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represent 25 percent of total collections. These amounts, collected during the preceding years, are for distribution to the States for the 1954-55 and 1955-56 school years, as indicated in the table. Together, California, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington receive about 71 percent of the total available for all the States from national forests.

The Federal offices do not have information regarding the apportionment of funds between roads and schools made by the various legislatures. Data reported in the tables on the revenues from national forests were supplied by the Forest Service of the United States Department of Agriculture.

Distributions such as are reported in table 41 have not been included in the summary table since definite information on the distribution for roads and schools is known only to the States. However, it is understood that a substantial amount of the $19,412,708 was made available for school purposes by the respective legislatures, and that the remaining portions were used for the benefit of public roads.

Table 41.-FEDERAL FUNDS FOR ROADS AND SCHOOLS COLLECTED DURING THE PRECEDING SCHOOL YEARS FROM NATIONAL FOREST RENTALS AND DISTRIBUTED FROM 1946-47 TO 1955-56

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The enabling acts for Arizona and New Mexico provide that the title to the lands granted for their common schools, if located within national forests, shall not be vested in the States until such lands are restored to the public domain. Therefore, any income from such school lands is received by the Federal Government rather than by these States. As a matter of justice the

Table 42.-FEDERAL FUNDS FOR ROADS AND SCHOOLS COLLECTED DURING THE PRECEDING SCHOOL YEARS FROM NATIONAL FOREST RENTALS AND DISTRIBUTED DURING 1954-55 AND 1955-56

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act then provides for the transfer of such receipts to these two States by the following provision:

A sum bearing the same relation to the total yearly income of all national forests within each State as the area of school lands within such forests bears to the total area of the forest is paid to the State for its common schools.

The Federal funds for schools which have been paid to Arizona and New Mexico from 1946-47 to 1955-56 from the income on school lands located in national forests in these 2 States are listed

in column 5 of table 41. This table indicates that the amounts distributed increased steadily from $39,335 in 1946-47 to a peak of $131,588 in 1952-53. The $114,301 for 1955-56 was almost 3 times the amount for the 1946-47 school year. Collections for 1 year are available for distribution to Arizona and New Mexico during the following year.

REVENUES FROM SUBMARGINAL LANDS

The Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act of July 22, 1937, authorizes and directs the Secretary of Agriculture in title III to develop a program of land conservation and land utilization. The act states that as soon as practicable after the end of each calendar year, the Secretary shall pay to the counties in which any such land is held by the Secretary, 25 percent of the net revenues received by the Secretary from the use of the land during such year. In instances where the land is situated in more than one county, the amount to be paid shall be divided equitably among the respective counties. Payments are made to counties on the condition that they are used for road or school purposes, or both. The figures shown in table 43 are not included in the summary tables on Federal funds for education since there is no report indicating the proportion of these revenues that were used for school purposes.

Table 43.-FEDERAL PAYMENTS TO COUNTIES IN THE VARIOUS STATES FROM COLLECTIONS RECEIVED THE PRECEDING CALENDAR YEAR FOR RENTAL OF SUBMARGINAL LANDS, AND DISTRIBUTED FOR ROADS AND SCHOOLS: 1955

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Federal assistance for school lunches was initiated under Public Law 320 approved in 1935 by the Seventy-fourth Congress as one method of providing an expanding market for agricultural com

modities during the depression. School lunches were not mentioned specifically, but section 32 of this act did provide for an annual appropriation to the Secretary of Agriculture, equal to 30 percent of the gross receipts from duties collected under custom laws, to be used for several purposes, one of which was "to encourage the domestic consumption of such commodities or products by diverting them by the payment of benefits or indemnities or by other means, from the normal channels of trade or commerce or by increasing their utilization through benefits, indemnities, donations, or by other means, among persons in lowincome groups. . . ." The purchase of surplus food commodities and their donation to States for distribution to nonprofit school lunch programs, charitable institutions, and families receiving welfare assistance was one of the activities financed by section 32. The School Milk Program, established in 1940, and the Indemnity Plan, enacted in 1943, were also financed by funds made available to the Department of Agriculture under the same section. Descriptions of these programs will be found in Federal Funds for Education, 1952-53 and 1953-54, Bulletin 1954, No. 14, U. S. Government Printing Office.

NATIONAL SCHOOL LUNCH ACT

The National School Lunch Act, known as Public Law 396, was approved by the Seventy-ninth Congress in June 1946. The purpose of the act was "to safeguard the health and well-being of the Nation's children and to encourage the domestic consumption of nutritious agricultural commodities and other food, by assisting the States, through grants-in-aid and other means, in providing an adequate supply of foods and other facilities for the establishment, maintenance, operation, and expansion of nonprofit school lunch programs."

Each State educational agency in accordance with the act, receives an apportionment of funds based upon the number of children from 5 to 17 years of age and upon variations in the per capita income, and disburses these funds to schools for school lunch services. The formula provided in the act operates to allocate proportionately larger amounts of money to the financially weaker States. This accomplishes some equalization. An exception to the method of distribution is noted for funds allocated directly to the school lunch programs in private schools where State laws or court decisions do not permit the State office to make payments to private schools.

Federal funds to the extent of $584,915,064 have been allotted in accordance with the provisions of the National School Lunch

Act for 9 school years from 1946-47 to 1954-55, inclusive. Annual amounts are listed in column 4 of table 44.

Table 44.-FEDERAL FUNDS ALLOTTED AND ESTIMATED VALUE OF COMMODITIES DISTRIBUTED FOR THE SCHOOL LUNCH PROGRAM: 1946-47 TO 1954-55

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The National School Lunch Act authorizes the purchase and distribution of foods to schools, as well as the distribution of funds. This distribution of foods includes surplus foods acquired under price support and surplus removal operations as well as foods purchased specifically for the school lunch program under the authority of section 6 of the act. Under this combined authorization, the total value of all commodities distributed to the schools for the school years from 1946-47 to 1954-55, inclusive, is $472,787,522. Details regarding Federal assistance to school lunches, in addition to those given in tables 5, 44, 45, and 46, can be obtained from the United States Department of Agriculture.

SPECIAL SCHOOL MILK PROGRAM

This program for providing assistance in the form of reimbursement payments to elementary and secondary schools was authorized by the Agricultural Act of 1954. The legislation provides that "Beginning September 1, 1954, and ending June 30, 1956, not to exceed $50,000,000 annually of funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation shall be used to increase consumption of fluid milk by children in nonprofit schools of high-school grade and under."

The Department of Agriculture has established the maximum amounts that may be paid to any participating school. Schools serving Type A or B meals under the National School Lunch

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