Exception to the distribution method is made in some cases. In these instances funds are allocated directly to the school-lunch program in private schools in States in which State laws or court decisions do not permit the State educational agency to make payments to private schools.

Under the National School Lunch Act the Department of Agriculture purchases and distributes agricultural commodities as well as funds for school lunches.

Whether the national school-lunch program should be regarded as basically one of Federal aid to education is questionable. Public Law 320, 74th Congress, under which the program was started, did not mention Federal aid to education or school lunches. Initiated primarily for the purpose of aiding in price stabilization of agricultural commodities the program is still largely devoted to this purpose. Nevertheless, probably most persons would agree that this program gives important aid to the advancement of education in the States.

Table 3 gives data on allotments under the national school-lunch program for the school year 1952-53.

TABLE 3.-Federal funds allotted and estimated value of commodities distributed by the Department of Agriculture for the national school-lunch program, for the 1952-53 school year 1

64, 837

2 Not eligible to participate in the national school-lunch program during the school year 1952-53. Public Law 518, 82d Cong., made Guam eligible to participate in later school years; however, the Guam Department of Education did not get the program underway in the 1953-54 school year.

6. UTILIZATION OF FEDERAL SURPLUS PROPERTY

In the Surplus Property Act of 1944 Congress made provision for the transfer of Federal surplus property to schools and other public institutions, by donation or public benefit discount. The act made tax-supported and tax-exempt, nonprofit educational institutions eligible to receive quantities of Government-owned property no longer needed for defense purposes.

The Office of Surplus Property Utilization was subsequently established in the United States Office of Education to carry out certain provisions of the act, and State agencies were created to coordinate the orderly transfer of surplus property.

Public Law 889, 80th Congress, authorized the Departments of War and Navy to donate their surplus property to educational institutions for unrestricted educational use. Public Law 754, 81st Congress, approved September 1950, broadened the scope of the surplus property program to provide for the donation of surplus personal property to tax-supported and tax-exempt medical and health institutions as well as to schools and colleges.

1

1 Includes equipment, materials, books, and miscellaneous supplies.

Under the surplus personal property utilization program Federal surplus personal property of all kinds has been donated to educational and health institutions. The Department of Health, Education, and Welfare allocates to the various State agencies such available surplus personal property as the Department has determined to be useful for educational and health purposes. During the Korean conflict some of this property was recovered and returned to the Department of Defense for utilization in the Korean defense effort. Since the close of that conflict larger quantities of surplus personal property have been available for distribution.

Under the surplus real property utilization program surplus real property has been sold or leased to educational instructions having important needs for it. Such property has varied from large installations complete with buildings to small unimproved land areas. The estimated fair value of the property at time of transfer has been paid by the educational institutions, partly in cash and partly in predetermined public benefits accruing through the utilization of the property. Some of the property has been repossessed by the Department of Defense for emergency use. It may, however, be returned to the educational institutions when the emergency is over.

Table 4 gives estimates of fair value of surplus property donated to public schools in the calendar year 1953.

TABLE 4.-Estimates of fair value of surplus property donated to public schools in the calendar year 1953, by States 1

1 Prepared by Surplus Property Utilization Division, Office of Field Services, Department of Health Education, and Welfare, June 3, 1954.

Appraisal made at time of transfer.

7. NATIONAL-FOREST REVENUE FOR SCHOOLS AND ROADS

An act of Congress in 1907 provided for the payment of 10 percent of all moneys derived from grazing, timber, rentals, and other rights and uses of national forests to the State or Territory in which the forest reserve lies. This act was superseded by an act in 1908 which raised to 25 percent the portion of the total receipts to be paid to the State or Territory. The law specifies that this portion of the receipts shall be used as the State or Territorial legislatures may prescribe for the benefit of public schools and public roads in the counties in which the national forests are located.

site.

Includes land and improvements thereon, such as buildings, etc., and buildings removed from original

Three States-California, Oregon, and Washington-receive about 65.5 percent of the total funds made available to States and Territories from national forest revenues. Altogether 40 States, Alaska, and Puerto Rico receive some money for schools from this source.

In accordance with the enabling acts for Arizona and New Mexico the entire income received by the Federal Government from school lands situated within national forests in these States is returned to them for the support of schools. For the school year 1953-54 these two States received a total of $122,754.80 from this source.3

As to whether the arrangements under which a number of States receive a part of the revenue from national forests within their borders represent forms of Federal aid to education, or are merely the payment of Federal obligations or a part of these obligations to the States, is a matter of opinion.

Table 5 gives data on national-forest revenues returned to States and Territories for roads and schools for the school year 1953-54. The Forest Service in the United States Department of Agriculture, which administers these funds, has not compiled data showing the apportionment of the funds between roads and schools made by the various legislatures. It is believed that a substantial amount is used for school support.

TABLE 5.-Federal funds collected from national-forest rentals and available for distribution for roads and schools, for the 1953-54 school year

1

Amount

$55, 920. 51 40, 288. 48 224, 093. 07 142, 012. 79 33.47

4, 411. 45 52, 314.88

6,029, 382. 28

48, 727.43 270, 870.96 106, 216. 03

71, 412. 08

575, 317.89

193, 774.95

35, 747.94

56, 204.50

3, 434, 618. 41 49, 265.79 96, 499.62 171, 349. 29 6,784.02 3,862, 50

Besides the payments already described in this report, some Federal funds are paid and other types of Federal aid are given to States and local school districts for elementary and secondary educa.ion. Generally, however, the payments or other aids are either very small in relation to the State and local budgets for education, or else the Federal payments or other aids are of such a nature that they could scarcely be regarded as programs of "Federal aid to education" even under a loose interpretation of that term. Comments on several such payments

and aids follow.

Similarly as from national-forest revenues, some of the States receive, for the maintenance of schools and roads, part of the revenue from federally owned grazing lands and mineral lands and from the sales of public lands located within their borders. These payments might be considered to be made in lieu of taxes. The school budgets of about a fifth of the States are slightly affected by these arrangements.

Veterans who receive school training under Public Law 346, 78th Congress, or Public Law 550, 82d Congress, enter schools of their own choice. Many of these veterans have chosen to train in public schools. Additionally, many disabled veterans have been placed in vocational rehabilitation training in public schools Not included in table 5, because the amount of $122,754.80 was entirely for schools. (See table heading.)

under Public Law 16, 78th Congress, or Public Law 894, 81st Congress. As of May 1954 there were about 122,000 veterans enrolled in residence training in public schools below the college level under all laws administered by the Veterans' Administration.

Financial records are not kept in such a manner as to identify amounts paid to any particular or all States and local school districts for elementary and secondary education of veterans. According to information obtained from the Veterans' Administration, payments made to States and local school districts, under laws which it administers for the education of veterans, are made for expenses and services rendered to or on behalf of veterans and are not for the purpose of providing Federal aid to education.

The Immigration and Naturalization Service, in the Department of Justice cooperates with the public schools in a program of citizenship education for candidates for naturalization studying under the supervision of the public schools. Federal aid is given in the form of preparation and distribution of citizenship textbooks to candidates for naturalization studying within or under the supervision of the public schools.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs in the Department of the Interior makes payments to State departments of education and local school authorities under contracts for the education of certain Indian children living on nontaxable Indian lands. About 33,000 Indian children received education under such contracts during the school year 1952-53.

The Civil Aeronautics Administration of the Department of Commerce provides certain services in aid to aviation education in public schools. Such services include assistance in setting up demonstration classes and supplying instructional materials.

9. SERVICES RENDERED BY THE UNITED STATES OFFICE OF EDUCATION

A discussion of Federal aid to States and local school districts for elementary and secondary education would not be complete without recognition of the services rendered by the United States Office of Education. Some of these services have already been mentioned in this report in the description of methods of administration of certain Federal-aid programs. The Office also performs a number of other services for the promotion of education in the States and localities.

The Office of Education was established "for the purpose of collecting statistics and facts showing the condition and progress of education and for diffusing information respecting the organization and management of schools and school systems and methods of teaching and otherwise to promote the cause of education throughout the country."

Although the Congress at various times has vested in the Office the responsibility for the administration of certain acts or programs, some temporary and some continuing, the Office at all times has continued to discharge its original function. The collection and dissemination of information remains today a fundamental purpose of the Office of Education.

The data-gathering activities of the Office have been concerned in the main with three types of information: First, it has collected periodically certain items which, for the most part, are quantitative in nature. The second major type of information collected by the Office is that related to the character or quality of some aspect of education. The third kind of information, which has been collected by the Office in greatest volume during the last few decades, is for the purpose of rendering a service to educators and to those dealing with educators. A substantial part of the present fieldwork of the staff of the Office of Education is related to its information-collecting function.

The Office of Education has used various media for the dissemination of the information it has collected, but by far the most important is the printed word. The rendering of consultative services by members of the Office of Education staff is, however, becoming gradually more important as a means of disseminating information.

The research, publication, and consultative services of the Office of Education are now being rendered to the public elementary and secondary schools of the Nation specifically in the areas of school legislation, school housing, school finance, State school administration, local school administration, elementary instruction, secondary instruction, the education of exceptional children, guidance and pupil personnel services, services to libraries, visual education, radio and television education, and vocational education.

10. SUMMARY

There is no current program of Federal aid to States and local school districts for elementary and secondary education in general. Federal participation in financing education at these levels mainly takes the form of (1) aid to special kinds of education, such as agricultural or industrial training; (2) aid to certain localities, such as districts containing large federally owned, tax-exempt properties; and (3) aid to a certain activity closely associated with education, such as the provision of school lunches. The Federal Government also makes available Federal surplus property for educational usage.

As to whether some of the principal Federal programs reviewed in this report are basically forms of "Federal aid to education" is a matter of opinion. It is fairly obvious that in at least one instance (that of the national school-lunch program) the basic purpose is not aid to education. Nevertheless, all of the programs reviewed do contribute to the advancement of education in the States and local school districts affected.

Table 6 gives data on the percent of revenue for public schools derived from Federal, State, and local and other sources for the most recent school year for which the figures have been compiled in the Office of Education, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. The revenue from Federal sources includes allocations received for vocational education, aid to localities especially federally affected, receipts from national forests, grazing and mineral lands, payments received for the education of veterans and Indians in public schools, and so forthall Federal money received by the States and local school districts for elementary and secondary education, and for the school-lunch program.

TABLE 6.-Percent of revenue receipts of public schools (elementary and secondary) by source and by State, 1950-51

[Includes day schools, part-time and evening schools, and summer schools]

1 Inclusions explained in preceding text.

2 Includes State contribution to teacher retirement for 1949-50 when data not available for 1950-51. Includes "county," "local," and "other" contributions to the school system.

No report received from this State by the U. S. Office of Education.

Estimates.

Actually Federal funds.

Senator COOPER. I would also like to make this statement: Senator Robertson had hoped to testify here today, but was required to attend a meeting of a committee on which he is a member in order to mark