SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS-JULY, 1963—PAGE 19
MARYLAND
Baltimore School Board’s
Racial Policy Is Attacked
BRAIN
(Continued From Page 18)
menting the school board’s original de
segregation policy, with a short sum
mary of desegregation results in terms
of pupils and staff.
As to pupils, Dr.
Brain reported:
“In 1962 (as of
October 31) 73.5
per cent of all
white public
school pupils at
tended integrated
schools. As of the
same date, 58.7
per cent of all
Negro public
school pupils at
tended integrated schools—a substantial
increase over 1954 [when only eight
per cent of Negro pupils had entered
white schools]. This is dramatic evi
dence of the effects of pupil desegrega
tion in the student body of the Balti
more public schools.”
On the subject of staff desegregation,
Dr. Brain reported:
“So far as individual school staffing
assignments were concerned, as of 1953
the faculties were still completely
racially segregated. By 1961, however,
32.3 per cent of the faculties were
integrated, and by 1962, 36.5 per cent.
The effects of staff desegregation are
more strikingly portrayed when ap
plied to individual teachers and school-
level administrators. By 1961, 50.9 per
cent of all school faculty members
had the privilege of working in in
tegrated situations.
“Within eight years’ time, despite all
the difficulties of recruitment, com
petition for personnel etc., Baltimore
has made great progress in staff in
tegration.”
First Question
The ad hoc committee of the school
board was headed by Dr. William D.
McElroy, a professor of biology at
Johns Hopkins University, and includ-
e d the two Negro members of the
board. All five members of the ad hoc
group signed the committee report
which took up, first of all, the question
°f whether the school board “unwit-
tingly permitted” segregation to con
tinue in areas over which the board
exer cised control. The committee said:
Although the citizens group has
wade this general allegation, they have
a vanced no proof either in their writ-
en [‘seven-year”] report or in their
conferences with this committee that
ere has been deliberate or purposeful
achon by the Board of School Com
missioners or the school staff to main-
ain racially segregated schools or to
^criminate between pupils on the
oasis of race.
of Sf h° c committee of the Board
***** Commissioners has found no
jj. , ence that the board’s policies per-
stH 11 *! 5 t0 Segregation have not been
t; 0I ^ y adhered to by the administra-
sjh , at . enrollment in some public
iu °} s is Predominantly Negro and
Pare tf 1 * prec * omin antly white is ap-
t ern ^ ¥ the result of housing pat-
“It *
Ws ? u 6ar ’ therefore, to the mem-
the n- e a< * hoc committee . . . that
li es ■ wriate solution to this problem
th e el- • ^ ee choice of residence and
p atter “ nma tl° n of the present housing
the „ S w hich obviously are beyond
Co antr °l °t the Board of School
‘Paiissioners.”
^ ‘Free Choice'
p°li c |l a ^ h° c committee next examined
"free JL •* m *ght tend to restrict the
Wore sc hools, which in Balti-
°f p ar a ditionally has meant the right
School en *~\ t° enroll children in any
dudefi u, cit y- ddie committee con-
Pr ac ti ce at one limiting factor was the
Wound ° drawing district lines
strict ?, n OVer crowded school to re-
w-ithin 8 e ^ ance to children living
Sc hool v c . h? na t e d distance. In the
hafi dist e,ar ^. ust conc luded, Baltimore
Pr °Xim=r?t Idles around 41 of its ap-
Thg e y ffW schools,
hstrictj^aahtee recommended that all
'hat tr g fa terminated on Oct. 31 and
^"orial S j FS h e permitted for edu-
f r °Priat e and ,°'her reasons by the ap-
° dasse a *' s ' an t superintendent in-
Pu Pils f a L having no more than 35
hav e t° U ' half of Baltimore’s clas-
; r Wisf er f Wer than 35). Up to now, a
^thout a T one sch ool to another
; J hed tb p Caange °f residence has re-
.nvo, v ^ PProva l °f the two princi-
,i ^he a( j ,
6 TUestio ° C comm ittee also took up
n of deliberately seeking to
achieve a racial blend in the schools.
Its report said:
“The citizens group in their desire
to achieve greater racial heterogeneity
recommended the establishment, where
possible, of biracial attendance zones
for all schools. The intent of such a
policy would be to compel children to
attend a particular school so that racial
balances with quota limits of not less
than 11 per cent nor more than 89 per
cent Negro pupil population in a given
school might be achieved and main
tained.
“Where a child attends a given school
voluntarily as a result of the free
choice of schools, the ad hoc committee
concludes that any plan which would
seek to move the child about involun
tarily from one school to another for
the purpose of maintaining racial bal
ances would tend to violate the rights
of the individual.
“The ad hoc committee finds that the
Board of School Commissioners in 1954
held that the utilization of race as a
factor in the determination of school
policies was improper then, as were
the discriminatory educational practices
based on racial considerations that
existed prior to that date.
“Thus, it is the feeling of members
of the ad hoc committee that neither
the Board of School Commissioners nor
members of the administrative staff can
provide a satisfactory definition of what
constitutes the appropriate racial bal
ance for a given school or for the
school system. ...”
Recommendation Adopted
The school board on June 6 adopted
the ad hoc committee’s recommendation
on the elimination of districting and
the change in transfer policies. The
board also granted the parents’ request
that detailed records of transfer ap
plications be kept. But by then the
“seven-year” report had become the
“eight-year” report and had been join
ed by the NAACP demands, so that, in
the words of School Board President
Frank, “This is very different from
what we thought of before.”
In concluding the meeting, President
Frank promised consideration of the
demands “with all hasty speed,” but
added, “I do not think that it is within
the realm of possibility that our re
examination can be completed in any
such time as seems to be visualized.”
The changes that the board did make
in districting and transfer policies were
rejected by the NAACP. Mrs. Mitchell
termed them “totally unacceptable” and
took issue with the ad hoc committee’s
premise that one-race schools were
only the result of housing patterns.
The parents group said it did not
want the board to take action out of
hand, because the board had only just
received its “eight-year” report. The
parents met the following week and
drafted an eight-page letter to school
officials in which they acknowledged
the changes in districting and transfers
as a “first step,” but reviewed their
reasons for believing the board had
to do more than that.
School Supt. Brain announced on
June 12 that he was seeking to arrange
a conference with NAACP national
leaders, including Miss Shagaloff, and
school officials in other large cities
facing the demand for full desegrega
tion. “We’ve got a national issue with
a local focus,” explained Brain, saying
that he hoped a discussion of common
problems with other school officials
would lead to “educationally sound”
policies acceptable to integrationists.
By the end of June, Dr. Brain indi
cated that half a dozen Northern school
superintendents along with interested
national civil rights groups had ex
pressed a definite intention of attending
the conference, expected to be held in
Baltimore early in August.
In an interview with the Balitmore
Sun published June 14, Frank said that
it was still board policy not to force
“children or staff members unwillingly
into integrated situations” but that it
was inevitable that more attention
would be given to the racial aspects of
school operations.
“Anybody who wasn’t affected by the
whole spirit of the times and the re
presentations that are being made in
Baltimore and throughout Maryland,”
he said, “would be some kind of clod.”
He predicted a “sharp decrease” in the
number of all-white teaching staffs
as one early result of the discussions.
Counterpoint
The issue of alleged racial discrimin
ation in staff promotions provided a
running contrapuntal theme. Repre
sentatives of the Interdenominational
Ministers Alliance, a Negro association
of about 200 Protestant ministers, were
unable for lack of time to address the
school board at its lengthy June 6 ses
sion but conferred with Supt. Brain
and Dr. Houston R. Jackson, as as
sistant superintendent for staff services.
Expressing disappointment with an
swers to their questions about Negro
promotions and with the lack of Negro
representation in certain administra
tive departments, the spokesmen told
the press on June 7:
“It was also disturbing to leam that
there is not a single Negro principal
and only three Negro vice principals
serving in predominantly white schools.
“We were critical of statements by
the two officials revealing that they
place so little emphasis on academic
training and experience and so much
on community participation in con
sidering Negro teachers for promotion.
We repeatedly took issue with the as
sistant superintendent in his attempts
to portray the Negro teacher as in
ferior.”
‘So Many Factors’
Dr. Jackson himself a Negro, prompt
ly denied saying Negro teachers were
inferior. “I did tell them,” he explained
in the Sun, “that we don’t have so
many eminently qualified people as
they say we have . . . Many persons
feel that because a person has a de
gree, he is immediately qualified to be
an administrator, but there are so many
factors to be taken into account. ...”
(For Dr. Jackson’s views in full, see
SSN, August, 1961).
The promotion issue boiled over at
the June 19 meeting of the school board
when a list of staff assignments came
up for approval. The list included
the appointment of several Negroes
as principals of predominantly white
schools and also the appointment of
Negroes to new administrative posi
tions.
Mrs. Elizabeth Murphy Phillips, one
of the two Negro board members, read
a mimeographed statement in which
she referred to “six unprecedented as
signments of colored personnel to jobs
heretofore closed to them” as “token
desegregation” and “not sufficient at
this time when our entire methods of
desegregation are under fire . . . and
we face the threat of court action.”
Although Mrs. Phillips had signed
the report of the ad hoc committee
which found no evidence of deliberate
segregation, she spoke of “obvious seg-
DELAWARE
Three Negro High Schools
Report Enrollment D ecline
DOVER
ach of Delaware’s three coun-
ty Negro high schools, for the
first time in at least a decade,
graduated fewer seniors in June
than during the previous year.
The number of graduates, according
to 10-year totals released to Southern
School News by the State Department
of Public Instruction, declined from
196 to 177.
Dr. Howard Row, assistant superin
tendent of public instruction in charge
of secondary schools, declined com
ment on the meaning of the decline.
The number of graduates declined by
a half-dozen at both Jason (Sussex
County) and Redding (New Castle
County) and seven at William Henry
(Kent County).
Figures Compared
Jason, which has the largest enroll
ment of the three, graduated 106, com
pared with 112 last year, while Wil
liam Henry graduated 59 compared to
66. The number of Redding graduates
dropped from 18 to 12.
According to the 10-year statistics, a
total of 1,368 students have been grad
uated at the three schools since the
Supreme Court desegregation decision.
The majority, 789, received diplomas
from Jason, with 426 graduating from
William Henry and 153 from Redding,
which has never graduated a class of
more than 25 during the past decade.
Legislative Action
Construction Bill
Includes Additions
To All-Negro Schools
An amended school construction bill,
in the amount of $57,641,245, was in
troduced into the House during June.
The amendment to HB 224 provides
for additional construction at more
than a dozen schools with all-Negro
Delaware Highlights
Enrollment declined at each of the
three Negro county high schools for
the first time in at least 10 years.
A $57-million school construction
bill includes funds for projects at
more than a dozen schools with all-
Negro enrollments.
Consolidation of the three Negro
county high schools with white
schools is not considered feasible by
a state school official.
regation in pupil transportation and
assignment.” The elimination of district
lines as of Oct. 31, which the board did
on the committee’s recommendation,
Mrs. Phillips described as not a “suf
ficient answer” to complaints: “We
need to do more. And, it is my feeling
that we can do it immediately, not
next October after school opens.”
Her remarks drew heated responses
from white members of the board who
asserted “we are doing all we possibly
Biracial Teacher Association Formed
Merger of the white and Negro
teachers associations in Wicomico
County, on the Eastern Shore, was an
nounced in June. The announcement
followed the ratification of a new con
stitution and acceptance of a new slate
of officers by the Wicomico County
Teachers’ Association. The former all-
white organization by that name had
300 members, and the former all-Negro
Wicomico County Education Associa
tion had 200 members.
Foundations for the merger were
described as being laid as long ago as
1961 when the two associations spon
sored a joint legislative dinner. The
merger was presented as “part of the
continuing integration process in Wico
mico County schools.” The county had
some Negroes in formerly all-white
schools for the first time last fall.
Also in June, announcement was
made of the merger of the white and
Negro teachers associations in Wor
cester County, also on the Eastern
Shore. The reorganization of the Wor
cester County Teachers Association as
a biracial body had taken place in
March, but the announcement had a-
waited the first executive session of
the new group. As of the last school
year, Worcester had no Negro pupils
in desegregated white schools.
The mergers in Wicomico and Wor
cester counties raised the number of
Maryland school districts with a single
teachers association to 15. Nine coun
ties at last count continued to have
separate white and Negro organiza
tions. The Maryland State Teachers
Association as the parent body annual
ly urges the benefits of unification.
Board Calls for Study
Of Desegregation Issues
The Harford County Board of Edu
cation in June requested its profes
sional staff to “make an intensive study
of the problems involved in the further
desegregation of Harford County
schools.”
The county has completed a seven-
year transition program which by last
fall had brought 417 Negroes into 17
formerly all-white schools. The county
has about 2,100 Negroes in a school
enrollment of 16,000.
The Baltimore Evening Sun reported
Dr. Charles W. Willis, Harford’s school
superintendent, as saying that the use
of the word “problems” in the board’s
statement was unfortunate. Dr. Willis
said that the board had not been ap
proached by any groups, either for or
against desegregation, and was having
the study made as a result of “trouble
all over the state.”
Dr. Willis said he did not want Har
ford caught off balance in the midst of
desegregation controversy. The study
is to include desegregation factors re
lated to pupils, teachers, transporta
tion and buildings, with the staff mak
ing periodic progress reports. Dr. Willis
said he did not expect any reports
from the staff for at least three months.
enrollment, for which the state pays
all construction costs.
At white schools, the state pays 60
per cent of the construction cost, with
the remainder raised by real estate and
capitation taxes in the local districts.
Major projects are planned for all
three counties, with many exceeding a
quarter-million dollars.
The General Assembly, however,
went into recess on June 28 without
action on the school bond bill.
What They Say
Program to Increase
Civic Responsibility
Of Negroes Outlined
A prominent Negro educator was
among more than 100 members of his
race in the Wilmington area who have
outlined a program to increase Ne
groes’ civic responsibility and improve
the public image of their teen-agers.
Dr. Early C. Jackson, principal of
Bancroft School, said, “The Negro is
beginning to study himself, his weak
nesses as well as his strengths.”
Negroes, he said, “are frightened be
cause the weaknesses of our people
are becoming more conspicuous as we
penetrate the wall and become more
distributed into the larger community.
“The time has come when the Negro
race no longer wants to sweep its
weaknesses underneath the rug. Per
sonal pride and self-respect are neces
sary to the attainment of respect and
acceptance by others,” Dr. Jackson
said.
★ ★ ★
White-Negro High School
Consolidation Discussed
Consolidation of Delaware’s three
county Negro high schools with white
schools would result in reduced enroll
ment and loss of jobs by at least 50
per cent of the teachers, in the opinion
of a state school official.
Such a merger, Dr. John G. Parres
told the League of Women Voters of
Wilmington, is “economically and edu
cationally unsound.”
Dr. Parres, director of research and
publications for the State Department
of Public Instruction, said this is the
reason the consolidation bill sponsored
by the State Board of Education omits
the Negro schools.
Louis L. Redding, leader of the Ne
groes’ fight to desegregate Delaware
schools, has called omission of the
county high schools an attempt to per-
(See DELAWARE, Page 20)
can” or urged “due recognition” of
Baltimore’s desegregation accomplish
ments. Mrs. Phillips drew some support
from J. Percy Bond, the other Negro
board member, who said, “I think
we’re moving in the right direction,
though not as rapidly as we could
and should move.”
“When Bond referred to the number
of Negro pupils on double shifts as
“discriminatory,” John R. Sherwood,
the board member who had made the
original desegregation motion in 1954
shouted, “It is not discriminatory.”
In the end, all board members except
Mrs. Phillips voted for the adoption of
the personnel appointment list. The
board also voted, this time unanimous
ly, to buy 100 temporary classrooms to
“provide immediate relief” at over
crowded schools, most of which are
in Negro areas, and to lease or buy
additional buses to transport children
to vacant classrooms in distant schools.
Bond urged the board to “make no
transportation” arrangements without
taking race into account. “We must
consider race as a justifiable education
al motive for moving from one school
to another,” he said. He, too, signed
the ad hoc committee report which
says that neither the board nor admin
istrative staff “can provide a satisfac
tory definition of what constitutes the
appropriate racial balance for a given
school ...”
At a meeting on June 26, the school
board heard a charge by the Interde
nominational Ministers Alliance that
Negroes were held to “absurd” stand
ards for promotion. The board also
received a telegraphed request by the
Baltimore NAACP for a conference to
discuss NAACP demands. President
Frank said the board would meet with
the NAACP in July.
