[Committee print, 83d Cong. 2d sess.]

FEDERAL AID TO STATES AND LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICTS FOR ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION

A report prepared in the Legislative Reference Service of the Library of Congress at the request of Senator John Sherman Cooper, chairman, subcommittee on education of the Committee on Labor and Public Welfare

FOREWORD

This report was prepared at the request of Senator John Sherman Cooper, chairman of the Subcommittee on Education, for the use of the Senate Committee on Labor and Public Welfare. The purpose is to provide the committee information requested for consideration in connection with certain pending bills. The report briefly describes the currently effective Federal programs which give aid to States and local school districts for elementary and secondary education. The study also points our certain facts which have an important bearing upon a consideration of these programs in relation to pending legislative proposals. The report was prepared by Charles A. Quattlebaum, principal specialist in education on the staff of the Legislative Reference Service.

Appreciation is expressed to Clayton D. Hutchins, specialist in school finance in the United States Office of Education, and to the several other persons in the executive branch of the Government who contributed source material and constructive comment.

ERNEST S. GRIFFITH,

Director, Legislative Reference Service.

1. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TERM "FEDERAL AID TO EDUCATION"

As very widely used throughout the United States, and in this report, the term "Federal aid to education" refers primarily to Federal revenue made available to States and local school districts for the support of education. There is no authoritative or complete agreement on the significance of this term, its inclusions and exclusions.

The term "Federal aid" is employed in the title of this report because of its widespread acceptance. Its usage here requires, however, an acknowledgment of the fact that many persons have objected to the connotations of this term. Objections have been made on the grounds that the word "aid" implies that the Federal Government is giving away something. Many persons contend that the Federal Government inherently bears an obligation to participate in the financing of education, which they consider essential to the discharge of the Federal responsibility for the national defense and for the promotion of the general welfare.

It is clear that not all of the Federal programs described in this report represent "Federal aid to education" with respect to either basic purpose or philosophy. However, all of these programs do give some aid to States and local school districts for the advancement of elementary and secondary education. In most cases whether the program should be regarded as instrinsically one of “Federal aid to education" is a matter of opinion.

The underlying purposes and philosophies of the programs are important considerations. A more important consideration, however, is the fact that these programs, taken together, represent what the Federal Government is already doing in the nature of promoting education in the Nation's elementary and secondary schools.

2. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE CURRENT PROGRAMS

A short review of the history of Federal activities in the field of education, especially at the elementary and secondary levels, affords a basis for an understanding of the programs presently in effect at these levels.

From the time of its inception the Federal Government has engaged in two types of educational activities: (1) Aiding the States and Territories in financing and otherwise promoting education, and (2) operating its own educational programs. Both of these types of activities antedate the Constitution. Both have included education at the elementary and secondary levels.

Federal aid to the States for education has its origin in early congressional grants of Federal lands for the endowment of the common schools. Such grants were initiated in the Western Territory by the Congress of the Confederation in 1785, and were continued by the Congress of the United States as new States were formed from the public domain. From time to time Congress has instituted new forms of Federal aid to States and local school districts for education.

Apparently the Federal Government's own educational pursuits began with the "general instruction" of men in the Army under the Von Steuben regulations of 1779. Federal provisions for the education of Federal military and civilian personnel for national defense have grown to include instruction in practically all subject fields at all educational levels. Many other activities in the field of education have been developed by the Federal Government.

In times of economic depression and of war the Congress has authorized or established Federal educational aids and programs for practically the entire population. These have been aimed at relieving the financial distress of States and localities, or preparing the population for more effective support of the war effort. During the depression of the 1930's several Federal emergency agencies carried out educational activities as aspects of relief programs. For example, the Civilian Conservation Corps, created by act of Congress in 1937, provided vocational training, as well as employment, to youth in need of remunerative occupations. According to a statement contained in a message from President Roosevelt to the Congress in 1939, the major purpose of the CCC was "to promote the welfare and further the training" of the individuals in the corps. An organized program of educational activities was carried on in each camp and many enrollees attended public schools in nearby communities.

The Federal Emergency Relief Administration established in 1933 developed extensive educational programs in the States. These included various forms of adult education, nursery schools, vocational rehabilitation, part-time employment of college students, and employment of needy unemployed teachers for schools closed or partially closed for lack of funds. The emergency agency known first as the Works Progress Administration, and later as the Work Projects Administration, supported a large number of educational projects ranging from literacy and naturalization classes to academic education at the college level.

The National Youth Administration was established in 1935 to provide work training for unemployed youth and part-time employment for needy students. President Roosevelt said in 1939 that the major purpose of the NYA was to extend the educational opportunities of the youth of the country and to bring them through the process of training into the possession of skills which would enable them to find employment.

During the depression period the Public Works Administration made numerous grants and loans to States and municipalities for the construction of school and college buildings. The Reconstruction Finance Corporation also made selfliquidation loans to States and municipal authorities and to institutions for educational projects.

Under the Lanham Act and other acts the Federal Government provided extensive aid to the construction and operation of public schools in communities having swollen populations as a result of Federal activities during the period of World War II. The Federal Government also provided aid for nursery schools for preschool-age children, and aid for before-school, after-school, and vacationary supervision of school-age children whose mothers were employed in the war effort. The United States Office of Education cooperated with the Federal Works Agency in the administration of this program. Hundreds of localities which had become centers of war production and had therefore experienced large increases in population were given assistance.

Construction of schools figured prominently among the projects undertaken, the provision of adequate school facilities having been found essential to attract workers into the war-production areas.

Executive Order 9247 of September 17, 1942, gave the War Manpower Commission responsibility for (1) developing unified programs and policies to meet training needs of wartime employment, and (2) exercising general supervision over the war-training programs. The following Federal programs came under the scope of this authority: (1) Apprentice-training service; (2) training-within-industry service; (3) the National Youth Administration; (4) vocational training for warproduction workers; (5) the food-production war-training program; (6) the engineering, science, and management war-training program; (7) the visual-aids service, and (8) the student loan program.

The history of Federal activities in the field of education has had many ramifications. Many of the activities have been of a temporary nature. The principal aim of most of the Federal programs in this field often has not been the administration of education nor aid to education as such. Generally education has been used by Federal agencies as a means for the accomplishment of some other Federal purpose.

At the present time the expenditures by the Federal Government for its own educational programs—such as those for the Armed Forces—are at least several

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times greater than Federal expenditures in aid to States and local school districts for the support of education at all levels.

There is no established system of Federal-State cooperation in financing elementary and secondary education in general. Following is a review of the specific Federal programs giving aid to States and localities for education at these levels.

3. FEDERAL-STATE VOCATIONAL EDUCATION

Federal cooperation with the States in financing vocational education of less than college grade was initiated by the Smith-Hughes Act of 1917. Legislation in 1929, 1934, and 1936 expanded the program. It presently operates under provisions of the Smith-Hughes Act and the George-Barden Act (of 1936).

The Smith-Hughes Act provides for allotments of Federal funds to States in the proportion which the State populations bear to the total population of the United States. The allotments are for the promotion of vocational education in agriculture, trades and industries, home economics, and the preparation of teachers of vocational subjects. The last-named activity might be considered primarily an aid to higher education except that the ultimate goal is education below college level.

The George-Barden Act authorizes annual appropriations for the further development of vocational education. Appropriations under this act are available for administration, supervision, teacher training, vocational instruction and guidance, establishing programs for apprentices, and for the purchase or rent of equipment and supplies for vocational education.

The greater part of the program is conducted by secondary schools. About 70 percent of the public secondary schools of the country offer at least one program of vocational education. These and a variety of other participating institutions together train not only full-time high-school students but also full-time workers in evening classes, part-time workers in day classes, and teachers. Any person 14 years of age or over having chosen an occupation or employed in an occupation is eligible to enroll in the classes.

The Office of Education in the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare administers the program at the Federal level. The State department of education or the State board for vocational education administers it at the State level. The Federal Vocational Education Acts require at least dollar-for-dollar matching of Federal funds with State and local funds, and public supervision or control of the program. The proportion of the total cost paid from State and local sources has been increasing through the years. About one-fifth of the total cost for the school year 1953-54 was paid from Federal funds. Table 1 shows the amounts of Federal funds allotted to the States for that year.

TABLE 1.-Federal funds allotted to the States by the Office of Education, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, for vocational education below college grade, for the 1953-54 school year'1

1 Data compiled in the Office of Education for inclusion in a forthcoming publication of that Office.

4. AID TO CERTAIN FEDERALLY AFFECTED LOCALITIES

In 1950 the Congress established a comprehensive but temporary policy for the discharge of Federal responsibility respecting public elementary and secondary education in localities especially affected by Federal activities. Public Laws 815 and 874, 81st Congress, centralized in the United States Office of Education responsibility for administering this program. The legislation recognized a continuing need for Federal assistance to school districts overburdened by (a) loss of taxable wealth due to Federal ownership of property, and (b) increased enrollments brought about by Federal activities.

In 1953 the Congress amended and extended this legislation. By enactment of Public Law 246 the 83d Congress provided for continued assistance to school construction in districts in which increases in school enrollments due to Federal activity occurred between June 1952 and June 1954. The amendment provides more stringent formula provisions for eligibility of the districts to receive Federal funds.

Public Law 248, 83d Congress, modified the provisions of Public Law 874, respecting Federal aid for the operation of schools, and extended the program through the school year 1955-56. The amendments had the effect of increasing Federal payments to some school districts for the school year 1953-54, but reduced the payments to nearly all districts for the 1954-55 and 1955-56 school years.

The Federal legislation recognizes three categories of children for whose general elementary and secondary education the Federal Government assumes partial responsibility. These groups are: (1) Children whose parents live and work on Federal property; (2) children whose parents either live or work on Federal property; and (3) children whose parents have migrated to a locality because of Federal activity but who do not live or work on Federal property.

Public Law 815, 81st Congress, as amended by Public Law 246, 83d Congress, authorizes Federal payments as follows: 95 percent of the cost of providing minimum school facilities needed because of increases in enrollment of children in category (1); 50 percent of such cost because of increases in enrollment of children in category (2) instead of 70 percent previously provided under Public Law 815; and 45 percent of such cost because of increases of enrollment of children in category (3). The amendment also authorizes an appropriation for schoolconstruction assistance to certain districts enrolling substantial numbers of children who reside on Federal property, even though these districts may not have experienced an increase in enrollments in recent years. These districts are mostly those which enroll large numbers of Indian children living on tax-exempt Indian property and which therefor have inadequate tax resources to provide the necessary facilities.

Public Law 874, 81st Congress, as amended by Public Law 248, 83d Congress, prescribes specific formulas for determining the amounts school districts are entitled to receive for the education of children in the categories already defined. The minimum Federal payment for each federally affected child is one-half the State average expenditure per pupil from all revenue sources. The Federal contribution rate otherwise is based upon the cost per child from local revenue sources in comparable school districts in the same State during the second preceding year.

Inclusion of a description of this program in the present report on Federal aid to elementary and secondary education appears justifiable with the following comment: Many persons, including some Members of Congress, have stated, in effect, that they regard this program as merely a provision for Federal payment of an obligation. They consider it is a Federal arrangement to bear a part of the financial burden placed upon some communities by Federal activities, or a form of Federal payment in lieu of revenue lost to the communities from Federal ownership of property.

Table 2 gives data on Federal allotments to federally affected school districts for the school year 1952-53, the latest year for which the data are presently available.

TABLE 2.-Federal funds allotted by the Office of Education, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, to certain federally affected school districts, by Štates, for the 1952-53 school year 1

1 Data compiled in the Office of Education for inclusion in a forthcoming publication of that Office. Disbursement figures, including some late payments for the former year.

Disbursement figures, including some funds which may have been reserved a year or 2 earlier. Includes $16,285,261.64 disbursed for providing school facilities on Federal properties and some temporary buildings in certain school districts administered by the Housing and Home Finance Agency.

5. THE NATIONAL SCHOOL-LUNCH PROGRAM

Federal aid to the provision of school lunches began in 1935 when surplus foods bought by the Federal Government as an aid to agriculture were distributed to schools for lunches for pupils. In June 1940 the school milk program was introduced in addition to the earlier activity. A half pint of milk was made available to a schoolchild for a penny, or without charge, the Department of Agriculture and local organizations paying the additional cost.

In February 1943 the Department began making cash payments to partially cover the food costs of complete lunches. These payments were made from funds available under section 32 of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938, as amended.

In June 1946 the National School Lunch Act was passed. The purpose of the school-lunch program, as set forth in the act, has henceforth been in substance: To improve the health and well-being of the Nation's children and broaden the market for agricultural food commodities through Federal assistance, in the form of both funds and food, to States and Territories for use in serving nutritious midday meals to children attending schools of high-school grade and under.

The National School Lunch Act placed the responsibility for direct administration of the program on the State departments of education. Previously the United States Department of Agriculture had in most instances carried this responsibility. The Department of Agriculture was left responsible for overall administration, including the approval or disapproval of States for participation, based on the State's annual plan of operation, and the apportionment of funds and food to the States.

Funds are apportioned to the State educational agencies in accordance with a statutory formula. This is based on need as evidenced by the number of schoolchildren in the State and the per capita income of the State as related to the United States per capita income. Federal funds must be matched from sources within the State. Proportionately larger amounts of money are allocated to the financially weaker States by requiring lower State and local matching rates.