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SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS—APRIL, 1963—PAGE 5
LOUISIANA
Orleans Parish
Sets Nonracial
School Zones
(Continued from Page 3)
plans and see which one is the best to
present to Judge West, with the idea
in mind of complying with the federal
courts.”
School, Financial Aides
Disagree on Funds
The conflcting claims of public and
grant-in-aid education on state finan
cial resources gained some attention
last month.
Orleans Parish School Board member
Louis G. Riecke said local school
teachers could have a $200-a-year raise
if the board received state money that
is applied to tuition grants.
Lantz Womack, vice chairman of the
State Financial Assistance Commission,
countered by noting that the $360-per-
year grant is a general figure and that
per-pupil costs vary under different
circumstances. He said it is “debatable”
whether the per-pupil grants are too
high.
The dialogue began when Riecke,
at the school board’s March 11 meet
ing, took note of a school superinten
dent’s report that New Orleans teachers
are the lowest paid among 25 cities of
comparable size. He said the $360 now
allocated to each pupil in private
schools in New Orleans, if appropriated
to the public schools, would permit a
teacher pay raise of $200 a year.
$287 Per Pupil
Riecke went on to observe that the
board this year is spending $287.73 per
pupil, $10 less than it spent a year ago,
and that 60 per cent or approximately
$170 per pupil was in local funds. He
pointed out that the entire $360 tuition
grant was from state sources.
Furthermore, Riecke noted, that out
of its $287.73 per pupil, the Orleans
board provided such services as trans
portation which the grants-in-aid do
not cover.
Womack, speaking at a meeting o:
Private school representatives, repliec
at the $360 tuition grant was all the
s ate provided to children who chose
° P r ' va ^ e > nonsectarian schools
tl l ^ at unc * er no circumstances coulc
e Financial Assistance Commissior
roude capital and maintenance funds
° the private schools,
o do so, he said, would jeopardize
e commission’s status as an agency
is ing parents to make a free choice
D f C ,°° s f° r their chilelren and woulc
he commission in the position oi
inning the private schools.
Fr„„°u. a< ^’ a state representative from
com Paris h, disclosed that t’
operates with a staff
,r Persons and an electronic account
ity Action
ing machine. He added that its ex
penditures have been running about
S260,000 a month, even though its cur
rent receipts are only $200,000 a month
from state sales taxes.
But he said that the amount of money
designated for the tuition grant pro
gram would increase according to need.
He said increased need could be antici
pated in Rapides, Bossier and East
Baton Rouge parishes.
The Citizens Council of Greater New
Orleans also entered the debate, ac
cusing Riecker of a “vicious attack on
cur private schools.” In a statement,
George Singlemann, secretary of the
council, claimed Riecke was dealing in
“half-truths,” and proposed that by
consolidating “ghost schools operating
with less than one fourth of their ca
pacity” sufficient funds could be saved
to give teachers a pay raise.
Federal Aid Urged
Continuation of federal aid to
Rapides Parish schools under present
conditions was urged by Louisiana
congressional members in a letter to
Anthony J. Celebrezze, U.S. secretary
of health, education and welfare.
The parish school board previously
had been notified that its grant, under
the aid to “impacted” areas program,
would not be renewed for the 1963-64
school year because the school system,
which serves some 2,200 children of
federal employes and personnel, is not
desegregated.
Also during the month, U.S. Com
missioner of Education Francis Keppel
announced that the federal govern
ment would build and operate its own
school on the England Air Force Base
in Rapides to assure a “suitable” edu
cation for 370 grade school children
who live on the base. The cost is esti
mated at $400,000.
In their letter to Celebrezze, Sen.
Russell Long, Sen. Allen Ellender and
Rep. Gillis Long said that Public Law
874, authorizing aid to “impacted”
areas, should be amended to specifically
provide for allocation of funds with
out limitations relative to segregation.
Desegregation of the schools should
be voluntary, they said, referring to
data indicating that where desegrega
tion has been forced, withdrawals and
loss of attendance have resulted. In
some areas the trend has been toward
either all-white or all-Negro schools,
the letter said, and cited Washington
as an example.
“In view of the existing laws in the
state of Louisiana,” they concluded,
“we urge you to give every possible
consideration to retaining the status
quo with reference to this program.”
The allocation to the Rapides Parish
schools for the current year is $225,000.
Split Decision
While taking cognizance of the cor
respondence concerning its allocation
under Public Law 874, the Rapides
Parish School Board arrived at a split
decision to accept a $4,565.24 federal
matching grant under the National De
fense Education Act.
Three members of the board opposed
acceptance pending determination of
the parish’s continued allocation of
funds under the aid to impacted areas
VIRGINIA
Judge Rules Prince Edward
Need Not Operate Public Schools
RICHMOND
lVT either state nor federal con-
-L ’ stitution or law requires op
eration of public schools in Prince
Edward County, Judge John Win-
go Knowles of Richmond Circuit
Court ruled March 27. (County
School Board of Prince Edward v.
Griffin.)
He also found nothing to bar payment
of state-local tuition grants in Prince
Edward, even though public schools
there are closed.
Judge Knowles’
rulings on the
various points at
issue were di
rectly contrary to
the earlier find
ings of Federal
District Judge
Oren R. Lewis.
(Griffin v. Prince
Edward County
Board of Super
visors.)
Judge Lewis held that public schools
of Prince Edward cannot be closed to
avoid desegregation while schools else
where in Virginia remain open.
The federal judge also had ruled that
tuition grants could not be paid to
Prince Edward children to attend pri
vate schools as long as public schools
in the county are closed.
Judge Lewis’ rulings now are pend
ing before the U.S. Fourth Circuit
Court of Appeals.
Negro attorneys involved in school
desegregation litigation in Virginia
program. Opposed were W. F. Cotton,
Mrs. Carolyn Pitts and Albert T.
Hunter.
This is the fifth year the board has
participated in the National Defense
Education program, without prior con
ditions set by the federal government.
The board has spent $256,000 in the
past four years for teaching materials
in mathematics, science and foreign
languages. However, Asst. Supt. R. C.
Hale told the board that the math and
language programs were adequately
equipped now and requests for federal
funds probably would not be neces
sary next year.
Also in Rapides Parish, Everett M.
Johnson of Glenmora was appointed
to replace E. C. Johnson who resigned
as a member of the parish school board.
And from Syossett, N. Y. came word
that James F. Redmond had been
named administrative head of the
school system of that Long Island town.
Redmond was superintendent of Or
leans Parish schools at the time de
segregation began in 1960.
Virginia Highlights
A state circuit court judge ruled
that closing of Prince Edward
County’s public schools does not vio
late any constitutional rights of the
county’s Negro children.
Several localities took steps indi
cating possible increases next fall
in the number of Negroes attending
desegregated schools.
have taken the view that state court
rulings on the Prince Edward situation
are not of great significance. Their view
is that the issues involved are really
federal issues, and they are looking
toward the federal courts for relief.
In line with this thinking, the Negro
plaintiffs were not expected to appeal
Judge Knowles’ decision. But the case
was expected to be taken to the State
Supreme Court by county and state
officials on a technicality. Even though
the county and state won the case in
the lower court, they were expected to
seek similar rulings from the State
Supreme Court, on the theory that an
opinion from Virginia’s highest tribunal
might have greater effect on the federal
courts.
In his 31-page single-spaced type
written opinion, Judge Knowles de
clared that Virginia has local option
in the matter of school operation. If
any locality does not wish to operate
schools, it is not required to do so, he
said.
Federal Requirement
As to whether Prince Edward is
violating any federal requirement,
Judge Knowles wrote:
“The court is aware of no federal
statute requiring a state to provide
public free schooling for its citizens,
nor is the court aware of any provision
of the 14th Amendment which requires
a state either to operate public free
schools or to provide state scholarship
grants or any other form of free public
education.
“On the contrary, whether free pub
lic education shall be provided is
strictly a matter for state determina
tion.”
Virginia’s local option school system
Schoolmen
and the tuition grants program “are
not deemed by this court to constitute
a scheme for the evasion of the [school
desegregation] decision of the United
States Supreme Court,” Judge Knowles
continued. Local option in Virginia
“long antedates that decision,” he said.
What They Say
RFK’s Mention
Of Prince Edward
Stimulates Replies
Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy,
in a speech prepared for Kentucky’s
centennial observance of the Emanci
pation Proclamation at Louisville
March 18, declared:
“We may observe, with . . . sadness
and irony, that outside of Africa, south
of the Sahara where education is still
a difficult challenge, the only places
on earth known not to provide free
public education are Communist China,
North Viet Nam, Sarawak, Singapore,
British Honduras—and Prince Edward
County, Va.”
The Farmville Herald, semi-weekly
newspaper published at Prince Edward
county seat, said editorially:
“The efficient, knowledgeable and ar
ticulate attorney general . . . attempted
to discredit Prince Edward by the
spurious means of association, a despic
able practice in the opinions of all
fair-minded people.”
The paper said Kennedy failed to
tell his audience many important facts
about the Prince Edward situation,
such as that “under laws of Virginia,
education could have been available to
every child in Prince Edward County,
and the loss of education was by pa
rental acquiescence under prompting
or influence of those whose prime
interest was not education.”
★ ★ ★
Gov. Albertis S. Harrison Jr., at a
press conference March 20, also replied
to the Attorney General.
He said that in all the places Ken
nedy named where there are no public
schools, except Prince Edward, the
(See VIRGINIA, Page 6)
Lynchburg Board Approves
Desegregation of Two Grades
KNOWLES
<>000 Negroes Seen In Biracial Classes
ing i n f* Sult °£ proposed redistric
Astern 7%n Gans Parisl1 public scho
Will ’ j to ■*•0,000 Negro childre
Septemi. 011 ^ desegregated classes i
Citzens Council spoke:
S? sa ‘ d March 26.
Cou nc j] at e meeting of the Citizer
George c- Greater New Orlean
0r 8anizaf ing * emann , secretary of tt
'*idesp rp lan ’ asser ted that the predicte
°ne of (p desegregation would spar
Orleans if- most serious crises in Ne’
ailment He claimed Negro en
' V ° u ld * T merl y all-white schoo
Si «Rlem G fr0m one to 50 °-
“sitt ln „ a f accu sed the school boar
He saij i P wn on Hus information.’
®SUres “fv S sta t eme nt was based o
Wtrick cl the Dr ' sta nley Fitz
Jetted t a .f of desegregation as sub
^Pt. 0 p ” 6 sch ° o1 board by Scho<
*“3 to the Walker.” The referenc
"° r of T ' p Hzpatrick who is direc
,'^SUS amf d e Partment of researc
> Public^*? 8 for the New O
p rin ci , schools.
f/ ‘^edfff j P l aker at the meeting w
0 aut hor Vans of Jackson, Mis
f>cil of a consu hant to the Citize:
si of a — lo rne uitiz
ffjphce t 0 j er ica. He described
T Civic duty ” regati ° n as a “ Christi -
, that segregation is “u:
K>th P ' a he said, is “fantastic, b
titl eb€e nt^f nCan coI °nies and sta
of f, This Ee 8 m f gated since their forn
the 6 S'o es a , e ’ Peaceful coexistei
of ^ost stHI Jp 'whites in America
L
^hieri Ca single characteris
Dr. Evans asserted further that segre
gation is not illegal. The Supreme
Court desegregation decision of 1954
was a violation of the law, he declared,
because “the court abandoned legal
precedence and followed the dictates of
so-called psychology aid sociology.”
Nor is integration inevitable, he
asserted. “This is the saddest mistake
ever made. Integration is not inevitable;
it is virtually impossible. Observed
from the other side the effort to date
has been almost a total failure.
“Enforcement of the Supreme Court
decision has not been one-tenth or even
one one-hundredth as effective as the
18th amendment on prohibition, which
was repealed.
“Reversal is sure to come,” Dr. Evans
asserted, “if the American republic
survives.”
★ ★ ★
$60,000 Legal Cost
For Meredith Backed
The efforts to enroll James Meredith
in the University of Mississippi cost
the NAACP $60,000 in legal expenses,
Mrs. Constance Baker Motley, an
NAACP attorney, told a membership
campaign gathering in New Orleans.
“But the price was right,” she added.
Both the court battle and the use of
federal troops on the Ole Miss campus
had an impact on the peaceful enroll
ment later of Harvey Gantt at Clemson
College in South Carolina, she asserted.
Early Desegregation
Seen in East Baton Rouge
Desegregation might come to East
Baton Rouge Parish schools “as soon
as September,” a high school principal
told a meeting of parents and school
patrons, and suggested that they should
work together to solve this “serious
problem.”
Speaking was Baker High School
Principal Guy Sommers at a meeting
called by school patrons to protest the
reported resignation of a popular head
coach, Jack Baker. Baker explained
that his reasons for leaving were purely
personal, but questions directed to
Sommers suggested the fans thought
the coach was dissatisfied with ad
ministrative policies. Not so, said Som
mers.
He added: “I was at a meeting in the
school board office in which we were
briefed on this integration problem.
We’ve been able to stave it off for a
few years, but I don’t think we can
do it much longer. We should unite in
the face of this far more serious prob
lem.”
★ ★ ★
Shreveport Police
Barred from Parley
Shreveport Public Safety Commis
sioner George D’Artois refused to
permit city police officers to attend a
law enforcement seminar for Southern
policemen and has declined an invita-
Desegregation of two more grades
in Lynchburg schools was approved by
the school board March 19.
The first grade was desegregated last
September. The second and third grades
will be desegregated next September,
according to present plans.
The Richmond school board on March
18 voted to abolish the city’s system
of “feeder schools” and dual attendance
areas for white and Negro children.
The action was in compliance with an
order by Federal District Judge John
D. Butzer Jr. last July 25. (Bradley
v. School Board of the City of Rich
mond.)
Under the “feeder” system, children
progress automatically from specified
elementary schools to specified junior
high schools and then on to specified
senior high schools. In Richmond, white
schools have “fed” into white schools,
and Negro schools into Negro schools,
although there has been some racial
mixing through action on individual
applications from Negroes.
Under the new plan, no child will
go automatically to the next highest
school. Instead, the school board will
tion to address the seminar.
The conference on “Police Responsi
bility in Race Tension and Conflict”
is scheduled for April 8-10 at the
University of Louisville.
D’Artois’ action was prompted by his
belief that the seminar will be “nothing
but a brainwashing affair.”
Later in the month, Sheriff Bryan
Clemmons of East Baton Rouge Parish
announced that his men would not
attend either. And the Citizens Council
of Greater New Orleans was urging
Police Supt. Joseph I. Giarrusso not to
send participants from the city police
force.
recommend the assignment of each
child individually, and the State Pupil
Placement Board will make the actual
assignments.
Arlington School Board Chairman
James J. Stockard was quoted by the
Northern Virginia Sun on March 27 as
saying:
“I sense widespread feeling in the
community, from substantial groups and
responsible citizens, that the [school]
system should be changed to one which
ignores races altogether.”
Abandonment of the county’s all-
Negro high school and absorption of its
230 pupils into the three white high
schools was urged at the school board
meeting March 26 by the Arlington
Ministerial Association and the Rock
Spring Congregational Church.
Arlington’s first school desegregation
occurred six years ago, but the coun
ty’s school system still is largely a
segregated one.
The Sun reported that the five mem
bers of the school board “are generally
considered to be split 3 to 2 in favor
of abandonment of segregation.”
★ ★ ★
Officials of a private white school in
Powhatan County announced plans for
expansion from 4 to 12 grades by next
fall.
E. M. Walton, president of the Hu
guenot Academy, said the decision to
expand resulted from enthusiastic in
terest shown by white residents of the
county. He said surveys indicate that
“a large majority” of the white students
in the public school system would at
tend an accredited private school.
Powhatan has one public school for
whites and one for Negroes. A federal
court order that the white school admit
three Negroes is on appeal.