The allocation of funds under Title III of NDEA would proceed as present. H.R. 8203 would not close out or abolish the loan program, but it is contemplated that little use would be made of that provision after the inauguration of matching grants. It would be possible, therefore, to add a large portion of prospective loan funds to grant allocations for the states. In passing I might mention that the bill provides for allocations by the states to non-public schools or "groups of schools." By this wording it is my hope to encourage the trend toward greater coordination among parochial schools. In the past these schools have been characterized by their de-centralized nature. Too often this has meant less than adequate planning and coordination of activities. Today, fortunately, these problems have been recognized and an effort is being made to correct them. It is my hope that this legislation will provide increased inducement for non-public schools to consolidate their planning in the best interests of the education they provide their students. Madame Chairman, I am convinced that only by amending the National Defense Education Act, as H.R. 8203 does, can the purposes of that historic legislation be achieved. The seven million children who attend nonpublic schools are no less important to the future defense and security needs of our Nation than those who attend public schools. We must quickly indicate our recognition of that fact by amending title III of NDEA in other to provide them with fair and equitable benefits. The text of the bill follows. [H.R. 8203, 90th Cong., first sess.] A BILL To amend the National Defense Education Act of 1958 to make equipment purchased under title III thereof available to all children attending public and private nonprofit elementary and secondary schools Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That (a) section 303(a)(1) of the National Defense Education Act of 1958 is amended (1) by striking out "public" after "or reading in", (2) by inserting "public" after "of local", and (3) by inserting immediately before the semicolon at the end thereof the following: "in public schools". (b) Section 303 (a) of such Act is amended by renumbering paragraph (5) thereof as paragraph (6), and by inserting immediately after paragraph (4) the following new paragraph: “(5) provides assurance that such laboratory and other special equipment will be provided on an equitable basis for the use of children and teachers in private nonprofit elementary and secondary schools in the State which comply with the compulsory attendance laws of the State or are otherwise recognized by it through some procedure customarily used in the State, but such equipment shall be provided for use in such a school or group of schools only if such school or group of schools has expended an equal amount of its funds derived from private sources for equipment or remodeling described in paragraph (1) ;". SEC. 2. (a) Section 304(a) of such Act is amended by inserting after “except that" the following: “(1) the payment on account of equipment provided for use in private nonprofit elementary and secondary schools shall be equal to the full amount expended for such equipment and (2)”. (b) Section 304 of such Act is amended at the end thereof the following new subsection: "(c) In any State which has a State plan approved under section 303(b) and in which no State agency is authorized by law to provide laboratory or other special equipment for the use of children and teachers in any one or more public or private nonprofit elementary or secondary schools in such State, the Commissioner shall arrange for the provision on an equitable basis of such laboratory and other special equipment for such use." SEC. 3. Section 305 of such Act is amended to read as follows: "PUBLIC CONTROL OF LABORATORY AND OTHER EQUIPMENT WHICH MAY BE MADE AVAILABLE "SEC. 305. (a) Title to laboratory and other special equipment furnished pursuant to this title, and control and administration of their use, shall vest only in a public agency. "(b) The laboratory and other special equipment made available pursuant to this title for the use of children and teachers in any school in any State shall be limited to those which have been approved by an appropriate State or local educational agency for use, or are used, in a public elementary or secondary school of that State." THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO, Hon. BARRATT O'HARA, Washington, D.C. DEAR SIR: I should like to call your attention to the Bill introduced by Mr. Sisk of California (HR 5793), and ask for your interest and support. This Bill would provide funds to colleges and universities for construction of outpatient facilities for college health services. I am sure it is unnecessary to point out to you the importance of protecting the health of our college youth since they represent one of our greatest national resources. The assumption that these young people are free of health problems is not borne out by the facts. Last year at the University of Chicago with an enrollment never gretaer than 8,000 students, we had over 43,000 visits to the University Health Service-many of them representing serious medical and surgical problems. While most colleges and universities are coming to recognize their responsibility to provide sophisticated medical care for students, only a handful of institutions have services that could be called adequate. The reasons for this vary with each institution, but in general reflect the fact that since student health is not a strictly academic function, there is often relatively little knowledge or sympathy devoted to it in the competition for previous budgeary funds. Sharp enrollment increases have made most health services obsolete in terms of space. For most institutions it will be extremely difficult to improve the quality of medical care and expand facilities at the same time, without diverting important funds from academic areas. As a health service director at an institution which takes this responsibility seriously, I can assure you that it is an expensive enterprise. As president of the Mid-Atlantic College Health Association, I can also assure you that most colleges and universities have a long way to go to provide the level of medical care our young people deserve. Without important help in providing facilities for student health services, institutions will either remain inadequate or will have to take funds from areas of equal importance. I request your serious consideration of this problem. RICHARD H. Moy, M.D., Director, University Health Services, University of Chicago; President, Mid-America College Health Association. |