Senator YARBOROUGH. Is that not the substance of what you testified? Mr. DATT. In order to carry it out, he has to require certain things from the State agencies, and this gives him certain power and control. Senator YARBOROUGH. Mr. Biggs, as a former teacher, you are familiar, of course, with the Morrill Land Grant College Act of 1862 by which the Federal Government stimulated the building of colleges and stimulated the advancement of higher education in this country? You are familiar with that, are you not? Mr. BIGGS. That is right. Senator YARBOROUGH. Has that led to Federal control of the Federal land-grant colleges built under that law? Mr. BIGGS. I would say no, but I think this is a different situation. At that particular time there was not definitely a move to get funds. It was a move to get a program into operation. Back in the early history of education we put a great deal of emphasis on straight academic programs in our colleges and higher education levels. Little attention was given to the vocational fields or the fields of agriculture. Of course, agriculture was our major industry then. Senator YARBOROUGH. But the Federal Government put up the property under the Morrill Land Grant College Act by granting so many thousand acres of land per Senator and Congressman from each State, and they were actually founded under that act, were they not? Mr. BIGGS. Primarily on a research basis. Senator YARBOROUGH. My question is: The colleges were founded. under the Morrill Land Grant College Act under that act, were they not? Mr. BIGGS. That is right. Senator YARBOROUGH. Under the stimulus of a Federal law? Senator YARBOROUGH. By Federal grants, property rather than money, but by Federal grants of material things, they were founded. How many are there? Ninety-some-odd under that law today? Mr. BIGGS. I don't know the exact number. I do know there is one experiment station in each State. Senator YARBOROUGH. It has not led to Federal control of those colleges, has it? Mr. BIGGS. No. Senator YARBOROUGH. You are familiar, of course, with the vocational education programs? Mr. BIGGS. That is right. Senator YARBOROUGH. The statement has been made before this committee that there is less Federal control now under vocational educational programs than there was when they were founded starting about 40 years ago. That, as the States and the local districts have learned how to run them, the Federal Government has pulled out and exercised a declining degree of control. Do you agree with that statement or not? Mr. BIGGS. My experience is that there is a certain amount of Federal control because the U.S. Department of Education establishes the basis of such programs in the State. There is correlation between the State and Federal Government, I will say, but there is Government control. Senator YARBOROUGH. Do you agree with the statements that have been made by previous witnesses testifying that the degree of Federal control has declined with the passage of time. That the Federal Government set up the program to get it started, and as the States began to administer it, they have gradually exercised less and less control and are pulling out from the control phase of it? Mr. BIGGS. I cannot answer that. I have been out of the system for quite some time. Senator YARBOROUGH. Thank you very much, Mr. Biggs, for coming and presenting your statement. Mr. BIGGS. Thank you, sir. Senator YARBOROUGH. The next witness is Dr. Maycie Southall, professor of elementary education, George Peabody College, Nashville, Tenn. Dr. Southall, we are happy to have you testify before the committee. In my own State, before our institutions for the training of teachers were as far advanced as they are now, we received many great leaders from George Peabody College who came to Texas not only to teach but to help found and build our institutions for the training of teachers. STATEMENT OF DR. MAYCIE SOUTHALL, PRESIDENT OF ELEMENTARY EDUCATION, GEORGE PEABODY COLLEGE, NASHVILLE, TENN., REPRESENTING THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY WOMEN Dr. SOUTHALL. Thank you. My name is Maycie K. Southall, and I am professor of elementary education at George Peabody College for Teachers in Nashville, Tenn. Since I am chairman of the Elementary and Secondary Education Committee of the American Association of University Women, I have the oportunity of representing the AAUW at your hearings. It is indeed a privilege to appear before a committee with such deep concerns for the crisis which we face in American education today. The American Association of University Women, since its founding 77 years ago, has worked consistently for the improvement of education at every level from the nursery school through the university. This concern of ours has caused this association of 145,000 women, who are graduates of every accredited college in the United States, to support Federal aid to public elementary and secondary schools under conditions safeguarding State control at its last two biennial conventions. NEED FOR FEDERAL AID The AAUW has as its motto "Action without study is futile, but study without action is fatal." Therefore, it has kept abreast of the many studies that have been made of the financial needs of our schools. As recently as 1955 the AAUW conducted a nationwide study of school finance. The results of this study convinced our members of the necessity for Federal aid to education in order that many of America's children may have even the minimum standards of education. Furthermore, an opinion poll, conducted in 1958 through our 1,400 branches in 49 States, revealed that our members believe that all of our States and communities need to have State and local support augmented by Federal funds in order to improve the quality of education. This is necessary because most of the State and local appropriations are now being used just to keep up with the increased enrollment and increased costs of education due to the decreasing value of the dollar with little, if any, going to the improvement of the education of our children. Therefore, we believe that, in addition to protection being made to insure State and local control of education, Federal legislation should be so designed as to prevent any reduction of local and State effort for school purposes. Furthermore, in order that the quality of education for all America's children may be improved, we believe that funds allocated to the States should be made on the basis of three factors: First, the relative State income per child of school age; second, the relative number of public school children; third, the relative State effort for school purposes. SHORTAGES OF SPECIAL CONCERN America's children and youth are seriously suffering from three shortages in education. These are shortage of classrooms and school space, shortage of equipment and instructional materials, and shortage of qualified teachers. These shortages will be found in most of the economically underprivileged and the fast-growing areas of every State. CLASSROOM SHORTAGE It seems strange that opponents to Federal aid would have the temerity to claim there is no classroom shortage in a period when our population has increased 20 percent in 10 years and our school population has increased 40 percent in the same period. Furthermore, this increase may be expected to continue. In fact, the various estimates of the shortage of classroom units would seem to underestimate the need, judging from the school systems I have visited in the last 5 years. I visit many of the better schools in different parts of the United States and I have yet to visit a school, new or old, which was not already overcrowded in some respects. Furthermore, not only the children in the overcrowded rooms suffer, but the total school program suffers because lunchrooms, libraries, gymnasiums, hallways, basement supply rooms, and other multipurpose rooms are taken over for classrooms and thereby decrease the services to all of the children in the building. Yet in most of these school systems new buildings are being built each year and school boards are using every ingenious means of financing the increased building costs. Unfortunately, it is the primary classrooms which are frequently the most overcrowded, and many of these little ones are on half-day sessions which means that they are being cheated of their right to a full day at a period when they need the teacher's time and guidance probably more than at any other time in their life. Moreover, if they do not receive a good start in the first grade, they are handicapped in all of their later education, even at the graduate level. Lack of space and classrooms is a problem which is plaguing every part of our country where there is rapid population growth. As one superintendent said last week: I am glad to retire because since World War II I have spent all of my time trying to get enough teachers and buildings and I haven't put up a single building yet that wasn't overcrowded the first year it was built. THE TEACHER SHORTAGE Although the building shortage is serious, the most serious shortage in America is the shortage of good teachers. At no period in our history have we had enough trained teachers, but today we do not have enough teachers, period. Therefore, many of those that are now teaching are inadequately prepared, and this is particularly true in our economically less privileged States and communities. In fact, the chances are that a child enrolled in one of our less privileged sections is getting not one twenty-fifth but one-fortieth or one-fiftieth of a poorly trained teacher's time. This teacher shortage is felt not only by our elementary and secondary children, but probably one of the most acute and least recognized teacher shortages is at the college level. Although there are those that see no relationship between teacher salaries and teacher shortages, school systems which are in the upper quartile of salaries have to scout around to many States to get teachers, and I might say that we get about 80 or more a week at our school from all parts of the country looking for teachers, but actually those places suffer no shortages whereas those in the lower economic brackets have to take what is left. For example, the teachers of one county in Tennessee have this slogan "Those with degrees, will travel." And, if you know the record in many of our States, you know those with degrees do travel, and they leave us. Of course, that means that those with less than the minimum requirements will be available for local consumption. For example, Nashville, which has the highest salary schedule of any system in Tennessee, has no shortage. But Davidson County in which Nashville is located has a serious shortage, and so have most of the other counties of the State because the rural children in all States are the ones that are most discriminated against. That is why I was so appalled at some of the testimony I listened to this morning. If your time permits, I would like to illustrate the great need for more teachers and more classrooms by using my own local county. I asked the superintendent of the Davidson County schools, Nashville, Tenn., how serious the shortage of school buildings and teachers was in this community. He stated that 118 elementary teachers in the Davidson County school system are teaching 40 or more students this year and that the high schools were equally as crowded because the bulge in enrollment was just reaching that level. For example, the average English teacher in Davidson County has 150 pupils versus the 100 recommended by Dr. James Conant's report as the maximum which should be allowed in a good high school. Regarding the shortage in buildings, he stated that although Davidson County was spending over $2 million a year for new buildings and new classroom units, it was only holding its own or just keeping up with the increased enrollment, and that they were still having to use 75 portables. Having been in one of those portables recently, I will tell you they are gradually falling apart because they have been using them since the war years. Furthermore, that over one-half of the elementary school libraries in the county are having to be used for classrooms, and so are many other multipurpose rooms, thereby greatly decreasing the services of these rooms to all the children in the building. I don't know whether you know how serious it is to have the library in a whole elementary building taken over for a classroom, which deprives all of the children in the building of the opportunity to use the library during the day. He said that one of the things that disturbed him most was the effect that the shortage of teachers, buildings, and funds was having upon teacher morale. There has been more absenteeism because of illness this year than ever before. I called an elementary school principal recently to get my class of college students to go out to see it, and four of the primary teachers were ill. She said the same thing not knowing that her superintendent had said that. Several had resigned or had retired earlier than necessary because they felt the large teacher-pupil load was injuring their health. Many others were frustrated and unhappy because they felt they were unable to meet the individual needs of their numerous students. He summed up the situation by saying that not only had they had more illness among teachers this year than in any previous one, but that the elementary teachers, at a recent staff meeting-and I might say the press covered that meeting-had stated that, while they very much wanted and needed an increase in salary, if money was not available to both increase salaries and decrease the number of children per room, they would rather teach 30 children without an increase in salary than to teach 40 and receive a salary increase. Unfortunately, similar situations can be found not only throughout Tennessee but, to a greater or lesser degree, throughout the Nation. If America is to hold its leadership position in today's world, children and youth will need some of our best trained, brightest minds, and best adjusted men and women as their elementary and secondary teachers. While there are many dedicated, gifted people who will continue teaching regardless of the salary, in the long run we get what we pay for, and today we are paying teachers an average salary which is only a little better than that of the average employed person. . Furthermore, our young people can choose any 12 of the 17 occupational groups and receive approximately 50 percent more than the average teacher is getting. This means that teachers are forced not only to travel from one system to another, but are forced to give up teaching for other more remunerative occupations in order to maintain the minimum standards of living which human decency requires. Many of those who are not changing are working afternoons, evenings, Saturdays, and taking on additional projects in order to supplement their submarginal wages. In fact, most of the men teachers in the South are carrying an additional job and working in the summer in order to keep their budgets balanced. I might say more and more of the women are taking jobs, too. As a person who is very close to this, I would say that I think their school |