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I PAGE 4—MARCH, 1964—SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS FLORIDA Florida Education Association Places Desegregation on Agenda MIAMI opening its T he question of membership to Negroes by eliminating the word “white” from its charter has been placed on the agenda of the Florida Edu cation Association meeting in Miami Beach April 23-25. This makes it a highly consequential issue that some educators fear may split the 40,000-member organization of teachers and school officials. The FEA by state law is responsible for setting teacher standards and has a powerful influence with the legislature in shap ing laws affecting education and school administration. The question was passed to the mem bership at the insistence of the Dade Classroom Teachers Association, the state group’s largest affiliate. The DCTA, headed by Pat L. Tomillo Jr., removed all racial barriers last year and had been working to extend this policy to the state level. Writing in the December issue of the NEA Journal, Tomillo said elimi nation of the racial bars had worked well in Dade by establishing a pro fessional organi- z a t i o n with a single set of standards. “T h e choice of build ing representa tives, appointment of committee chairman and se lection of commit tee members,” he tornillo wrote, “demon strated that members were judged in the terms of qualifications, not the color of skin.” The Dade school board considered a motion to withdraw financial aid from the FEA unless it opened membership to all qualified teachers regardless of Maryland (Continued From Page 3) tution in this country. I would say the same thing about the University of Mississippi even if it were a distin guished institution. I would say that it would be a better institution if it had a great many colored students in at tendance. I would say the same thing about the best institutions in the coun try.” Dr. Jenkins pointed out that some of America’s most esteemed academic cen ters are now actively recruiting colored students. He made specific reference to Princeton University which has inaug urated a new program to attract a larger Negro enrollment. Can’t Stand Still Writing in the issue of the Howard University Magazine current in Febru ary, Dr. Jenkins praised the past ac complishments of Negro colleges in kindling “the Promethean fire for a disadvantaged population” but he ad ded, “the worth of the predominantly colored institutions can no longer be justified by their past accomplish ments.” Pointing to a “rising level of expec tations for colleges,” Dr. Jenkins wrote, “The qualitative gap between the best American colleges and the just-average is rapidly 'widening. In our dynamic society no college can afford to stand still, for if it does so, it goes backward.” Dr. Jenkins called upon presidents of predominantly colored institutions to provide “effective leadership in bring ing about improvement in the educa tional programs in their colleges.” He cited the need for teachers in the col leges to “invent and utilize new methods,” adding: “My greatest criticism of predomin antly colored colleges is precisely at this point. Too few of these institutions are testing in a fundamental way the values of such things as team teach ing, instruction by television, pro grammed learning, variable class size, independent study, cooperative work- study programs.” Morgan College itself is experiment ing with a “track plan” of education. The freshman program is three pronged: one course of studies for honor students, another for students well prepared for college work, and a third for students who demonstrate ability but show a need for improve ment in basics, such as English and mathematics. Florida Highlights The question of desegregating the membership of the Florida Education Association has been placed on the agenda of the organization’s annual meeting in April. The home of a Negro pupil at tending a white school in Jackson ville was dynamited, aggravating a tense racial situation. Florida’s first suit to desegregate a private university was dismissed in federal district court. Florida State University research ers have devised a new method of testing Negro pupils in elementary school which they say better meas ures their intelligence and achieve ment. race. Although the proposal was fa vored by a majority, it was not pressed to a vote. The FEA already had de cided to meet in Miami Beach with the Dade Teachers as hosts. Dr. Joe Hall, Dade school superintendent, is a candidate for FEA president. Tornillo, however, led the fight to put the question on the FEA ballot. Some members, who will not discuss the matter publicly, fear the issue will destroy the FEA’s political potency. If the move fails, the Dade group is considered certain to withdraw. The Dade school board is already on rec ord that the FEA will not be regarded as a professional body if membership is based on race. If the vote is favorable the FEA’s influence with the legislature could be in question. Segregation sentiment is strong in many areas of the state, and 51 of the 67 counties still have no desegregation in schools. ★ ★ ★ A proposed John F. Kennedy Me morial Program designed to upgrade Negro schools in Dade County has come out of committee study and is now before Dade School Supt. Joe Hall. Jack D. Gordon, member of the Dade County Board of Public Instruction, made the original suggestion. Gordon said Hall would issue his recommenda tions for the program at the board’s next meeting. Once studied by Hall, the program would be ready for official adoption and implementation, Gordon said. The original proposal called for 100 Kennedy Fellowships for 1964 college graduates who would teach a year in Dade’s underprivileged areas. As amended by the John F. Kennedy Memorial Fellowships Committee, the program would provide for three over all steps of action, including internship by student teachers from Florida and other parts of the country in desig nated Dade County schools. Gordon said the internship program would “hopefully provide better trained teachers to cope with the problems of Negro and other culturally deprived students in Dade and other systems that will have to face this problem sooner or later, particularly in major Southern cities.” Miscellaneous Legal Action Judge Dismisses Suit Against Tampa University After almost a year in litigation, a suit against the University of Tampa to require acceptance of Negro stu dents (Hammond v. University of Tampa) was dismissed on Feb. 4. Federal District Judge Joseph P. Lieb ruled that the university is a private institution and not subject to court mandates requiring desegregation. The suit was filed last March by James A. Hammond, an electrical con tractor, and Hazel Louise Gibson, a school teacher. They charged they were denied admission to the university be cause of race. The suit charged that the University of Tampa received large federal sums, as loans and grants for buildings and to support special courses. This, it said, required the university to accept all qualified students regardless of race. University Contention The university, which by formal vote of the board has maintained a policy of segregation, contended it was within its rights to accept or reject any stu dent because it was a private insti tution. After taking testimony last August in a nonjury trial, and studying briefs, Judge Lieb ruled for the university. “It is the conclusion of this court,” he said in his written decree, “that the university is a private academic institution, whose activities have been carried on without significant state participation.” The suit was the first in Florida against a private university and was regarded as a test for similar action against segregated institutions in this category. ★ ★ ★ ‘Further Relief’ Asked In Duval County Suit In late February a motion for “fur ther relief” was filed in the long- pending Duval County school suit (Braxton v. Board of Public Instruc tion of Duval County.) A group of Jacksonville Negroes said the pace of school desegregation is totally inadequate. Although complete desegregation at the first-grade level was ordered for last September, the suit said, only 13 of some 25,000 Negroes in the county are attending classes with whites and only six of the 113 schools are affected. No white child has been assigned to a Negro school. The plaintiffs asked Judge Bryan Simpson to require a single standard of school zoning and to extend deseg regation to all grades from 1 to 12. The suit also asked injunctive relief compelling the school board to assign teachers and administrative personnel on a nonracial basis. This was part of Judge Simpson’s original order, and was affirmed by the Circuit Court of Appeals in January in a widely noted Southern School News Southern School News is the official publication of the Southern Education Reporting Service, an objective, fact-finding agency established by Southern newspaper editors and educators with the aim of providing accurate, unbiased information to school administrators, public officials and interested lay citizens on developments in education arising from the U. S. Supreme Court opinion of May 17, 1954, declaring compulsory segregation in the public schools unconstitu tional. SERS is not an advocate, is neither pro-segregation nor anti-segregation but simply reports the facts as it finds them, state-by-state. Published monthly by Southern Education Reporting Service at 1109 19th Ave. S., Nashville, Tennessee. Second class postage paid at Nashville, Tennessee. OFFICERS Bert Struby Chairman Thomas R. Waring Vice-Chairman Reed Sarratt Executive Director Tom Flake, Director of Publications Jim Leeson, Director of Information and Research BOARD OF DIRECTORS Frank R. Ahlgren, Editor, The Commer- Reed Sarratt, Executive Director, cial Appeal, Memphis, Tenn. Southern Education Reporting Serv- Luther H. Foster, President, Tuskegee , ! ce ' Nashville, J enn ‘, Institute, Tuskegee Institute, Ala. J °i" Se, 9 e nthaler. Ed.tor, Nashville lennessean, Nashville, Tenn. Alexander Heard, Chancellor, Vander- Don Shoemaker, Editor, Miami Herald bilt University, Nashville, Tenn. Miami, Fla. r* a u i/ • 11 rj.. /-si . rs. Ber+ S+rub Y. General Manager, Macon C. A. McKmght Editor Charlotte Ob- Telegraph and News, Macon, Ga server, Charlotte, N.C. Thomas R Waringi Edito( . The New$ Charles Moss, Executive Editor, Nash- anc ^ Courier, Charleston, S.C. ville Banner, Nashville, Tenn. [• Superintendent of Schools, Richmond, Va. Felix C. Robb, President, George Pea- Stephen J. Wright, President, Fist Uni body College, Nashville, Tenn. versity, Nashville, Tenn. CORRESPONDENTS ALABAMA MISSISSIPPI William H. McDonald, Chief Editor- Kenneth Toler, Jackson Bureau ial Writer, Alabama Journal, Mont- Memphis Commercial Appeal gomery MISSOURI ARKANSAS Robert H. Collins, Staff Writer, William T. Shelton, City Editor, Ar- S t. Lou!s p os+ -DTsp a t C h r,c, a » n w*Dr ZeHe ' L ' Hle R ° Ck NORTH CAROLINA DELAWARE Luix Qverbea, Staff Writer, The James E Miller Managing Editor, Journal-Sentinel, Winston-Salem Delaware State News, Dover Ai-mMA DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA OKLAHOMA Erwin Knoll, Washington Bureau, Leonard Jackson Staff Writer, Okla- Newhouse Newspapers homa Clt * Oklahoman-Times FLORIDA SOUTH CAROLINA Bert Collier, Editorial Writer, Miami William E. Rone Jr., City Editor, The H era |d State, Columbia GEORGIA TENNESSEE Joseph B. Parham, Editor, The Ken Morrell, Staff Writer, Nashville Macon News Banner KENTUCKY TEXAS James S. Pope, Jr., Sunday Staff, Richard M. Morehead, Austin Bu- Louisville Courier-Journal reau, Dallas News LOUISIANA VIRGINIA Patrick E. McCauley, Editorial Overton Jones, Associate Editor, Writer, New Orleans Times-Picayune Richmond Times-Dispatch MARYLAND WEST VIRGINIA Edgar L. Jones, Editorial Writer, Thomas F. Stafford, Assistant to the Baltimore Sun Editor, Charleston Gazette SUBSCRIPTION RATES One year (12 issues), $2. Groups: five or more copies to different addressees, $1.75 each per year; five or more copies to one addressee, $1.50 each per year. Add 50 cents to above rates for orders outside U.S., Canada and Mexico. Single copies, any issue, 20 cents each. Ten or more copies, any one issue, 15 cents each. MAIL ADDRESS P.O. Box 6156, Nashville, Tennessee 37212. I ruling. Since then the school board has petitioned for a rehearing and plans to take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. School authorities complain of a lack of qualified teachers, the suit states. Yet many qualified Negro teachers are denied assignment to white schools even when serious shortages exist. The plaintiffs recalled that Judge Simpson’s original order in the Brax ton case said acceleration of desegre gation is a matter for “recurring re consideration” if the pace is not satis factory. A similar petition by Negro residents of Volusia County was filed with Judge Simpson several days earlier. His rul- Dynamite Blasts Negro Pupil’s Home The home of a Negro family whose son has been attending a previously all-white school in Jacksonville was blasted by dynamite on the night of Feb. 16. Mrs. Iona Godfrey and her son Don ald were asleep when the blast occur red at 3 a.m. One side of the house was demolished. Mother, son and six others in the house, were tumbled from bed and one, Mrs. George Gilliam, was taken to the hospital for treatment. Municipal and state authorities be gan an investigation. A special team of FBI agents was sent from Washing ton to assist. Police reported at least 10 sticks of dynamite were used. They were placed expertly to do maximum damage and dug a hole 18 inches deep under the house. Mrs. Godfrey said Donald has been attending the Lackawanna Elementary School since last September when he was assigned there under a court order requiring desegregation at the first- grade level. At that time groups of white women picketed the school but did not prevent the boy from entering. There had been no incidents at the school since. Mrs. Godfrey said, however, she re ceived a telephone call in December threatening to blow up her home. The anonymous caller gave no reason for the act but Mrs. Godfrey believes it was meant as a warning to withdraw her child from the white school. The mother was once active in the NAACP but gives less time to the or ganization now although she retains her membership. The incident served to increase ra cial tension in Jacksonville where sev eral arrests were made during the month as the result of demonstrations and attempts to desegregate downtown restaurants and hotels. A number of leading Negro ministers were jailed. ★ ★ ★ Developments in Duval County led to demands for a biracial committee with some legal authority to seek understanding between the races. Arthur W. Milam, chairman of an advisory commission set up by the Jacksonville Area Chamber of Com merce, said a group with official status and a broader base is needed to handle the problem. He urged that picketing and demon strations be halted and that the entire community seek peaceful solutions and better relations. Mayor Haydon Bums, who has de clined to name an official biracial com mission because he says it will have no authority to act decisively, agreed to cooperate in restoring lines of com munications between the races if it appears they have broken down. ing in that case, Tillman et al. v. Boari of Public Instruction of Volusia Coun ty, was handed down on the same da; and in almost identical terms as Braxton ruling. About 30 Negro chil dren attend white schools in Volusia. In The Colleges FSU Researchers Compile Tests For Negro Pupils A group of researchers at ^° r s£ . State University has compiled a of intelligence and achievement designed for Negro pupils. ^ These are to measure progr ^ these youngsters more accurately tests presently used. Dr. Wallace A. Kennedy, for the group, said many ^ e ^ r ^ r j5or. dren fail to measure up in comp 31 ,* to white children because the tests are prepared with white mind. They do not take cu.- ,^ erS - environmental factors into eo tion. prkec The FSU-designed tests were ^ out after considerable stu ?^, ^ which some 1,800 Negro c schools throughout the Southe examined. If generally used, the re say, a new picture of tne ^ r will oajr, a. lien - • progress of Negro pupils wilt able. ★ ★ ★ A poll of students and facultt. ^ bers at the University of w' 0> ' cated that about 90 P er 0 f Negro member lit welcome faculty. nr JfatV The study was made bv f Taves as part of a junior-se (See FLORIDA, Page V && X'*’ . v 3' A- » if # X k an