You notice the orange starts increasing. That is the amount of money spent on educational components. Last year enrollment went up to 12,457. Then revenue sharing hit, and we are down to 3,966 pupils as the dollars went through the political channels of city hall.

I have included in the testimony some editorials from the daily newspapers which indicate the dissatisfaction with this kind of channeling, We no longer are eligible as a school district-we are independent from city hall-but we are no longer eligible by the Department of Labor to make contracts with the Department of Labor for the summer employment program. We may subcontract, if city hall wants to subcontract with us.

You will find in the testimony details on the program this summer where we did subcontract finally after city council refused to allow the use of any money unless the school district administered part of the program. Council wanted us to do all of it. Finally a compromise was reached where we got 3,966 jobs, and the city took the rest.

Interestingly enough, we have been able to develop an interesting and an exciting complex with the education component. We have been able to get vocational money to complement the money we have, so that if we put a boy in a job in maybe a county highway department shop, working on machinery, and he had to do welding, we gave him training in welding that paralleled the job he was doing.

We have about 200 teachers in vocational education involved in this, so that every job that called for work also called for training. If we went into cutting grass and trimming shrubs, we also brought a horticulturist in so that those youngsters knew what they were doing, how they should be doing it, and also developing a little degree of pride in their work. The ecologists have been very pleased with this kind of program.

Then for the better students, for those who were doing very good work academically but were from the families of the poor, we made an arrangement with several of our colleges, and went out and got foundation money so that we enrolled those youngsters in summer programs on the campus of one or two or three or four colleges and universities. where they secured credits-in-escrow, so at the time of graduation, if they wanted to transfer that credit to another college or utilize it in that college, they might.

Their work experience was on that campus. Many times it was in libraries. These kinds of things I believe in very strongly. There is a place in this country for work experience in a new kind of relationship with education in the summer months where we are not tied down with the traditions that we have built up so strongly in education.

I regret very much however, that the practice now of the Department of Labor is that there shall be no contract with any public school system in the United States. That has nothing to do with the laws you have passed. That has something to do however with the present.

Senator PELL. Is that a question of law or administrative practice? Mr. BRIGGS. Administrative practice solely. The law is clear.

I would merely refer to another area that we have had some problems with, and I do not mean to belabor the point, but as far as the Emergency School Aid Act is concerned, this is one I think needs a great deal of scrutiny.

97-457 O 73 pt. 5 4

Senator PELL. We will look into it. The full committee exercises oversight of the Labor Department.

Mr. BRIGGS. We have gone through frustrations with this act. The children of Cleveland, I submit, are as needy as any ghetto children in the United States. To date we have not been able to qualify. We have been promised, we have been told, we have been assured of qualification over and over. We have not been able to. We know the school districts that have been funded also do not qualify but had exceptions. With this I merely say that in Cleveland, as well as the 20 largest cities in the United States, we have felt comfortable with categorical aid. We feel that this is a way to prevent dissipation of those funds for general purposes. We would encourage extension of the kinds of program that we have seen, updating them so that they meet the real national needs, particularly those of the children of the poor in our large cities.

I want to thank you for the opportunity of making this presentation this morning, Senator.

Senator PELL. Thank you very much.

Senator Stafford?

VIEWS ON S. 3138

Senator STAFFORD. I have just one question that I would like to ask for Senator Beall, Mr. Chairman, and then I will drop out.

Senator Beall has asked me to ask you if you are familiar with the bill which he has sponsored with Senator Dominick of Colorado— S. 3138-the Elementary School Emphasis Act of 1973.

Mr. BRIGGS. I have only just been apprised of this. I am not familiar with the details. Members of our staff have shown a great interest in this.

Senator STAFFORD. Have you any personal reaction to, at this moment, or would you rather reserve and supply it for the record? Mr. BRIGGS. I would like to prepare for the record a position on this. Senator STAFFORD. That would be appreciated, Mr. Briggs, if you would do that. Thank you.

[The information referred to had not been received by the subcommittee when this hearing record went to press.]

Senator STAFFORD. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Senator PELL. Do you see any possibility of museums in Cleveland being woven into the educational process? Would that dilute your costs too much?

Mr. BRIGGS. No; I think that we have to make education exciting. I think we have to tie in the cultural organizations of a city. Cleveland is very fortunate as far as museums are concerned, as you may know, Senator.

We are utilizing them to a great extent. I do not think we should take present moneys and dilute programs. I think the time has come in this country for us to give the highest priority to the education of the most disadvantaged of the country, and that is the children of the poor.

I am a strong believer that we have to do more in the arts. If you look at the history of the arts in this country, they not only survive but they prosper many times during the great period of stress, the great periods of problems.

I think that we need to take the arts into the schools, and we need to take the children out of the schools to the arts. I would like to think that maybe some day I could get some Federal funding for an assistant superintendent for the arts from the arts, not from education, but from the arts, to see that we have an open-door relationship with all those. Senator PELL. I completely share your enthusiasm in this regard. I have another question. Why do the small children pay 30 cents and the bigger children 50? Is.that because their lunch is bigger?

Mr. BRIGGS. Yes. There is a difference in the portion. Also we have I think been able to apply our systems approach to the elementary, and we have not to the same extent in the secondary. We have no individual cafeterias which prepare food in the elementary, but we have a deep-freeze system and a systems approach probably that is the finest in the Nation, and this has brought the cost down.

Senator PELL. Thank you very much. The charts that you presented and any others you care to leave will be put into the record.

Mr. BRIGGS. Thank you.

[The prepared statement of Mr. Briggs, charts, and other information follow:]

CHART 1

I am Paul W. Briggs, Superintendent of the Cleveland Public Schools. It

is a distinct honor and pleasure to be here today. I appreciate this opportunity to discuss the impact of federal assistance on the Cleveland Public Schools over the years and to share with you some of our concerns and successes as they relate to federally-funded programs.

The federal government has traditionally concentrated its educational spending on programs of national concern, such as agriculture, vocational education, manpower training, science, and more recently, special programs for the children of the poor. In every instance this team attack on our problems by the federal government and local schools has brought about success.

This Congress has established a good record regarding its concerns over the educational needs of urban children. The hearing of this committee today is another indication of your continued leadership.

Poverty has not been abolished in our cities. On the contrary, the families of the poor are to be found in large concentrations in the great urban areas of

America.

Cleveland is the largest city in Ohio. The school district is the largest in the state, enrolling seven percent of all Ohio school children. However, our school district enrolls one-fourth of the children from welfare families in

the state.

Since 1969, the number of school children in Cleveland on public assistance has nearly doubled. While we had 30,931 school-age children on welfare just four years ago, we have 58,526 today.

It is this large number of poor children to whom we must address ourselves and upon whom we must concentrate our efforts. The poor of the urban areas need supportive services and programs designed to overcome the effects of poverty. Through education we upgrade people both socially and economically.