were Warrington Elementary * inf
the Escambia Adult Vocational Scho <
Schools involved in the previous » sor
signment order were Brentwood £ “th
mentary, P. K. Yonge, N. B. Cook, A ha:
nie E. McMillan, Brownsville Elew® am
tary and A. V. Chubb Junior High, ses
Pensacola Negro leaders still ins ‘
that the assignments so far are 1 dot
good-faith compliance with the couf hei
desegregation orders in the Augvd J
case. i sch
det
Raise Standards, Negroes Urged
Results in Plans
For Desegregation
Monroe County, with about half of
its school population being children
of federal dependents, moved steadily
toward school desegregation next Sep
tember under the watchful eye of the
U.S. Department of Justice.
The widely heralded plan of the gov
ernment, disclosed in Washington
March 30, to cut off financial aid to im-
of the State Department of Education
had said three Bowie faculty members
had been hired to teach in biracial
schools in Prince George’s County.
If teaching staffs are desegregated this
fall in Prince George’s, it will make the
seventh Maryland county that has made
the move. Negro teachers previously
have been reported in white or deseg
regated white schools in Allegany, Anne
Arundel, Baltimore, Frederick, Mont
gomery and Washington counties, along
with Baltimore city, # # #
Negro teachers must prepare to meet
the professional challenge posed by de
segregated schools by raising their own
standards, two educators declared in
addresses to the American Teachers
Association in Miami.
The all-Negro group was told by Dr.
Eli Ginzberg, Columbia University eco
nomics professor, that “a disturbingly
large percentage of all Negro teachers
in the South were so poorly trained
they cannot teach effectively.”
“It is their responsibility,” he con
tinued, “to do whatever they can to in
crease their competence—by self-study,
in-service training, by summer courses.”
Ginzberg said that residential segre
gation will result in some school seg
regation long after legal desegregation
has been accomplished. Therefore, he
said, Negro teachers will continue to
be responsible for teaching great num
bers of Negro youths.
Dr, Kenneth C, Clark, psychology
professor at the City College of New
York, said Negro teachers must recog
nize without emotion or excuse, that
Negro teaching has been inferior. The
obvious solution is to boost academic
motivation and achievement among
their students.
“This cannot be done by accepting
racial excuses for inferior perform
ance,” he said.
Negro children who are unable to
make the grade in non-segregated col
leges are not the victims of their own
lacks, said Dr. Clark. “They are capable
of the same range of academic achieve- j
ments found in any other group of hu- j
man beings. If they under-achieve it is
because they are not being taught ef
fectively.”
Dr. Lucius H. Pitts, ATA president,
told members its merger with counter
part white organizations is in the cards.
A number of joint committees and
working teams are in existence. “This
is a step in the right direction,” he said.
Dr. Pitts warned that full integrate A
of schools is certain to result in 1 A
loss of jobs by many Negro teach* D
“That is the price we have to pay : C
our children to have equal educate p
opportunities,” he declared. “But tb< ^
are many fine Negro teachers, and h*
races would benefit by their teaching
desegregated schools.” [ ^
As desegregation is gradually e v.
tended and the jobs of Negro teach*
come into question, the ATA lea 1 * ^1
said, “We expect to be judged and &
our place in the teaching profes 51 O
according to our merits.” S
T
At the closing session the associajj ‘
reaffirmed its support of the U.S. ®
preme Court’s desegregation dec* 1 V]
and praised Southern school sys^ W
that have made the transition in aD c
derly manner. However, the resold Spi
added, ATA does not think any sch (
system has desegregated as quickly
it should, # f