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SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS—NOVEMBER, 1962—PAGE 5
— LOUISIANA
5 Voters Consider 5 Amendments on School-Race Issue
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NEW ORLEANS
ouisiana voters on Nov. 6 ap
parently approved three of
four amendments to the state con
stitution bearing directly on the
school segregation-desegregation
issue, also apparently endorsing a
fifth one which was related to the
subject by virtue of its segrega
tionist sponsorship.
The amendments were among 48
voted on in the general election.
The four propositions endorsed on
the basis of unofficial returns include:
• An amendment to Section 1 of
Article XXI of the state constitution to
enable the Legislature to submit
amendments to the education article of
the constitution at special elections.
This would be in addition to provisions
already on the books designating con
gressional and legislative elections for
amendment referendums.
(This proposal is an endeavor to
clarify the basic law regarding amend
ments to its school provisions. Con
fusion arose from efforts in 1954 to
permit special elections to be called for
that purpose. At that time, two Sec
tion Ones were added to Article XII,
the public education section. The first
spelled out general school provisions,
and the other authorized the special
elections.
(Confusion was compounded in 1958
when the legislature sought to rectify
the redundancy, but failed to include
the stipulation that special elections
could be called to amend the education
section.)
In the Colleges
• An amendment to redraft com
pletely Section 1, Article XII of the
constitution dealing with education,
omitting requirements that separate
schools be maintained for white and
Negro pupils, and authorizing the leg
islature to provide for financial assist
ance to pupils who choose to attend
private, nonsectarian schools. This
amendment separates the financing and
removes any administrative relation
between the public schools and the pu
pil assistance system.
• An amendment to make the con
stitution read, at Section 13, Article
XII: “No appropriation of public funds
shall be made to any private or non
sectarian school.” It now says, “No
public funds shall be used for support
of any private or nonsectarian school.”
9 A proposal to amend Section 18 of
Article VIII to empower the state board
of registrars to provide a uniform voter
test for use of registrars throughout
the state and to keep the results as
public records.
The margin for the first-listed amend
ment was about four to three and for
the other three about one and a half to
one.
Voted down was a proposed amend
ment to Article VI of the constitution
to affirm creation of the Lounsiana Fi
nancial Assistance Commission. The
measure would have authorized the
commission to borrow money to assist
students who choose to attend private
nonsectarian schools, and to issue up to
$20 millions in bonds. The amendment
would have dedicated two per cent of
the proceeds of the state sales tax to
retirement of the bonds.
Higher Education Enrollment
Increases About Six Per Cent
Total enrollment in Louisiana’s col
leges and universities stood at 49,554
for the fall semester of 1962-63, almost
six per cent above last fall’s count.
Of these, 39,960 were in predominant
ly white institutions and 8,854 were in
all-Neg>-o institutions. Approximately
740 Negro students were enrolled in
five colleges and universities attended
largely by white students. The figure
last year was 724.
Negro enrollment was up somewhat
m one of the desegregated institutions
and is expected to be down slightly in
four. Only at LSU, New Orleans, was
there an appreciable increase of Negro
enrollment. Negro enrollment was 290.
os compared with 258 last year. How-
eve r, in view of the total enrollment
mcrease there, the Negro enrollment
remained at about the same proportion,
ou gh]y eight per cent of the total.
On the main campus of Louisiana
pte University, at Baton Rouge, Ne-
aro enrollment for the current year was
as compared with 60 last year. They
au are graduate students. The LSU
Uate division has been deseg-egated
ce 1950, under court order.
d 01 *! enrollment at the Baton Rouge
th e PUS . was 12,333. Total enrollment for
11 university system this year is
Cincinnati NAACP Scores
Segregated Sugar Bowl
Xavier University of Cincinnati came
under fire of the Cincinnati chapter of
the NAACP for planning to play in the
Sugar Bowl basketball tournament in
New Orleans next winter.
The organization said, “It is regret
table that a Catholic institution built
on moral principles would evade its
Christian commitment for a few hours
of athletic participation.” The reference
was to the fact that spectators at sports
events in New Orleans are segregated.
In response, the Very Rev. Paul J.
O’Connor, president of the university,
pointed out that Xavier is not a segre
gated institution, that it has Negroes
both in its student body and on its
faculty; and though it has no Negroes
on its 1962-63 basketball team, Negro
students have participated in the past.
He said the decision to play in the
Sugar Bowl was a matter of judgment
and not a moral issue.
Xavier of Cincinnati is not to be
confused with Xavier of New Orleans,
a predominantly Negro Catholic insti
tution.
Political Activity
Louisiana Highlights
Louisiana voters apparently en
dorsed four of five proposed amend
ments to the state constitution bear
ing on the school-race issue.
Enrollment in New Orleans’ 19 de
segregated schools seemed to be sta
bilizing with 8,909 white pupils and
107 Negroes registered, and fluctua
tions normal for this time of the year.
Tuition grants were being paid to
5,948 Louisiana pupils attending pri
vate, nonsectarian schools under the
state’s “freedom of choice” system.
State colleges and universities en
rolled 49,554 students, with an esti
mated 740 Negroes attending five for
merly all-white institutions.
Segregation-desegregation was an
issue in the Nov. 6 election of two
members of the Orleans Parish
School Board. Incumbents won.
Schoolmen
Enrollment Settles
Down to Expected
Pattern for Year
Enrollments in New Orleans’s 19 de
segregated elementary schools settled
down into what is expected to be the
pattern for the current year. As of
Oct. 22, there were 8,909 pupils, in
cluding 107 Negroes, enrolled in the
affected schools.
That was 1,030 more than were en
rolled in the same schools on opening
day but 545 fewer than were enrolled
on the corresponding date, Oct. 19, last
year. Total enrollment for the public
school system was reported at 98,780,
up 4,468 over last year.
A school-by-school tabulation showed
the Negro enrollment in the desegre
gated schools unchanged since the
opening week. White enrollments
shifted upward slightly in some and
downward slightly in others. But
school authorities indicated that this
was the normal pattern, desegregation
aside.
This was borne out by the observa
tion that some of the larger losses of
enrollments were in schools with the
fewest Negro pupils and some of the
larger increases were in schools with
the larger Negro enrollments.
Examples Noted
For example, McDonogh No. 39, with
only one Negro student, went from a
total enrollment of 999 in September to
987 in October; and Bradley, with two
Negroes, dropped from 521 to 511.
Meanwhile, Wilson, with 11 Negroes,
showed a total enrollment rise from 408
as of Sept. 28 to 420 on Oct. 22. Semmes.
with eight Negroes, climbed from 222
to 242 during the month; and Frantz
with three Negro pupils, showed a total
en ollment increase of 42, to 360.
The Gentilly Terrace school, which
had been scheduled to receive two Ne
gro pupils when school opened, re
mained all white when they failed to
show up for registration. Enrollment
there moved upward from 902 as of
Sept. 28 to 967 at the last tabulation.
★ ★ ★
5,948 Students Receive
State Tuition Grants
Louisiana pupils attending 37 private
schools under the “freedom of choice”
grant program totaled 5,948, the Louis
iana Financial Assistance Commission
announced at Baton Rouge.
Of these, 5,115 are in elementary
schools and 833 are in high schools.
The great majority are in New Orleans
where desegregation in the parish pub
lic schools began in 1960 and in the
Catholic schools in 1962.
Under the program, established by
the legislature and administered by
the Financial Assistance Commission,
pupils at private, nonsectarian schools
are entitled to receive from the state
reimbursement for actual educational
expenses up to $360 a year. This
amount approximates the per-pupil
cost of operation in the public schools
statewide.
The program was designed to give
pupils who choose not to attend de
segregated schools an opportunity to
attend a private, nonsectarian school of
their choice. That it is being used be
yond the original purpose is suggested
by the fact that the pupils not receiv
ing grants attended 228 different
schools last year, though only 19 public
schools and 36 parochial schools are
desegregated.
$2.1 Million for Year
If each applicant thus far approved
receives the maximum grant, the pro
gram will cost $2,141,000 for the year.
It is financed by aopropriation of $200,-
000 a month ($2,400,000 a year) from
the state sales tax and the borrowing
authority of the Financial Assistance
Commission to issue up to $20 million
of bonds.
Meanwhile, the State Sovereignty
Commission reported that interest in
private schools is increasing over the
state. According to Chairman Frank
Voelker Jr., the commission will assist
Leeal Action
groups endeavoring to organize such
schools.
The commission plans to publish a
handbook and to assign a traveling
consultant to explain organizational
methods and operating procedures to
interested persons.
★ ★ ★
More Than 40 Negroes
Apply at Tech School
More than 40 Negroes have applied
for enrollment at the Sowela Voca
tional-Technical School in Lake
Charles. According to Rex Smelser, di
rector of the school, the applications are
being processed and action will be taken
on them whenever the process is com
pleted.
The action is in conformity with the
policy of the State Board of Educa
tion, announced in September, to re
ceive and process applications from
prospective students without regard to
race.
In New Orleans, the board of man
agers of the Delgado Trades and Tech
nical School deferred until Nov. 14 the
question of admitting Negro students.
Three Negroes have applied and
passed the required entrance examina
tion. They are among 37 who have
sought admission at the trade school
since 1954, and are the only ones who
have passed the entrance tests.
Reports indicate that the board of
managers has received legal opinions
from the city attorney and the state
attorney general recommending denial
of the applications on grounds that Del
gado is a private institution.
The school was founded with private
bequests and receives support from at
least two private endowments. But
operating funds also come from city,
state and federal sources.
★ ★ ★
Caddo Voters Approve
$9 Million for Schools
In Caddo Parish (Shreveport), voters
approved a $9 million school bond is
sue by a margin of 15 to 1, though
(See LOUISIANA, Page 8)
Court Denies Motion To Enter
East Baton Rouge Parish Case
A motion to intervene as plaintiffs
in the East Baton Rouge Parish school
desegregation case, granted seven Ne
gro petitioners by the federal district
court in September, was denied Oct. 4
on petition of the defendants in the
case. (Clifford E. Davis Jr. et al v. East
Baton Rouge Parish School Board.)
In essence, the petition by the de
fendants said that the matter had al
ready been adjudicated, that the
interests of the intervenors would be
amply represented by the plaintiffs and
that the intervenors had not shown
that their interests would not be so
represented.
U. S. District Judge E. Gordon West
granted the motion of defendants, and
dispensed with a hearing scheduled for
Nov. 2 to hear arguments by the in
tervenors.
The Davis case dates from March,
1956, when 14 Negro plaintiffs petitioned
for an end of segregated school facili
ties. Desegregation “with all deliberate
speed” was ordered by the district
court in 1960 and affirmed by the Fifth
Circuit Court of Appeals in 1961. The
U. S. Supreme Court declined to review
the case. No date for compliance has
been set.
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140 are'' 1 ]^ 60 ^ 3 °f whom approximate!
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Ust fail? 11 increase of 403 students ove
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2,131 f eese, total enrollment ros
‘Sro enr!fn m last year ’ s 3 ’ 090 ’ wit
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i>eis t :‘ tute at Ruston, 3,877
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6a ns, 1 059 1 aern University at Nev
Race Issue Enters Orleans Election
The segregation-desegregation issue
took on a significant role in the elec
tion campaign in which six local men
sought two seats on the Orleans Par
ish School Board. The six candidates
on the Nov. 6 ballot included one Ne
gro, Theodore W. George. (See also
Community Action.)
Winners were Lloyd J. Rittner and
Louis G. Riecke, incumbents. In a joint
statement the two men, who have
served on the board since 1956, said:
“We will continue to work for the
preservation of our free public schools,
which serve the majority of children
in Orleans Parish. Despite almost over
whelming handicaps, we have managed
to keep the schools open so that chil
dren can be educated. This means a
good deal in our technical age when
education is an absolute necessity.”
Rayon A. Stevens and James L. Ear-
hart, challenging for the seats, received
the endorsement of the Citizens Coun
cil. They placed the emphasis on job
training for industry in the technical
era. In a joint statement, they asserted,
“This calls for an explosion of the
guidance facilities of the public schools
and a greater concentration on pro
viding for the individual difference of
the students in the public schools.”
Later, Earhart entered the segrega
tion-desegregation debate by criticizing
the incumbents’ alleged picking and
chosing which state laws to obey and
which to ignore. He said:
“When Mr. Riecke and Mr. Rittner
and the rest of the school board were
addressed out of office by state law,
they called upon school board attorney
Samuel Rosenberg, the U.S. Justice De
partment and the federal courts to
keep them in office by declaring the
state law invalid.”
But, he added, when Riecke found it
useful, he used a state law prohibiting
racially mixed meetings in school build
ings to block Negro candidate Theo
dore George from addressing a Parent-
Teachers meeting.
The reference was to an Oct. 19
meeting of the Edward Haynes School
PTA to which all candidates except
George were invited to discuss their
candidacy. Riecke had said at that
time that he assumed the reason was
because of a state law prohibiting ra
cially mixed social gatherings in school
buildings.
The sixth candidate was Charles J.
Gendusa, a certified public accountant
and instructor at Loyola University,
who campaigned on a program that
favored keeping the schools open and
operating efficiently.
The school board election is a non
partisan affair with the candidates win
ning the highest number of votes claim
ing the vacant seats. Only two positions
on the five-member board were up for
election at this time.
Riecke got 53,543 votes and Rittner
52,844 on early tabulations. Other totals:
Earhart, 47,456; Stevens, 41,894; Gen
dusa, 8,346; George, 4,390.
Status of a third position on the
board was in question. It was held by
Emile A. Wagner Jr., a segregationist
member who resigned when the other
four members agreed to formulate a
plan for school desegregation at the
instigation of the federal court. How
ever, no action had been taken by
Gov. Jimmie Davis on the Wagner res
ignation, either to accept it or to name
a replacement.
★ ★ ★
Law Requiring Ballots
To Show Race Attacked
In Baton Rouge, two Negroes who
had been defeated in the July school
board election appealed to the U.S.
Supreme Court to strike down a state
law requiring that election ballots indi
cate the candidates’ race.
Dupuy M. Anderson and Acie J. Bel
ton contend that the provision conflicts
with the 15th Amendment to the fed
eral constitution and with the equal
protection and due process clause of
the 14th Amendment. Their plea was
denied earlier by a three-judge court
in New Orleans.
At issue is Act 538 of 1960. The plain
tiffs contend that it “invades, denies
and abridges” their rights under the
14th and 15th amendments.
In a split decision, the three-judge
court held that the law was not dis
criminatory since all candidates are
required to identify themselves by
race, that the law “contributes to a
more informed electorate,” and that the
candidates had a right to anonymity
only if the disclosure entailed the like
lihood of a substantial restraint on their
right to freedom of association or if
such disclosure might lead to “fear of
reprisal.”