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SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS—JUNE. 1965—PAGE 5 TEXAS Most Districts Striving To Meet Compliance Standards School Demonstrators at Houston Five Negro high schools were boycotted. AUSTIN s the 1964-1965 school year ended, Texas districts were almost universally desegregated or at least trying to establish a pattern that would satisfy the federal government. Some confusion existed over the ex tent of racial separation that would be allowed. Districts under grade-a-year court orders were in most cases stepping up their schedules—but not everywhere. Fort Worth, finishing the second year of a grade-a-year program under fed eral court order, announced that class room desegregation will be completed by 1967. Dr. George D. Flemmings, a Fort Worth leader for the National Associa tion for Advancement of Colored Peo ple, called it “a step in the right direction” but said he would “not be satisfied until we reach final integra tion.” He noted that because of neigh borhood zoning, no more than 1,000 of Fort Worth’s 10,000 Negro children of elementary school age will be in class with whites next fall. Dr. Eldon B. Busby, superintendent of Fort Worth schools, said the action was not required to obtain federal funds. The district expects to receive about $1,500,000 from this source next year, for its student body of 90,000. He said the board’s decision to accelerate desegregation was based on “sincere concern for the interest and welfare of each individual child.” Different Attitude The community of Mount Calm, Hill County, about 50 miles from Fort Worth, demonstrated a different attitude. It has about 380 people. The all-white seven- member school board voted several months ago to desegregate the district’s schools. Negro leaders agreed to the 1 move, according to the Dallas Morninq News. Afterward, the Neroes asked to keep their separate school. The district has been operating one elementary school for 62 white pupils with five teachers; another for 48 Negroes with two teach ers; and transporting high-school stu dents eight miles to Hubbard school district. Buildings for both white and Negro schools in Mount Calm are old and the i district is in debt for a building that had to be condemned before it was paid off. L. D. Johnson, 44, barber and Mount Calm Negro leader, said “If it was left strictly to us to do what we’d prefer, we’d leave things like they are. But if In the Colleges Jerry Levias, a much-sought-after athlete from Beaumont, signed a letter °f intent to accept a scholarship at Southern Methodist University. He was the first Negro ever recruited for foot ball in the Southwest Conference. Forty-seven schools reportedly sought Levias’ services. He was a football star in high school, a track man who runs 100 yards in 9.5 seconds, and also an outstanding scholar. SMU Coach Hayden Fry expressed bope that the action would “open the door for future Negro student athletes in the Southwest Conference.” Most of the conference schools have been contacting outstanding Negro high school athletes, but Levias is the first to ®ign up. Most institutions of higher learning in Texas now have nonracial athletic policies, and this is one of the j»st barriers to fall in the “big school” Southwest Conference. The Texas Interscholastic League, Which sponsors competition in sports, academic subjects, and otherwise among bigh schools, dropped the word “white” from its constitution last month, open ly the way for future participation of Negroes. This race has a separate state wide organization, the Prairie View League. The University of Texas has spon- fr*red the Interscholastic League. Ath- ® tic teams of some league schools have tl? en « < ^ ese § re g a ted for years, despite e “white” restriction in the charter. ★ ★ ★ University of Texas regents voted for • wge dormitory-building program, d announced that henceforth there °uld be no other “approved” housing °r students. Only about 15 per cent of students presently live in dormi- it would cause us to lose both schools and we’d all be integrated somewhere else, we’d rather do it here. “There’s never been a word of trouble between races here. We respect each other. I feel as free and respected as any white person. We don’t want our children to go to some other school.” Officials Uncertain But school officials were uncertain whether segregation of students could be retained even if it is acceptable to everybody concerned locally. Of 1,379 districts in Texas, 862 with both white and Negro pupils, about half had been approved under the Civil Rights Act by the U.S. Office of Educa tion. Most of these had few or no Ne groes. Approximately 60 districts in the state failed to make any response to inquiries about their intention to com ply with the federal regulations. All of these are small districts, and some have only students of one race. Some are in process of consolidating with other dis tricts. Texas Education Agency officials said that about half a dozen school systems had indicated they did not wish to participate in the federal programs, and were filing no compliance plans. Some of these have only white students. San Augustine, an East Texas district with approximately equal numbers of whites and Negroes, is the only one which has announced that it intends to discon- tories. Most of the others lived in “ap proved” fraternity, sorority, boarding houses and apartments. “We had a choice between abandon ing all approval of off-campus housing or of requiring all officially approved housing units to integrate,” Chairman W. W. Heath, Austin attorney, said in announcing the new policy. He said the board was unwilling to require private owners, including reli gious bodies, to desegregate their stu dent housing “regardless of their wishes in the matter.” Five Negro girls moved into Kinsolv ing Dormitory, university-owned, last fall, after demonstrations in their be half. Four of them left later. All Dormitories Open Dean Jack Holland said he did not know how many Negroes there are among the University of Texas’ 23,000 students (expected 1,000 enrollment in crease next fall). Estimates range from 150 to 200 Negroes. While most private housing for university students is un available to them, all dormitories, co operative houses and some other ac commodations are non-discrimina- tory. University of Texas students were engaged in dispute during May over attempts to desegregate Roy’s Lounge, a beer-selling establishment near the campus. Defenders of the tavern’s se gregation policies appeared to be more numerous than the mixed group of whites and Negroes demanding dese gregation. The lounge was picketed several times and swastikas painted on its doors. A counter-movement was launched by SPONGE (The Society for Preven tion of Negroes Getting Everything), tinue accepting federal funds, and there is said to be some doubt as to whether this decision is final for the next school year. Asked for comment on the statement of six other Southern governors that the Department of Health, Education and Welfare is going faster than the law requires in demanding racial desegre gation of schools, Gov. John Connally said he has heard of “no particular compliance problems” regarding Texas. Regional Meetings Regional meetings were held with federal, state and local officials in Tex as during May to explain the new policies. At Dallas, James M. Quigley, assist ant HEW secretary, said that individ uals should report discrimination complaints to the government. Ozell Sutton, a consultant of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, ex pressed the opinion that many Southern school systems will do as little as pos sible on desegregation as long as they qualify for federal funds. Houston Bond Election Has Racial Overtones At Houston, which has the South’s largest school system, voters approved a $59,800,000 bond issue in an election with racial overtones. Some Negro leaders urged defeat of the bond issue, alleging that it would perpetuate de facto segregation. But the bond proposal was adopted 53,910 to 19,973, an unusually large participa tion in a bond election. Only about 20 per cent of the district’s 54,000 Negroes voted in the election, and they were about 10 to 1 against the bonds. The bonds will be used to provide 30 new schools, 1,400 new classrooms, and 14 new school sites to accommodate an enrollment growth from 225,000 to 275,000 in the next five years. An organization called PUSH (Peo ple for' Upgrading Schools in Houston) headed by the Rev. William Lawson, a Negro, had opposed the bond issue. Included was a one-day boycott by students of five Negro high schools in Houston and a march on the school administration building. A school board meeting scheduled for that night (May 10) was canceled. Board President Bob Eckels said the election would not affect desegregation in the city, and that negotiations with Negro leaders would continue. Mrs. Charles E. White, a Negro member of the school board, expressed opinion that the voters considered the need for more schools to have overshadowed is sues of desegregation and federal aid. Drops Course At Pasadena, a Houston suburb, a white “practice” teacher, L. Ray Mul len, complained that his academic rights were violated when he was forced to drop the Education course after he had participated in the demon stration in Houston. His supervisor at the University of Houston said Mullen had dropped the course after taking part in the student boycott. Mullen, 25, told a Houston Post reporter that he “was in trouble with the course before” taking part in the march, but that the supervisor made him drop the course because of his widely photographed participation in the demonstration. On the day of the demonstration, 9,169 of the 10,819 Negroes enrolled in high school were absent. Absenteeism of eight to nine per cent is normal :here. The boycott cost the school dis- rict almost $10,000 in state funds based on “average daily attendance.” The Houston school board meanwhile began planning a five-year program to aid culturally deprived youngsters of all races in pre-school and elementary Trade ages. Five schools would offer special training and assistance to this group, assisted by three universities in Houston. At La Marque, a Houston suburb, about 75 per cent of the system’s 2,165 Negro students were absent during a one-day boycott protesting alleged slowness of desegregation. Fifteen Ne groes attend classes with whites in the district. Desegregation Moves Many Texas districts announced de segregation moves, and others were making plans without publicity. Those made public included: Newton, where a “free choice” plan will succeed segregated schools. The East Texas community has about 40 per cent Negro enrollment. Sherman, North Texas, total desegre gation of schools, staff and faculty under a “free choice” method. Athens, “free choice” for the first nine grades and desegregation without choice for the top three grades in high school. Petitions were circulated at Athens to abolish the independent school dis trict in protest over a plan of "forced” desegregation rather than a “choice” system. LaGrange, full desegregation in Sep tember, involving 1,300 whites and 250 Negro students. Angleton, “free choice” for all grades in September for 3,896 students, includ ing 664 Negroes. Humble will accept into formerly all-white schools about 10 Negro chil dren who have been transferred to adjoining districts. Lufkin, an East Texas district with about 4,000 white and 1,500 Negro stu dents, will desegregate the first six grades this fall, junior high in Sep tember, 1966, and high school in 1967. Other districts announcing “free choice” for all grades this fall include South Park (Beaumont), Redland, Danbury, Huntsville, Gonzales, Bren- ham, Broaddus, Nederland, and Manor. Three-year desegregation plans were announced by Taylor and Bellville school systems. Butler school in Freestone County with 284 Negro scholastics, announced it will accept the district’s 55 white students in September. Irving, a Dallas suburb, discovered that many of the 589 pupils who withdrew from its schools between Sept. 3, 1964, and Feb. 25, 1965, were not really dropouts. More than half moved to other cities and enrolled in school. Seven went to other counties, 107 to other states, and 141 "outside the Dallas area.” Forty-seven moved to Dallas, nine to Fort Worth, and about 50 to other nearby communities. Four of the 589 died, 17 entered the Legislative Action Gov. John Connally was expected to sign a bill passed by the Texas legisla ture to raise basic teaching salaries by $90 a year for beginners with bachelor degrees (to $4,104 for nine months) up to $1,089 annually in the minimum in the pay for a master degree teacher of 18 years experience (to $6,516). The legislature levied a three-cent per-package increase in the cigarette tax (to 11 cents per package, highest of any state) to finance the pay raise. This will net about $70 million revenue in the 26 months starting July 1. Local districts will add about $31 million to their share of the statewide “founda tion fund” for public schools during the period. This will put the cost of public schools in Texas at about $1 billion a year, divided about equally between state and local expenditures, minus about 5 per cent federal funds. Represented Compromise The pay raise program represented a compromise between views of Gov. Connally and one faction of legis lators, and those of Texas State Teach ers’ Association and another legislative group. TSTA had favored an across- the-board $5 per month pay increase. The new bill includes about $5 mil lion a year for additional “merit” pay Texas Highlights Texas districts almost unanimous ly were striving to meet the federal government’s civil rights standards to receive funds. Many districts an nounced new desegregation pro grams. Houston voters overwhelmingly approved a bond issue despite pro tests from some Negro leaders that it would perpetuate de facto school segregation. Some Negro spokesmen com plained of discrimination against Negro teachers, in layoffs caused by desegregation, but some Negroes were being placed in newly desegre gated faculties. Jerry Levias of Beaumont received an athletic scholarship at Southern Methodist University, the first Negro ever to be recruited by a Southwest Athletic Conference school. Demands for desegregation of pri vately owned housing available to University of Texas students prompted the board of regents to stop making “approved” housing lists. Federal spokesmen asserted in Texas talks that “token” desegrega tion will not be enough to get federal grants hereafter. The state and local communities applied for millions of dollars in federal anti-poverty funds, includ ing more than $5 million to help 128,000 migratory labor families, mostly Latin-Americans. armed forces, and nine left school be cause of illness. Thirty-seven quit school after marriage and 64 others said they had dropped out to take jobs. Eighty-two left for miscellaneous rea sons, or could not be located. ★ ★ ★ Some Negro Teachers Reported Losing Jobs Desegregation is costing some Negro teachers their jobs, reported Clarence A. Laws of Dallas, Southwest regional director for the National Association for Advancement of Colored People. He said complaints would be lodged with the U.S. Department of Health, Edu cation and Welfare, and that “if the superintendent does not hire on an equal basis we will see that federal funds are taken away.” Laws said the complaints involve small North Texas schools, which have abolished separate units for Negroes. “We know of half a dozen more dis tricts that are going to let teachers out without any prospect of employment,” he said. At Gonzales, Negroes were employed (See TEXAS, Page 17) increases to be determined by local ad ministrators, with the state furnishing 80 per cent of the money. A study of the need for overhauling public educa tion in the state also will be made, under another section of the bill. Legislation to prohibit discrimination in public employment advanced but did not finally pass in the session ended May 31. It received favorable action in the House, but did not get to a vote in the Senate. A separate bill on the subject once was approved by a Senate committee. ★ ★ ★ The growing political power of Ne gro and Latin-American minority groups in the state (and South) is one reason why many communities elect school boards and city councilmen by the “place” system, according to Roy Young, an Arlington State College assistant professor of political science. This system requires a candidate to choose a particular seat he wishes to win, rather than running at-large in a field where offices are awarding accord ing to those receiving the top votes from the group. Young said the “place” system serves to dilute the concentrated political power of minorities. SMU Recruits First Negro Athlete In SW Conference Governor Expected To Approve Bill For Teacher Pay Increase