SCHOOL SUPPORT ACT OF 1959 THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 1959 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON GENERAL EDUCATION OF THE Washington, D.C. The subcommittee met at 10 a.m., pursuant to notice, in room 429, House Office Building, Hon. Cleveland M. Bailey (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Present: Representatives Bailey, Thompson, Udall, Brademas, O'Hara, Kearns, Frelinghuysen, and Lafore. Also present: Fred G. Hussey, clerk, full committee; Melvin W. Sneed, minority clerk; Russell C. Derrickson, investigator, full committee; and Robert E. McCord, clerk, subcommittee. Mr. BAILEY. The subcommittee will be in order. The clerk will call the roll to ascertain if we have a quorum present. Mr. HUSSEY. Mr. Bailey? Mr. BAILEY. Here. Mr. HUSSEY. Mr. Thompson? Mr. THOMPSON. Here. Mr. HUSSEY. Mr. Udall? Mr. UDALL. Here. Mr. HUSSEY. Mr. Brademas? Mr. BRADEMAS. Here. Mr. HUSSEY. Mr. O'Hara? Mr. O'HARA. Here. Mr. HUSSEY. Mr. Lafore? Mr. HUSSEY. A quorum is present, sir. Mr. BAILEY. The subcommittee has been convened this morning for the purpose of hearing witnesses who are already in Washington appearing before the Senate committee on similar legislation, as a matter of courtesy, to avoid these people having to return to Washington later on to be heard by our subcommittee. The committee today and tomorrow is hearing a series of, I believe, three separate witnesses. Before taking up the matter before the committee this morning, we are going to have quite a number of requests for hearings on school legislation. I think it would be in the interests of the committee to be able to determine in advance whether we want the parties to come in in person or whether we want them to file a brief. So the Chair at this time desires to appoint Mr. Thompson of the majority, and Mr. Frelinghuysen of the minority as a screening committee to consider these requests and decide which one of them should be invited to come in in person and testify or file a brief. Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. If we do have that responsibility, I w if we could get some indication to the members of the commit to what kind of standards we should apply. Presumably, an who wants to petition us and state his views should have th portunity, I should think. I don't know whether we are under real pressure and we do no the time to afford everybody the opportunity to come or ho would go about screening out anybody, if that is the intention. Mr. BAILEY. The Chair is depending pretty much on the judgment of the two gentlemen to use their best discretion i matter. Mr. UDALL. Mr. Chairman, if I could give my two colleague dened with this heavy responsibility any thought of my own, it be simply that we want to avoid cumulative testimony wheneve sible. We want to hear anybody that has something new. H the same old thing in the same old words is not going to help. Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. I do not know what is new and what The fact that we may have gone through some of this question what the role of the Federal Government should be and so on might not mean that we shouldn't have to listen to some of it aga It is also hard before you see the testimony-and, if you s testimony, perhaps you do not need to have it presented orally at the witness. Until you have seen the testimony it is hard to know whethe going to be new, old, or a mixture of new and old. Mr. BAILEY. The Chair is sure that the gentlemen who have named to this screening committee can work out with the cha the necessary standards if any have to be set in this matter. We will proceed with the formal hearings. At this time H.R. 22 has been formally referred to the subcomm (H.R. 22 follows:) [H.R. 22, 86th Cong., 1st sess.] A BILL To provide financial assistance for the support of public schools by appro funds to the States to be used for constructing school facilities and for t salaries Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United of America in Congress assembled, SHORT TITLE SECTION 1. This Act may be cited as the "School Support Act of 1959”. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE OF ACT SEC. 2. The Congress finds that despite sustained and vigorous efforts States and local communities, which have increased current school const to unprecedented levels and which have increased expenditures for teache aries, there is still a serious shortage of classrooms and of qualified teacher requires immediate action on the part of the Federal Government. The fi resources available to many communities are inadequate to support const programs sufficient to eliminate classroom shortages, and practically all nities face the problem of providing compensation to teachers comme with the salaries received by persons with comparable education, experien responsibilities. These inadequacies are seriously restricting the quality Nation's educational program. The Congress strongly affirms that the control of the personnel, prog instruction, formulation of policy, and the administration of the Nation's elementary and secondary schools resides in the States and local comm The Congress also affirms that a major portion of the responsibility for fi the costs of these schools resides in the States and local communities. However, the Congress recognizes that without sufficient financial resources at their disposal to provide necessary educational facilities and to employ competent teaching personnel, the control of our Nation's schools is not directed by State and local school boards but is dictated by the harsh demands of privation. Without the means to pay for alternatives, school boards have no freedom of choice. In order to provide State and local school boards with actual, as well as nominal, control of schools, the Congress has the responsibility for appropriately sharing in their financial support. The purpose of this Act, therefore, is to provide Federal financial support to help meet both the immediate and continuing problems of financing adequate school facilities and teacher's salaries and thereby to strengthen our Nation's educational system. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS SEC. 3. There are hereby authorized to be appropriated for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1959, and for succeeding fiscal years, amounts equal to the product of the estimated number of the school-age population of all the States as of such year and the following amounts: For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1959, $25; for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1960, $50; for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1961, $75; and for each fiscal year thereafter, $100. ALLOTMENTS TO STATES SEC. 4. (a) The Commissioner shall allot for each fiscal year to each State, from the total amount appropriated for such year pursuant to section 3, an amount which bears the same ratio to such total as such State's estimated schoolage population bears to the total estimated school-age population of all such States, subject to such adjustments, if any, as result from the application of section 8. (b) The State education agency of each State which desires to receive an allotment under the provisions of this Act shall specify annually to the Commissioner the proportion of its State's allotment that will be expended for each of the two purposes: (1) school construction and (2) teachers' salaries. SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION PORTION SEC. 5. The State education agency of each State which desires to use a portion of its allotment under this Act for the construction of school facilities shall certify to the Commissioner that such funds allocated within the State for this purpose will be (1) expended solely for the construction of school facilities in school districts in accordance with this Act; and (2) so distributed that priority is given to local educational agencies which have the greatest need for additional school facilities and which in terms of the economic resources available to them are least able to finance the cost of needed school facilities. TEACHERS' SALARIES PORTION SEC. 6. The State education agency of each State which desires to use a portion of its allotment under this Act for teachers' salaries shall certify to the Commissioner that such funds allocated wihin the State for this purpose will be (1) distributed among its school districts to be used solely for teachers' salaries; and (2) so distributed that each school district in the State will receive at least three-fourths of the amount which bears the same ratio to the total portion of its allotment specified for teachers' salaries as the number of its teachers bears to the number of teachers of all the State's school districts. VERIFICATION OF EXPENDITURES SEC. 7. The State education agency shall verify annually to the Commissioner that funds received under this Act were distributed and expended in accordance with the provisions of this Act. MAINTENANCE OF STATE AND LOCAL FINANCIAL SUPPORT OF SCHOO Buc. 1 1. The amount allotted to any State under section 4 for any le rubwed by the percentage (if any) by which its State school effort auch year is less than the national school effort index for such year, exception that during the first three years that allotments are made this ala.. or be applicable. The total of such reductions shall be reallott The renalatig states by proportionately increasing the amounts allotte mun 4 for each year. 1. For purposes of subsection (a) — the ̋htate school effort index” for any State for a fiscal ye quor vent cocained by dividing (A) the revenue for schools per pub end for the State by (B) the personal income per child of schoo the hate; except that the State school effort index shall be deer equal to the national school effort index in the case of Hawaii, Pu que Virgin Laands, Guam, Wake Island, American Samoa, and the I Combat 2) the "Lational school effort index" for any fiscal year is the enna sed by dividing (A) the revenue for schools per public-school the total states of the Union by (B) the personal income per child age for the total States of the Union. (ey 1) The revenue for schools per public-school child for any State poses of determining its State school effort index for any fiscal year n quotient otra ned by dividing (A) the total current revenue receipts der bate and local sources in the State for support of elementary and eduration, as determined by the Commissioner on the basis of data for Demelt wchool year for which satisfactory data for the several States are w him, by (B) the number of children in average daily attendance elementary and secondary schools in such State, as determined by the sioner for such most recent school year. (2) The revenue for schools per public-school child for the total Sta Union for purposes of determining the national school effort index for year means the quotient obtained by dividing (A) the total current receipts derived from State and local sources for support of elemen secondary education in the total States of the Union, as determine Commissioner for the same school year as is used under paragraph (1 the number of children in average daily attendance for such year elementary and secondary schools in the total States of the Union, deter provided in paragraph (1). (3) The income per child of school age for the several States and for States of the Union shall, for purposes of subsection (b), be determin Commissioner on the basis of the personal income per child of school ag most recent year for which satisfactory data are available from the De of Commerce. LABOR STANDARDS SEC. 9. (a) The State education agency shall give adequate assuran Commissioner that all laborers and mechanics employed by contractor contractors in the performance of work on school construction financed or in part under this Act will be paid wages at rates not less than those p on similar construction in the locality as determined by the Davis-Bac amended (40 U.S.C. 276a-276a-5). (b) With respect to the labor standards specified in subsection (a section the Secretary of Labor shall act in accordance with Reorganiza Numbered 14 of 1950 (15 F.R. 3176; 64 Stat. 1267), and section 2 of t June 13, 1934, as amended (40 U.S.C. 276c). APPROPRIATION FOR ADMINISTRATION SEC. 10. There are hereby authorized to be appropriated for each fi to the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare such sums as necessary for the administration of this Act. ASSURANCE AGAINST FEDERAL INTERFERENCE IN SCHOOLS SEC. 11. In the administration of this Act, no department, agency, o employee of the United States shall exercise any direction, supervision, over policy determination, personnel, curriculum, program of instructio administration of any school or school system. |