Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS—JUNE, 1964—PAGE 3 TENNESSEE Florida Court Orders Desegregation in Two Steps NASHVILLE tt S. District Judge Bailey L • Brown on May 22 ordered the Madison County school dis trict to desegregate grades one through eight at the beginning of the 1964-65 school year. grown also directed the district, which operates schools surrounding Jackson in West Tennessee, to extend desegregation to all high-school grades with the opening of classes in the fall of 1965. The judge’s written order followed ys announcement on May 14, at the conclusion of a two-day hearing in a suit brought by Negro plaintiffs, that [, e would direct the Madison County Board of Education to carry out the two-step desegregation plan. Also included in his order was de segregation of school buses, cafeterias and athletics. The court handed down its formal ruling a'ter a May 20 deadline for receiving objections from attorneys for both the school board and the Negro plaintiffs. Seven-Year Plan During the hearing earlier in the month at Memphis, the school board presented testimony by Supt. James Walker, Jackson Supt. C. J. Huckaba and others in support of a stairstep plan under which desegregation of the district’s 13 white and nine Negro schools would have been carried out over a seven-year period. The board filed the proposed plan in July of last year (SSN, August) after Judge Brown directed that it submit a plan of desegregation. In its proposed plan, the board had suggested biracial classes in the first three grades last fall, in grades four, five and six in the fall of 1964, in grades seven and eight in 1965 and in an additional grade each year there after. The suit was delayed because of an appeal by one of the school-board members, Taylor Robinson, ^or a jury trial, in the case. Robinson filed a peti tion for a writ of mandamus in 1963 seeking to overturn Brown’s ruling that the question of desegregation could not be submitted to a jury. The U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Ap peals later rejected the petition and the U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 17 denied a petition of certiorari. Negro parents who brought the suit had asked for immediate desegregation °f the school system. Judge Disagrees On Time In his ruling, Brown said: We don’t believe the school board ls going to need anywhere near the me it is asking for.” Brown instructed the school board t0 notify the parents of all elementary "*001 children at least 10 days before Titration, set for June 19, that stu- W’ts may enroll at the school of their choice. ,’othe event of overcrowding at any ^ he schools, children residing near- . e schools in which they have istered will be given priority, under Dlan. Brown said the fact that a white ; .„h had been attending a white v "0 Previously would not cause a sch *1 s ^ u dent who lives closer to the jJT be denied admission. a hoi t district has an enrollment of 44 students, of whom about mji / £ ent are Negroes. It was esti- eleJ! tbat a 6out 2,400 Negroes are in e * er ttentary grades. ^°Uov Objections Filed meat Brown’s May 14 announce- co UM , sides filed objections to the s Proposed plan. the pi sc hool board complained that ?ati 0 p ^ Wou ld bring about desegre- objeptef] 00 rapidl N- while the plaintiffs :n c l ud . ot her features of the plan for sp ® a fter-harvest opening dates Bp . schools in predominantly Ne- D^cultural areas. said t i he hearin s?. one of the plain- *° at tend wanted his two children a desegregated school which Progj^^rter an improved education |Wt get hilled over it, but I ■' n J d j, „ m y children to come up 9 42. v declared Nathaniel Benson, , f 'ashvm~° ld cab driver. ' an d T e attorney Avon N. Williams ^ re D r ks0n atto mey Emmett Bal- ^4 the ^ en . te d the plaintiffs. Ballard , v aiw ational Association for the T? “lecf 1 ?* Colored People assis- ^ ^ * be P aren ts” in the and* 1 ^rroty Attorney Jack Man- attorney Edwin F. Hunt of Tennessee Highlights The Madison County Board of Education was ordered by U.S. Dis trict Court to desegregate the first eight grades when school reopens for the 1964-65 term and to extend bi racial classes to high-school grades at the start of the next school year. Complying with a federal court directive, the Wilson County Board of Education submitted a new plan to carry out the court’s 1961 order for desegregation of the school dis trict. Negro plaintiffs filed objections to a revised desegregation schedule sub mitted to the U.S. District Court by the Franklin County Board of Edu cation. A ruling by the U.S. Sixth Cir cuit Court of Appeals in the Mem phis school desegregation case is expected soon. Johnson City’s voluntary grade-a- year desegregation plan will con tinue, according to a newsletter ap proved by school officials. Nashville were counsel for the school board. Originally, the Madison County board was named in a joint suit along with the Jackson City Commission, which serves as the board of education 'or Jackson schools. (Monroe et al v. Board of Commissioners of the City of Jackson and the Madison County Board of Education et al.) The Jackson portion of the case, however, was heard by Judge Brown in August of 1963. The court approved a separate desegregation olan for Jack- son schools, and 40 Negro students attended biracial classes at five schools in that district during the past school year. Supt. Walker said the 1964-65 school year will open July 20 for some schools and on Aug. 24 for others. Some of the schools are closed during the fall har vest season, mostly in predominantly Negro areas. Walker also explained that the board may rely on achievement level of stu dents, without regard for race, in grouping students within a grade in the event o' overcrowding under the plan. The superintendent said he did not expect any difficulties in carrying out the court’s plan. “The people of Madison County are law-abiding,” he said, “and they will do what the courts require.” f.eeal Action New Plan Submitted By Wilson County Wilson County Board of Education on May 1 filed a new plan to carry out the U.S. District Court’s 1961 order for desegregation of the school district. The plan was submitted in compli ance with a directive by U.S. District Judge William E. Miller who ruled last September that his 1961 order restrain ing the district from maintaining ra cial segregation in policy, practice or principle had not been followed. Under the new plan, any student would be permitted to enroll at the school of his choice but any “dissatis fied” student wishing to transfer from one school to another would be re quired to show “good cause” for mak ing the change. Students would be allowed to enroll at a different school than they have attended previously no later than July 15 for the coming school year. This provision would apply to new students enrolling for the first time as well as to students graduating from elementary schools. Drop-out pupils who wish to return to school would be required to enroll in the school they previously attended, unless a change of residence has oc curred. Open Enrollment Negro plaintiffs were given 30 days in which to file objections to the pro posal. Their attorney, Avon N. Williams Jr. of Nashville, described the plan as “an open enrollment” policy. If over-crowding resulted in some o' the schools, under the plan, students residing nearest the schools in which they registered would be given pri ority. On Sept. 19, 1963, Judge Miller or dered the board to submit a new zon ing plan by May 1. He said at that time: “I am not implying any bad faith, but this directive (the 1961 order) of the court has not been carried out. That’s the reason we have this prob lem.” His ruling came after Negro attor neys complained that Negroes were being assigned to all-Ntegro schools and white students were being assigned to all-white schools. Transfers Ordered Miller also ordered the board to transfer 12 additional Negro students to three previously all-white schools. Under the original plan, the district was divided into school zones which Miller held in 1963 must be revised. During the past school year, about 25 Negro students attended biracial classes at two elementary schools and at Lebanon High School. Under Miller’s 1961 order, which ap plied to all 12 grades, the district began desegregation in January of 1962. Sloan et al v. Wilson County Board of Edu cation, SSN, February, 1962 and pre vious.) During a hearing before Miller last fall, school officials said the zoning then in use was “reasonable and sound” and gave any student “a right to apply for reassignment at any particular school.” ★ ★ ★ Ruling Expected Soon On Memphis Appeal The U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Ap peals at Cincinnati is expected to rule in the near future, perhaps in June, on an appeal by Negroes to overturn U.S. District Court’s approval of the Mem phis school desegregation plan. Negro plaintiffs contend that the gradual desegregation plan, approved by Judge Marion S. Boyd in May, 1963, is inadequate. They have accused the board o drawing school district lines which would preserve de facto segre gation. They also attacked transfer provi sions in the plan and appealed Boyd’s ruling refusing to order teacher deseg regation. The appeals court heard arguments on the appeal on April 18. At that time, Jack Petree, attorney for the board, said the zone boundaries were established to preserve existing neighborhoods. He also said the trans fer clause had permitted some students to transfer from schools of predomin antly one race into biracial schools but noted that more than half of the Negro students assigned to predominantly white schools had asked to be trans ferred to Negro schools. Memphis, which voluntarily began desegregation in 1961, had 287 Negroes attending the first grades of 14 pre dominantly white schools under the plan approved by Boyd during the 1963-64 school year. Under the plan, approved by the court, an additional grade would be desegregated each year. Both the fifth and sixth grades, however, are sched uled to be desegregated this fall under what school officials called a “commit ment” at the time of the hearing. Community Action Clergymen Advocate Total Desegregation A group of 130 Nashville clergymen called upon Mayor Beverly Briley to support a four-point program including complete desegregation of the public schools. Briley told the ministers, who pre sented the request following an hour-long march through downtown Nashville, that the school proposal “addresses itself to the board o" educa tion.” The clergymen, who also urged Bri ley’s support of a public accommoda tions ordinance and other civil-rights proposals, conducted their march dur ing a series of demonstrations which were resumed by Negroes in late April. Nashville has just completed its seventh year of grade-a-year deseg regation under a plan approved by the federal courts. Schoolmen Johnson City Board Favors Grade-a-Year The Johnson City Board of Educa tion on May 28 approved a “public schools newsletter” which reflected a policy of continuing the district’s grade- a-year desegregation plan. Bearing the names o' all board mem bers, the newsletter was entitled “In tegration in the City Public Schools” and was approved about seven weeks after the Johnson City Human Rela tions Committee urged complete de segregation of the system. The newsletter cited what it called (See TENNESSEE, Page 5) Negroes Object to Revised Timetable The Franklin County Board of Edu cation’s revised timetable for extending school desegregation throughout the lower Middle Tennessee county has met with objections from Negro plain tiffs. U.S. District Judge Charles G. Neese, who on Jan. 2 ordered the board to de segregate two Sewanee elementary schools in the district in March, has not set a date for hearing arguments in connection with the amended plan. Under the original schedule pro posed by the board, the remainder of the county’s schools would be desegre gated gradually on the basis o' geo graphical zones with the last three zones coming under the plan in the fall of 1969. The revised plan, filed April 13, called for desegregation of the last three zones in the fall of 1968. Plan Omitted The board’s initial plan, which had been ordered by the court earlier, also included a transfer plan but this was omitted from the new proposal. Neese had called the transfer pro visions “very definitely discriminatory and unlawful” when he called for an amended plan in March. The amended plan provides that any student may attend any school under the specified timetable. It also prohibits students from transferring from one school to another because o' racial fac tors. Nashville attorney Avon N. Williams Jr., counsel for the plaintiffs, said he had filed objections to the plan be cause it would require five additional years to complete the desegregation process. Other Objections Other objections contended the plan was inadequate in that it was based on geographical zones, that school facilities in predominantly Negro areas are sub standard, that it does not constitute a nonracial zoning plan and that it out lined no specific procedures for deseg regation of teachers and other personnel as sought in the suit. The board proposed to desegregate teachers and other school personnel in accordance with the same timetable as proposed for students. Under Judge Neese’s January order, 13 Negro students were enrolled in previously all-white Sewanee Public School on March 2. The following day, the court directed the board to amend its plan and to transfer 13 other Negro students from Kennerly Elementary School, also ordered desegregated in January, to the predominantly white school. (SSN, March and previous.) School officials said that seven other Negro students wer transferred from Kennerly to Sewanee Public School, which they said did not have sufficient facilities to allow the enrollment of other students 'rom Kennerly. No white students sought admission to the Ne gro school. Judge Neese held under advisement the remainder of the board’s schedule. Meanwhile, the school board in April received a $50,000 check from the Se wanee Community Chest Committee for construction of four new class rooms at Sewanee Public School. Supt. Lewis H. Scott said construc tion of the new classrooms is expected to be completed by the opening of the school year in September and that plans call for the closing of the now all-Negro Kennerly School. (Continued from Page 2) violence in Jacksonville, marked by the dynamiting of the home of a Negro boy attending a desegregated school. The mayor repeatedly declined to name an official biracial advisory com mission, although he did sanction an unofficial group. Some of his political opponents charged him with some responsibility for disorders. His opponent for governor Mayor Robert King High of Miami, made this one of the basic issues in his challenge of Bums. High strongly endorsed the pending civil-rights bill and promised to enforce it with vigor if elected. Burns, who said he opposed the civil-rights bill but insisted this was not an issue in the governor’s race, accused High of bidding for the Negro vote. Negro Vote Factor For the first time in Florida history, the Negro vote was an important factor in a statewide political contest. High, considered a complete outsider in the first primary, won the runner-up spot on the basis of bloc Negro voting. An analysis showed that he won almost all the predominantly Neg o precincts in the state, carrying some by more than 90 per cent. In the second race, this again was a factor in High’s favor. The Miami mayor, however, carried only three counties, all in South Florida, while Burns carried the remaining 64. Some in North Florida’s rural areas went for Bums by more than 10 to 1. Bums’ statewide vote was mo~e than 634,000 to 460,000 for High. The margin would have been more decisive except that High won his populous home county of Dade by more than 2 to 1. Election Seems Assured Although opposed in the general election by Republican Charles Holley of St. Petersburg, Bums is considered virtually certain to be Florida’s gover nor for the next two years, with eligi bility to run for a four-year term thereafter. Florida is switching its gov ernor’s election to “off years” when the voters are not absorbed in the Presi dential campaign. Newspaper editorial opinion is that Bums will give only lukewarm support to civil rights actions and will try to slow the pace of school desegregation by all legal means. The election was the first since segre gation became an issue in which the racial question dominated the discussion. ★ ★ ★ Another political contest that turned on civil rights and school desegregation involved Jack Gordon, member of the Dade school board. Gordon was a leader for full desegregation of the school system and spearheaded the drive that resulted in removing racial qualifications for membership in the Florida Education Association. Gordon, seeking re-election, was challenged for his desegregation stand by Dr. Robert Butler, a chiropractor and former school board member. Dr. Butler also criticized him for being a member of the American Civil Liber ties Union. Gordon was assailed in newspaper ads and in pamphlets bear ing the names of organizations. In a heated runoff, Gordon was the victor by 20,000 votes. A grand jury investigation has been requested of the campaign tactics used. “I don’t have any patience with this kind of a campaign—bigotry, calcu lated deceit and a cowardly business of hiding behind ready-made organiza tions,” Gordon declared. He said the outcome also showed approval of the school board’s desegre gation policies. Dade had almost 5,000 Negro children attending classes with white children at the close of the school year. Schoolmen Boards Prepare Fall Assignments Most Florida school boards will pre- care assignments of children for the coming school year dining June. Al most without exception, according to state education officials, the 16 counties that have started desegregation expect to assign considerably more Negroes to predominantly white schools next September. Only Lee County, so far, has indi cated officially it will join the ranks of the desegregated counties. Its plans so far include only the elimination of a Negro branch of its junior college and assignment of Negro students to the emaining campus. But school officials say at least four more counties will start desegregation, making a total of at least 20 in 1964-65.