TO AUTHORIZE A WHITE HOUSE CONFERENCE ON EDUCATION THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 1970 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, GENERAL SUBCOMMITTEE ON EDUCATION OF THE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND LABOR, The subcommittee met at 10:05 a.m., pursuant to call, in room 2257, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Roman C. Pucinski, chairman of the subcommittee, presiding. Present: Representatives Pucinski, Carey, Hawkins, Quie, and Erlenborn. Staff members present: John F. Jennings, counsel; and Charles W. Radcliffe, minority counsel for education. Mr. PUCINSKI. The committee will come to order continuing our hearings on H.R. 17772, a bill to provide for a White House Conference on Education, sponsored by our colleague from Illinois, Mr. Erlenborn. Our first witness this morning will be Mrs. John Davenport, of the Illinois Citizens Education Council, who I believe is the principal proponent of the proposal for a White House Conference on Education. I will ask our colleague, Mr. Erlenborn, to introduce Mrs. Davenport. Mr. ERLENBORN. Mrs. Davenport, if you will come forward and take a seat at the witness table. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, I want to thank you again for holding hearings on H.R. 17772 to call for a White House Conference on Education. It is my privilege today to introduce to the committee as our first witness Mrs. John Davenport of my hometown of Elmhurst, who came to me some months ago with the suggestion for the White House Conference on Education. Mrs. Davenport has just completed 21 years of service on the PTA in my hometown of Elmhurst, Ill. She is chairman of the Illinois Citizens Education Council which, as I understand it, was created as the result of the 1955 White House Conference on Education and has continued to be active. I think the experience of Illinois in the advance in education as a result of the 1955 conference and the continued interest of the Illinois Citizens Education Council is very good testimony of the value that a White House Conference can play. I am pleased that Mrs. Davenport was able to come here this morning to appear before the commmittee. Mr. PUCINSKI. Mrs. Davenport, you have a statement and we will let you proceed in any way you wish. STATEMENT OF MRS. NORMA DAVENPORT, CHAIRMAN, ILLINOIS CITIZENS EDUCATION COUNCIL Mrs. DAVENPORT. Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, and Mr. Erlenborn, I am Norma Davenport and reside with my husband, John, in Elmhurst, Ill. First, let me state that I am the mother of four children. Secondly, I am a lay citizen interested in the cause of education. I am currently serving my third year as chairman of the Illinois Citizens Education Council, referred to as ICEC for the sake of brevity. On behalf of the members of ICEC, I wish to thank the committee and its distinguished chairman for the privilege of testifying on H.R. 17772, calling for a White House Conference on Education in 1972a Conference, in my opinion, which would greatly contribute to the enlightenment of the citizenry on educational problems and issues, and encourage them to offer possible solutions. It would no doubt be helpful to you to know something about my background in the area of education. Three of our four children have received their college degrees and the fourth is currently in the process of attaining that goal. Our older son went on to receive his masters in business administration at Oregon State and is now director of housing at Oregon Technical Institute. Last June 11th, as Congressman Erlenborn said, I attended what I believe to be my last official PTA board meeting, after having served continuously for 21 years, either at the elementary, high school, or district level. My time and efforts in those 21 years were devoted mostly to parent education, leadership training, and discussion group work. In my opinion, these are the basic areas which help parents develop a better understanding of education as a vital part of their lives. It has always been my policy to acquire as much knowledge and know-how as possible in order that my efforts be more productive. I have taken many courses in the area of parent education, community human relations, and community development. These have been pursued at such institutions as the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, Northern Illinois University, and the National Training Laboratories. I have attended innumerable conferences and seminars which dealt with education. I have served on numerous local citizen advisory committees and have been a member of the ICEC for 12 years. As a result of my experience and the knowledge gained over these many years, I feel well qualified to make the following statements about the 1955 White House Conference results and the need for the 1972 Conference. Approximately 96,000 Illinois citizens took part in the work and committee meetings which preceded the White House Conference in 1955. There were 420 community conferences and 80 county conferences in the State. There were 950 people involved in the State conference plus 350 observers. A significant factor to be considered in this involvement is the fact that all this information and knowledge resulting from local group conferences did not just come to Washington and stay here. The deliberations at the national level were returned to the local groups where citizens had the benefit of reviewing problems from the viewpoint of larger concepts. As a result of the involvement of these people in the White House Conference on Education in 1955, the Illinois Citizens Education Committee-now Council-was formed. In the beginning, the membership numbered 200, having been selected from a list of over 1,000 qualified names nominated to the organizing committee and representative of all geographical areas as well as race, color, and creed. Over the last 15 years hundreds of people have been touched by what our organization has done for education in Illinois. To list a few of our programs, ICEC has sponsored statewide meetings, bringing in nationally recognized men in the field of education to discuss current issues or problems; developed a course of study for school board members a survey revealed that most board members feel incapable of making worthwhile contributions until they have served on the board for 2 years; helped instigate the junior college program in Illinois and set up a consultant training program, training men from each of the State universities in the techniques and methods of organizing and working with local citizen committees. Now, in cooperation with the Educational Development Laboratory at the University of Illinois, a course of study for lay citizen committee members has just been completed. The beautiful thing about this course of study is that it can be used not only for school advisory committees, but for any group serving in an advisory capacity, whether it be a city council, a human relations group, a hospital organization, or what have you. We feel this course has great potential to help those people who want to become more effective and productive in their efforts to promote better education, as well as other social areas. Through a research program conducted in cooperation with the University of Illinois, we found that citizen committees organized under Dr. H. H. Hamlin's guidelines, with the assistance of a professional, are more likely to be successful, ongoing and contributing groups. With professional guidance and the opportunity to participate in the course of study for lay citizens, the likelihood of pressure groups and citizens trying to usurp the legal prerogatives of school board members becomes negligible. ICEC enjoys the guidance and advice of some capable and responsible people in the State of Illinois. Serving on our advisory board are representatives from the office of the superintendent of public instruction, the Illinois Association of School Administrators, the Illinois Association of School Boards, the Illinois Association of Superintendents of Educational Service Regions, and the Illinois Council of Public Community College Presidents. At our last meeting in December, it was their counsel that we pursue the possibility of a White House Conference on Education. They expressed strong feelings regarding the good that had resulted from the 1955 Conference and pointed out the need for another conference where large numbers of people would be involved. For the sake of a reminder, I will list here the questions presented in the 1955 Conference: What should our schools accomplish? In what ways can we organize our school systems effectively and economically? What are our school building needs? How can we get enough good teachers and keep them? How can we finance our schools-build and operate them? How can we obtain a continuing public interest in education? While in a general way we still have these same questions with us, there are now new ones more significant and pertinent to our times. I believe there is an important element which has entered the picture, and on which really isn't new at all-that of human values in education. This raises many questions relative to our future approaches to education. I believe such a conference could be so designed as to give attention to this area and thus aid the citizen in his effort to achieve a broader understanding in the area of human values in school. We need to give parents and citizens an opportunity to examine more than just the four walls containing desks, books, and a teacher. There are real benefits gained from people coming together at the local, county, State, and national levels to examine the overall problems and issues of education. Too often the citizen sees such problems only through the eyes of his local community and has no concept whatsoever of those factors at the other levels which affect his own situation. The White House Conference is an excellent vehicle for citizens to broaden their horizons. Such a conference offers an excellent opportunity to tap new people resources. The 1955 conference brought many people, particularly businessmen with specialized skills and knowledge, into the education arena-men who went on to make some outstanding contributions to the cause of education. This appears to be the crucial time in the history of education to institute another White House Conference on Education. I would strongly urge that such a conference closely follow the structural form of President Dwight D. Eisenhower's Conference on Education in 1955. Never before had there been so many people in our country looking at the issues and problems of education and seeking solutions. Never before had such a well-planned and well-administered program taken place. Problems and issues were faced not only by the governmental officials and educators responsible for education, but by the average father, mother, and citizen. The atmosphere and climate established in these conferences were such that sound deliberations and thinking could take place. At a meeting of the ICEC Executive Committee this last Monday, points to be brought out in this presentation were discussed. It was generally emphasized that such a conference be so structured as to not degenerate into discussions on such subjects as campus unrest, violence, et cetera, but that it remain at the level whereby we could examine those factors which might have led to unrest and acts of violence and seek solutions which might prevent such behavior from developing in our younger generation. They also expressed the feeling that we pretty well know the problems of education today, but strongly pointed out the need to get people involved in seeking the solutions. Another one of their concerns was that the bill did not go beyond higher education. It was recommended that consideration be given to the inclusion of continuing education in the bill. A White House Conference on Education in 1972 will greatly enhance the efforts of our ICEC committee as well as other educational groups throughout the State. It would provide another surge of interest on the part of younger people and ultimately provide a fresh reservoir of people from which we could draw for the work that needs to be done. It is my understanding that ICEC is now the only committee still in operation which was organized as a result of the 1955 Conference. It is my firm conviction that we have remained a viable, ongoing, productive organization only because we have enjoyed the guidance and counsel provided by the professional people from the University of Illinois and the fact that this institution has provided us a home from which to operate. Again, had it not been for the White House Conference this kind of a cooperative program would not have come into being. What I have presented here may or may not be what you expected to hear. What I have tried to do is outline for you those projects and contributions made by citizens as a result of the 1955 Conference. I honestly and sincerely feel such projects and programs would never have been initiated or fulfilled had it not been for the impetus provided by the White House Conference on Education in 1955. I firmly believe that another conference structured along the lines of President Eisenhower's Conference in 1955 would again provide the impetus for future citizen participation of a constructive nature. I strongly urge you to support the 1972 White House Conference on Education. It has been a privilege and an honor to appear before you. Thank you very much for this opportunity, Mr. Chairman. Mr. PUCINSKI. Thank you very much, Mrs. Davenport. I certainly agree with you that the White House Conference could give great impetus to at least starting a national dialog on needs of education in the seventies. Last week, I attended the National Reading Council Conference, one of the President's programs. There was no question that the White House can give great impetus to these programs. When you throw the weight of the President behind a program like this it always is a good sign. I am in full agreement in my hope that we could get this legislation moving. Mr. Hawkins? Mr. HAWKINS. Mrs. Davenport, I also agree that there is great value in such a conference. However, there are several points in your statement that I would like to have you clarify. First, of course, may I commend you and the Council with which you identify for the fine work you have been doing. But you indicate on page & that ICEC is now the only committee still in operation that was organized as a result of the 1955 Conference. Isn't it rather significant that in all of the States that this is the only one that is still in operation? Mrs. DAVENPORT. Yes. As I stated, I believe this is due to the fact that we have had the professional guidance from the University of Illinois, and the fact that the university has provided us a home for an office. Also, I think many times organizations of this type of a voluntary nature-where there is no hierarchical structure and paid staff-have difficulty in maintaining ongoing groups unless there is a motivating |