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PRESIDENT'S RECOMMENDATIONS RELATING

TO EDUCATION

FRIDAY, APRIL 2, 1954

UNITED STATES SENATE,

SUBCOMMITTEE ON EDUCATION OF THE

COMMITTEE ON LABOR AND PUBLIC WELFARE,

Washington, D. C.

The subcommittee met at 10:38 a. m., pursuant to call, in room P-63 of the Capitol, Senator John Sherman Cooper (chairman of the subcommittee), presiding.

Present: Senators Cooper, Upton, and Hill.

Also present: Roy E. James, staff director, Melvin W. Sneed, and William G. Reidy, professional staff members.

Senator COOPER. The subcommittee will come to order.

The Subcommittee on Education of the Committee on Labor and Public Welfare begins today hearings on three education bills which embody the administration's proposals in this important field.

The members of the subcommittee are Senators Goldwater, Upton, Murray, Hill, and myself.

The bills upon which we begin hearings, S. 2723, S. 2724, and S. 2856, were introduced by the chairman of the full committee, Senator H. Alexander Smith of New Jersey.

In brief, S. 2723 would provide for 48 State conferences on education, culminating in a White House conference; S 2724 would create a national advisory committee on education; S. 2856 would authorize cooperative research in education.

All of us know there is a serious shortage of adequate classrooms and qualified teachers.

The purpose of this hearing is to determine ways in which to solve these difficulties.

The bills under consideration are based on the traditional philosophy of State responsibility for public education. S. 2723 particularly provides that kind of an approach to the educational problems which confront us.

I would like to make clear this subcommittee will give serious attention to these bills before us today and to other proposals for improving our educational system.

It might be worth while to note here that during the past year several bills have been introduced by various Members of the Senate, looking toward improvements in our educational system, and several devoted to the problem of aid for school construction, and it is the intention of the chairman that before these hearings are concluded that we shall give all the attention that we think is proper to these various proposals.

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We are pleased to have with us today as the first witness Mrs. Oveta Culp Hobby, Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare. Before she testifies, I would like to place in the record the bills which we are to consider.

(The bills, S. 2723, S. 2724, and S. 2856, are as follows:)

[S. 2723, 83d Cong., 2d sess.]

A BILL To provide for a White House Conference on Education

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That appropriations are hereby authorized, as set forth in sections 2 and 3, to enable the President to hold in the city of Washington, District of Columbia, a conference of educators and interested laymen from all parts of the nation, to be called the White House Conference on Education, to consider and report to the President on significant and pressing problems in the field of education.

GRANTS FOR STATE CONFERENCES ON EDUCATION

SEC. 2. (a) To enable each State to bring together, prior to the White House Conference on Education, educators and interested citizens to discuss educational problems in the State and make recommendations for appropriate action to be taken at local, State, and Federal levels, there is hereby authorized to be appropriated the sum of $1,500,000. Sums appropriated pursuant to this section shall be allotted to the States on the basis of their respective populations according to the latest figures certified by the Department of Commerce, except that no State's allotment shall be less than $10,000.

(b) The Commissioner of Education shall pay, through the disbursing facilities of the Treasury Department, its allotment to each State which, through its Governor or other State official designated by the Governor, undertakes to accept and use the sums so paid exclusively for the purpose set forth in subsection (a), and to make a report of the findings and recommendations of the State conference for use of the White House Conference on Education. Sums appropriated pursuant to this section shall remain available until December 31, 1955, and any such sums remaining unpaid to the States or unobligated by them as of that date shall be returned to the Treasury.

FEDERAL ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES

SEC. 3. There are also authorized to be appropriated to the Commissioner of Education for the fiscal years ending June 30, 1954, June 30, 1955, and June 30, 1956, such sums as Congress determines to be necessary for the administration of section 2 of this Act and for other expenses of the Office of Education in planning for and holding the White House Conference on Education and in making available to the public the findings and recommendations of the conference. The Commissioner of Education is also authorized to accept, use, and dispose of funds, equipment, and facilities donated for purposes of the conference, and, to the extent consistent with such purposes, to use the same in accordance with the wishes of the donors.

DEFINITION OF STATE

SEC. 4. For the purpose of this Act the term "State" includes the District of Columbia, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.

[S. 2724, 83d Cong., 2d sess.]

A BILL To establish a National Advisory Committee on Education

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That, in order to secure for the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare (hereinafter referred to in this Act as the "Secretary") the advice of a group of lay persons on the initiation and conduct of studies of problems of national concern in the field of education and on appropriate action as a result thereof, there is hereby established in the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare a National Advisory Committee on Education (hereinafter referred to as the "Committee").

SEC. 2. The Committee shall be composed of nine members appointed without regard to civil-service laws by the Secretary from among individuals who are not otherwise in office under or in the employ of the Federal Government, one of whom shall be designated by the Secretary as Chairman. Each member shall hold office for a term of three years, except that (1) any member appointed to fill a vacancy occurring prior to the expiration of the term for which his predecessor was appointed, shall be appointed for the remainder of such term, and (2) the terms of the members first taking office shall expire as follows: Three shall expire with the close of the first calendar year which begins after the enactment of this Act, three shall expire with the close of the second such calendar year, and three shall expire with the close of the third such calendar year, as designated by the Secretary at the time of appointment. The Commissioner of Education shall be ex officio, a nonvoting member of the Committee.

SEC. 3. The Committee shall meet at the call of the Secretary, but not less often than three times each calendar year.

SEC. 4. The Committee shall, from time to time, recommend to the Secretary the initiation of studies of national concern in the field of education. Consultants may be appointed without regard to civil-service laws to assist in the conduct of such studies. The Committee shall propose to the Secretary appropriate action indicated by such studies and shall also, from time to time, advise the Secretary on the progress being made in carrying out its recommendations.

SEC. 5. Members of the Committee, while traveling to or from or attending meetings of the Committee, shall receive compensation at a rate to be fixed by the Secretary, but not exceeding $50 per diem, and shall be paid travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, as authorized by law (5 U. S. C. 73b-2) for persons in the Government service employed intermittently.

SEC. 6. There are hereby authorized to be appropriated to the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare such sums as may be necessary to carry out this Act, including expenses of professional, clerical, and stenographic assistance, and such appropriations shall be available for services as authorized by section 15 of the Act of August 2, 1946 (5 U. S. C. 55a).

[S. 2856, 83d Cong., 2d sess.]

A BILL To authorize cooperative research in education

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That in order to enable the Office of Education more effectively to accomplish the purposes and to perform the duties for which it was originally established, the Commissioner of Education is authorized to enter into contracts or jointly financed cooperative arrangements with State educational agencies, local school systems, and public and nonprofit educational institutions and organizations for the conduct of research, surveys, and demonstrations in the field of education.

SEC. 2. There are hereby authorized to be appropriated annually to the Office of Education, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, such sums as the Congress determines to be necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act.

Senator COOPER. I am going to ask Mrs. Hobby to proceed as she sees fit in giving her testimony.

I would like to say we are very happy to have you with us and to hear you, Mrs. Hobby.

STATEMENT OF OVETA CULP HOBBY, SECRETARY OF HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND WELFARE; ACCOMPANIED BY NELSON A. ROCKEFELLER, UNDER SECRETARY OF HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND WELFARE; AND SAMUEL M. BROWNELL, COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION

Secretary HOBBY. Thank you, sir.

Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee, before I proceed with my prepared statement, I should like to indicate for the record that Dr. Samuel Brownell, United States Commissioner of Education,

will participate in the presentation of the testimony on these three bills.

Senator COOPER. We are glad to have Dr. Brownell with us this morning.

Dr. BROWNELL. Thank you.

Secretary HOBBY. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, it is a pleasure to appear before you today in support of the three principal legislative proposals which were introduced by your distinguished chairman, Senator Alexander Smith.

S. 2723 would provide for State and White House conferences on education; S. 2724, would create a National Advisory Committee on Education; and S. 2856, would authorize cooperative research in education.

All of us are aware of the importance of education to the strength and vitality of our Nation. The security of America and the hopes of the free world depend in great measure upon the character, the ideas, the ingenuity, and the competence of each successive generation of young people. The complexities of today's world call for broader knowledge, greater skill, and deeper understanding. Hence, education whether at home, at church, or in our schools, is more important than ever before the continued well-being of the Nation.

The control and management of our schools in America is traditionally and properly a local and State function. The role of the Federal Government is-without interference-to aid and promote the cause of education.

We must recognize, nevertheless, that America is confronted by many grave and complex educational problems. You will recall that President Eisenhower said in his state of the Union message:

Youth-our greatest resource is being seriously neglected in a vital respect. The Nation as a whole is not preparing teachers or building schools fast enough to keep up with the increase in our population.

Although vigorous efforts are being made by many of the States and local communities to provide new school buildings and teachers. there are still great and widespread inadequacies. Not only are we short of classrooms and teachers for those in school today, but we also face increasing shortages ahead. These and other problems constitute tremendous challenges. We believe that the administration's proposals offer the most constructive approach toward a solution of these problems.

To provide a background of factual information against which the bills before you can be considered, I shall ask Dr. Brownell to present in graphic form a summary of the most pressing of our educational problems.

Dr. BROWNELL. Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, I should like to call your attention to several charts on which we have attempted to summarize facts that show our educational problems at the present time.

This first chart, showing public-school enrollment, has the columns placed in pairs, comparing the number of children, which is the height of the bar, in each age group-5, 6, 8, on through the age of 18-for the years of 1930 and 1950.

The blue part of the bar indicates the number of children that are in school; the gray part the number that are out of school.

I would like to call your attention to 2 or 3 points in connection with this chart. First, the increased number of 5-, 6-, and 7-year-old children that are in school in 1950 as compared with 1930. That is, there were about twice as many 5-year-olds in school in 1950 as in 1930.

The height of the bar also shows the increased actual total number of children there were in 1950. If the figures were brought up to 1954, you would see the growing increase in enrollment that we have.

Now, the second point in connection with this chart that I would like to note is the greater holding power of the schools on the secondary-school level, with a larger number, and a considerably larger percentage, of the 16-, 17-, and 18-year-old children in school in 1950 as compared with 1930. Actually, if you will note, there is a smaller total number of children at that age in 1950 than there was in 1930, but a larger number in school, so that that indicates the increased proportion.

Now, if we project that over a period of time, the second chart points out the fact that during the period from 1930 until about 1945 we were having a rather steady decrease in the number of children entering our public schools, in the elementary school, but beginning about that time we have had a very steady and rapid increase in the number of children in the elementary school.

During that same period of time the high-school enrollment has increased somewhat, not as spectacularly as the elementary school, and that is due more to the holding power of the secondary school than to the number of children, as shown from this chart. Also in terms of our college enrollment we have had a considerable increase proportionately in college enrollment during that period of time, so that at the present time we have about 37 million children and young people in the schools.

If we project the enrollment in schools on the basis of what is presently true, we can look forward then to 45 million in 1960, but I would call your attention to the fact that if we have a continuation of this trend of more 5-, 6-, and 7-year-olds proportionately entering school and a continuation of the greater holding power in our secondary schools, as well as a greater proportion of our young people going into college, then this 45 million estimate for 1960 is a very conservative figure.

So much, then, for the background of enrollment.

May I move then to the problem in connection with classroom facilities?

This chart indicates what happened during the time that the enrollment was decreasing. There was abandonment of one-room schools and abandonment of some of the old and obsolete buildings, without their replacement, in many of our cities, so that when we reached the period of 1946 and 1947 we had considerably fewer classrooms available than we had back in 1930.

Then, with the increase in the number of children, we began to get a pickup in construction, so that during 1951 there were some 47,000 classrooms built; in 1952 and in 1953 approximately 50,000 classrooms built per year. Yet we had this increased deficit in classrooms needed because of the more rapid increase in children than we had in construction of classrooms.

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