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PAGE 18—APRIL, 1964—SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS MARYLAND Superintendent Reports Progress In ‘Racial Integration’ Last Year BALTIMORE p reater progress in racial in- tegration has been made this year over last year than was made in the last five years to gether,” Dr. George B. Brain, Baltimore’s school superinten dent, reported in March to the Board of School Commissioners. The increase was made “despite a declining white pupil population and an increasing Negro pupil population,” Dr. Brain said in a summary of steps taken in response to last year’s criti cism of de facto segregation. For the first time, Baltimore’s school racial data was presented on the basis of “integrated” schools as distinct from desegregated schools. “For the purposes of measuring progress toward inte gration,” Dr. Brain reported, “a school is considered racially integrated if not more than 95 per cent of one race nor less than 5 per cent of another race are enrolled.” By this standard, Balti more in the current school year has 75,890 pupils in “racially integrated school situations,” an increase of 14,- 929 over the previous year. By the same standards, 62.8 per cent of all white pupils and 24.8 per cent of all Negro pupils were reported in “racially integrated school organiza tions.” At the same time, however, there was a numerical increase in de facto segregation in that the num ber of Negro pupils in nonintegrated or “one-race” schools rose in a year’s time from 77,592 to 79,431. Increase Shown Using five per cent as the integra tion determinant (a white school is not integrated unless it has at least a 5 per cent Negro enrollment, and vice versa), Dr. Brain reported that the number of “integrated” schools in Baltimore (Oct. 31 enrollment data) had risen from 58 in the previous school year to 74 in the current school year. The number of predominantly (more than 95 per cent) white schools dropped during this period from 47 to 33, while the predominantly Negro schools rose from 84 to 85. Using Dr. Brain’s standard, an as pect of Baltimore’s desegregation has been in the rising number of “Negro” schools (those in which more than 95 per cent of the pupils are Negroes). In 1953, just prior to desegregation, Balti more had 59 all-Negro schools. Since then the number of Negro or nearly all-Negro schools has climbed gradual ly to the present 85: a 44 per cent in crease in Negro school segregation. During the same 10-year period, the total Negro enrollment has grown from 51,827 to 105,563, while the white school population has dropped from 86,206 to 79,175. To look at the figures in the Brain report another way: In 1953, Baltimore had 51,827 Negroes in all-Negro schools. In the current year there are 79,431 in one-race or non-integrated schools (less than 5 per cent white enroll ment). By the new yardstick for inte gration, that is a 53 per cent increase in Negro pupil segregation. Reasons Given “The great progress made in racial integration this past year,” Dr. Brian said, “may be attributed in part to the elimination of districted schools, changes in pupil transfer policies, erec tion of portable classrooms to eliminate part-time education and pupil trans portation policies. Because all of these measures were touched upon in the Board of School Commissioners’ Pol icy Statement on Equality of Educa tional Opportunity, much of the prog ress made in racial integration in the Maryland Highlights The most “progress in racial in tegration” in the past six years was reported by Baltimore Supt. George B. Brain on basis of enrollment data showing 64,501 white and 64,405 Negro pupils attending racially mixed schools. Baltimore enrollment data showed an increased number of Negroes in all-Negro or nearly all-Negro schools as the city’s continued loss of white population and gain in Negro popu lation raised the proportion of Ne groes in the total school enrollment to 57 per cent. A plan to achieve total desegre gation by closing out all Negro classes by 1967 was adopted by the Harford County Board of Education. Baltimore County school officials were urged by the county’s human- relations agency to eliminate de facto segregation. An end to Negro pupils’ privilege to choose between all-Negro and desegregated schools has been pro posed by the NAACP in Anne Arun del County. Morgan State College has adopted a 10-point program to attract white students to its predominantly Negro campus. public schools is a consequence of the School Board’s policy statements in this regard.” Brain had reference to the school board’s policy statement of Sept. 5, 1963 (SSN, Oct. 1963), which came as a response to public criticism of de facto segregation the previous June by a biracial parents group and the NAACP (SSN, July, 1963). The parents’ group had analyzed 1961-62 enrollment data on the basis of a 10 per cent in tegration standard; that is, "a school is classified as integrated when not more thatn 90 per cent of its population is of one race.” Parents Complained Using the 10 per cent standard, the parents had complained that 83 per cent of the Negro elementary enroll ment and approximately 75 per cent of the Negro secondary and vocational school enrollment were still attending “nonintegrated” Negro schools. Apply ing the same standard to the current enrollment data (in contrast to Dr. Brain’s five per cent standard), it is found that 82.8 per cent of the Negro elementary enrollment is in “noninte grated” Negro schools, and 68 per cent of the Negro secondary students are likewise “still segregated.” The figures in Dr. Brain’s report were based for the most part on Oct. 31 en rollment data (the traditional date for school population data in Maryland), at which time the Baltimore school system was transporting 2,721 children from overcrowded to less crowded schools to get them off part-time shifts. Of those transported, all but 257 were Negro children. Of the 2,464 Negro children shifted by bus, Dr. Brain re ported, 292 were transported to all- Negro schools. “The important fact here is that 2,- 172 Negro children were being trans ported to racially integrated schools,” Dr. Brain noted. “Such statistics in dicate quite clearly and convincingly that pupil transportation has resulted in more not less racially integrated schools and has not contributed in Desegregation in Baltimore Schools Schools by race: 1953 (Net Enrollment, 1954 1955 1956 Oct. 1963*) 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 Elementary White ... 74 42 37 31 31 32 34 33 28 26 17 Negro ... 50 51 46 44 43 42 45 45 44 40 39 Both 0 38 48 59 59 66 65 65 74 82 93 Total ... 124 131 131 134 133 140 144 143 146 148 149 Secondary and Vocational White ... 20 11 4 3 2 2 2 3 1 0 0 Negro 9 10 11 9 12 10 11 13 11 11 11 Both 1 11 17 21 22 24 24 23 28 30 32 Total ... 30 32 32 33 36 36 37 39 40 41 43 White ... 94 53 41 34 33 34 36 36 29 26 17 Negro ... 59 61 57 53 55 52 56 58 55 51 50 Both 1 49 65 80 81 90 89 88 102 112 125 Total ... 154 163 163 167 169 176 181 182 186 189 192 ♦Compiled by Baltimore Department of Education. Elementary includes elementary- junior high combinations. The 192 schools house 201 school organizations. great degree to increased racial im balances.” After Oct. 31, when most of the racial data was compiled, the school system continued to acquire additional buses and portable classrooms to relieve schools on double shifts. By Feb. 1, the number of children being trans ported had risen to 3,696, of whom 3,325 were Negroes. Of the Negro chil dren, 2,350 were going to racially in tegrated schools, a gain of 178 over the Oct. 31 figure. In two instances the more recent shifts by bus had brought Negroes to previously all-white schools. Analysis of Data Shows Trends in Enrollments An analysis of the Oct. 31 enroll ment data, released to Southern School News in March, shows that when an arbitrary cutoff percentage for “inte grated” or “nonintegrated” is omitted, Baltimore in the current school year has had 17 all-white schools, 50 all- Negro schools and 125 schools with some pupils of both races. The number of all-white schools in a year’s time has dropped by nine; the number of all-Negro schools by one, and with three new schools opened with biracial enrollments, the number of schools with both whites and Negroes attending has risen by 13. While the biracial enrollments at 20 schools represented new desegregation, five previously desegregated schools re verted to all-Negro status and two oth ers reverted to all-white status, leav ing a net gain after resegregation of 13 additional biracial schools. When a desegregated school is classi fied as one having at least a minimum of one pupil of a minority race, white or Negro, in attendance, Baltimore is found to have 93 desegregated ele mentary schools which contain 71 per cent of the total white elementary pop ulation and 60 per cent of the Negro elementary pupils. On the secondary level, 95 per cent of the white students and 63 per cent of the Negro students attend 38 biracial secondary units. In somuch as one of the two remaining all-white secondary units is housed in a desegregated elementary school building, all but 773 of Baltimore’s white secondary students are in schools also attended by Negroes. About 13,000 Negroes remain in eleven all-Negro secondary schools. The numerical change since the 1962- 63 school year is as follows: PUPILS IN BIRACIAL UNITS Elementary Oct. ’62 Oct. ’63 White .... 24,805 31,069 Negro .... 38,096 41,542 Total .... 62,901 72,611 Secondary White .... 34,626 33,432 Negro .... 20,164 22,863 Total .... 54,790 56,295 PUPILS IN ONE-RACE UNITS Elementary White 19,889 Negro 27,933 Total 47,822 Secondary White 1,502 Negro 13,017 Total 14,519 12,905 27,946 40,851 1,769 13,212 14,981 The figures indicate that while de segregation has gained in terms of the number of white and Negro pupils at tending biracial schools, there also has been a slight increase in the number Miscellaneous Baltimore Enrollment In Biracial Schools (Net Enrollment, Oct. 31, 1963*) BIRACIAL ORGANIZATIONS ONE-RACE ORGANIZATIONS Pupils No of Pupils No. of Total Total Enrolled Orgs. Enrolled Orgs. Pupils Orgs. Elementary White 31,069 91 12,905 19 43,974 Negro 41,542 91 27,946 39 69,488 Total 72,611 91 40,851 58 113,462 146 Secondary and Vocational White 33,432 38 1,769 2** 35,201 Negro 22,863 38 13,212 12 36,075 Total 56,295 38 14,981 14 71,276 52 Total White 64,501 129 14,674 21 79,175 Negro 64,405 129 41,158 51 105,563 Total 128,906 129 55,832 72 184,738 201 *Data compiled by Baltimore Department of Education. **Secondary organizations housed in elementary buildings and included with elementary totals in tabulation of schools by race. Baltimore has 201 organizations housed in 192 buildings. of Negro elementary and secondary pupils attending all-Negro schools. The gain in Negro enrollment in both bi racial and all-Negro schools reflects the rise in the total Negro school pop ulation, which increased by 6,353 in the one-year period. The white loss during the same period was 1,647. For the first time, Negroes outnum ber whites on the secondary level by a count of 36,075 to 35,201. On the ele mentary level, Negroes represent 61 per cent of the total enrollment: 69,488 Negro pupils, 43,974 white pupils. Bal timore total school population has thus become 57 per cent Negro. Individual Schools Looking at the white and Negro enrollment at individual schools, it is found that 33 of the biracial elementary schools are desegregated only to the extent of having a few white pupils in attendance, in some instances as few as one or two white children in en rollments of 1,000 or more. All 33 have less than 10 per cent white enrollments and taken together have 516 white pupils in contract with 29,237 Negro pupils. About a dozen of these schools are formerly all-white schools that have become nearly all-Negro as their surrounding residential areas have un dergone racial change. Fourteen of the elementary schools with only small numbers of white pupils are formerly all-Negro schools. Together, they have 68 white pupils or roughly five apiece. The 68 white pupils represent desegregation for all 11,894 Negro pupils who attend the 14 schools. Complete Change In addition to the 33 elementary schools with less than 10 per cent white enrollment, there are 39 all-Ne gro elementary schools serving 28,345 pupils. Two of these are formerly all- white schools that gradually under went a complete racial change. Adding the two groups of schools to gether, it is found that 57,582 Negro pupils, or 82.8 per cent of the Negro elementary enrollment, attend schools that are all-Negro or nearly all Ne gro. In addition, 13 other elementary schools have Negro enrollments above 50 per cent. On the secondary level, there are seven schools that together have only 33 white pupils in a combined enroll ment of 11,698. The 33 white students represent desegregation for 11,665 Ne groes, or a third of the Negro second ary enrollment. To these schools may be added the 11 all-Negro secondary schools with 12,813 students, making a total of 24,478 Negro secondary stu dents (67.8 per cent of the Negro sec ondary enrollment) who are in schools that are all-Negro or nearly all-Negro. As an example of the differences a white child can make: this year for the first time a white student enrolled at Carver High School, which had the ef fect of desegregating 1,651 Negro stu dents. But, in a reverse action, the one white student previously enrolled at Dunbar Junior High no longer attends there, which has had the effect of re- segregating 2,047 Negro students. Differences between some of the school system’s secondary enrollment data and the figures used by SSN are explained by the fact that some of Baltimore’s secondary units are housed in elementary schools. Thus, the De partment of Education reports 13,212 Negroes in 12 all-Negro secondary “or ganizations,” whereas SSN reports 12,- 813 Negroes in eleven all-Negro secondary schools. The latter figure takes into account the fact that one of the secondary 1 or ganizations” is in an elementary school which has some white elementary pup ils and therefore the Negro secondary students are desegregated in the sense of attending a school with white pup 1 Schoolmen Harford County Plans to Achieve Full Desegregation A four-step program to ac ' 1 i® ve desegregation was adopted in M ar ® the Harford County Board ot cation. The program calls for ' by September, 1967, the county s e all-Negro schools and reassigning 1,600 Negro pupils to predomin white schools. Ti-rford Lying north of Baltimore, , County previously has com R®i u n- gradual, transitional program o ^ a tary desegregation under w ^ fourth of the county’s Negro have shifted to 21 of the schools. Three-fourths of have remained in the all-Neg rt^re solidated schools at Bel Air an 19) (See SUPERINTENDENT, Pag e i t I c I * t , y a Bias in Work-Study Program Charge^ A charge of racial discrimination in the Baltimore school system’s work- study program was made in March by H. Warren Buckler Jr., chairman of the Baltimore Community Relations Commission (formerly the Equal Op portunity Commission). Buckler said that the program which allows some students to work part- time and go to school part-time worked well for white boys but that Negroes “find themselves at a disadvantage” because private employes either do not hire them, pay them less or assign them menial tasks. Buckler claimed that the school staff was inadequate to police the situation. Eli Frank Jr., president of the school board, said the next day he was “shocked” that the head of the city commission would have made a public charge without first consulting the af fected agency. But School Supt. George B. Brain conceded that Negro students suffer discrimination in “certain kinds” of employment. In May, 1962, William J. Hucksoll, director of vocational educational, re ported that racial differences in em ployment opportunities were impeding the work-study program. (SSN, June, 1962.) ★ ★ ★ co»' Father-and-son resignations in pro test against desegregation occurred in March as Thomas F. Cadwalader with drew as president and Thomas F. Cad walader Jr. as secretary of the board of trustees of the St. Paul’s School for Girls, near Baltimore. Both Cadwaladers were charter members of the Episcopal school board, which had just adopted a policy state ment that applicants would be sidered regardless of race. ^ The Rev. Halsey M. Cook, fre St. Paul’s Church and chairm aP - school’s trustees, described Re nounced admission policy as \c ment of what the majority 0 aSsU mP- member board “had always was the policy.” , ^ He explained that the res0 ^ naie T ‘' : been proposed because sever ^ o® 4 had asked “why the school 0 ^e of the last in the community ^ & any public statement tha open admission policy. dop^ St. Paul’s School for Boys a similar statement last * aU ’ r0l nin eI '' it into line with most ® p , e private schools in the Bal ^ gif^ No other resignations from board were reported. ) 0 3 £*