in helping him to adjust normally to his environment. In these days it is doubtful that any child may reasonably be expected to succeed in life if he is denied the opportunity of education. Such an opportunity, where the State has undertaken to provide it, is a right which must be made available to all on equal terms (Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (22 U. S. Law Week, 4245, 4247))." 3. THE NATIONAL INTEREST IN EDUCATION By American tradition the substance of public education is a matter of local responsibility and judgment. We do not urge the reversal or modification of this policy, nor is that the purpose or effect of any of the bills under consideration by this committee. But the Federal Government possesses the right and is burdened with the obligation of assuring that there shall be available the physical facilities for a basic public-school education. The evils of ignorance and illiteracy are not and cannot be confined to localities or regions; the educational health of a nation's citizens is as much the concern of the nation as is their physical health. The Federal legislators and executive officials elected by uneducated or inadequately educated citizens govern all the people of the Nation. Defense is clearly a matter of national interest and our defense effort has been seriously handicapped by educational deficiencies. In World War II fully 12 percent of the men found unfit for military service were rejected solely for educational deficiencies. The Korean war again showed the tragic effect of illiteracy upon the defense effort. Between July 1950 and June 1951, some 16 percent of the enlisted were rejected for inability to meet the minimum educational standard imposed by the Armed Forces qualification test. 4. THE CRITICAL NEED FOR FEDERAL AID These figures on rejection for military service indicate not only the national interest in basic education, but the critical need for Federal aid. Other evidence of such need is readily available, if indeed it is not already well known to this committee. The inability to obtain adequate teachers due to the disgracefully low salaries paid them is a matter of common knowledge. At least 75,000 teachers leave the profession annually, a great proportion of them because of the low salary scale. Even greater numbers avoid entering the teaching profession in the first place for the same reason. To meet enrollment increases and overcrowding, we need at least 40,000 new teachers annually, mostly in the elementary schools. Actually, our colleges are graduating only 35,000 persons each year qualified to teach in the elementary schools-an amount substantially less than needed to replace teachers leaving the profession. Thus the situation becomes increasingly critical each year. The crisis in school plants is no less severe. Overcrowding of children in unsafe and unsanitary school buildings is widespread even in the wealthier States. It is shocking, but true, that almost one-half of the public school buildings in the United States are more than 30 years old, and almost one-quarter are more than 50 years old. Federal aid is needed because of the geographic inequality in educational opportunity. Children fortunate enough to be born in New York of New Jersey can look forward to a substantially better public education than children born in Mississippi or Alabama. In the year 1953-54, New York spent $356 for the education of every pupil in the public schools, whereas Mississippi spent only $103. New Jersey spent $338 to Alabama's $112 and Arkansas' $115. That these discrepancies in expenditures are due entirely to differences in ability rather than in estimates as to the importance of education is indicated by the fact that Mississippi, Arkansas, and Alabama each spends a substantially higher percentage of its income for public education than does either New York or New Jersey. Because there is an important national interest in education; because of the critical situation of educational finance in the country; and because inequality of financial resources among the States renders State solution of the problem impossible, it is the right and duty of the Federal Government to intervene and assist the States in carrying the financial burden. 5. THE BILLS BEFORE THIS COMMITTEE The three bills now under consideration by this committee deal with one aspect of the problem of educational financing. These bills deal exclusively with Federal aid for school construction. Cost of school construction represents a sub stantial portion of a locality's educational budget, and Federal assistance in this area would represent a significant contribution toward meeting the problem. There can be little doubt that a critical shortage in public school building facilities exists today. Even in the prosperous State of New York, early this year 14 public-school children burned to death in a frame "temporary" schoolroom. In the Nation as a whole, 1 out of every 5 children is housed in a building below minimum fire safety standards. Existing school facilities are woefully inadequate to meet the present requirements, much less to provide for the rapidly increasing school population. For these reasons we strongly support in principle the three bills now before this committee. We do not express any preference among them, except to note our belief that the sum of $100 million annually provided for in the Cooper bill (S. 2601) is inadequate. The actual cost of school construction in the United States during the fiscal year of 1952-53 amounted to $2 billion, and this was but a small part of the amount actually needed. The Federal Government can and should be more generous in assuming its part of the burden. 6. RACIAL SEGREGATION In one respect, the bills being considered require change. Each of them provides in varying language that in States maintaining separate school facilities for different racial groups, the Federal funds shall be distributed among the schools on an equitable and nondiscriminatory basis. Whatever validity these provisions may previously have had, they are obviously without meaning now that the Supreme Court has ruled unconstitutional racial segregation in public education. These provisions will therefore have to be eliminated. It is, however, not sufficient to eliminate these sections; provision should be made in the bills expressly forbidding racial segregation in any schools constructed in whole or in part out of Federal funds. As long ago as 1947, the President's Committee on Civil Rights, in its historic report To Secure These Rights, recommended "The conditioning by Congress of all Federal grants-in-aid and other forms of Federal assistance to public or private agencies for any purpose on the absence of discrimination and segregation based on race, color, creed, or national origin." The reasons given by the Committee for this recommendation are particularly cogent: ***** Federal funds, supplied by taxpayers all over the Nation, must not be used to support or perpetuate the pattern of segregation in education, public housing, public health services, or other public services and facilities generally. We recognize that these services are indispensable to individuals in modern society and to further social progress. It would be regrettable if Federal aid, conditioned on nonsegregated services, should be rejected by sections most in need of such aid. The committee believes that a reasonable interval of time may be allowed for adjustment to such a policy. But in the end it believes that segregation is wrong morally and practically and must not receive financial support by the whole people." The committee's recommendation was made at a time when racial segregation in public education was only immoral and not illegal. Today, by reason of the Supreme Court's decision, segregation is recognized as violative not merely of the spirit but also of the word of the Constitution. Certainly, there can be no justification today to expend Federal funds for the perpetuation of a segregated school system in violation of the United States Constitution. For these reasons we urge the substitution of the following provision for the provisions in the three bills before the committee respecting equitable distribution among racially segregated schools (sec. 112 (a) (5) of S. 359; sec. 5 (a) (5) of S. 2601; sec. 4 (a) (7) of S. 2779): "provide that no school constructed, altered, or improved in whole or in part with funds appropriated pursuant to this act shall deny admission to, segregate, or otherwise discriminate against any pupil because of race, color, creed, national origin, or ancestry." We urge also the inclusion in the bill reported out of a provision similar in substance to section 7 (c) of S. 2779, which empowers the Commissioner of Education, after reasonable notice and hearing, to withhold further payments from a State failing to comply with the provisions of the act. In the absence of such a sanction, the prohibition of segregation which we propose merely expresses what the Supreme Court has already ruled is implicit in the Constitution. The sanction we propose is just and is likely to assure that prohibition against segre gation in federally aided schools will not become a dead letter but will be given practical effect. Subject to this modification, we warmly endorse the three bills being considered by this committee and urge a favorable report by this committee and speedy enactment of one of them by the Senate. Respectfully submitted. HERMAN L. WEISMAN, Chairman, Committee on Legislative Information, National Community STATEMENT OF LEWIS J. JOHNSON, VICE PRESIDENT, ARKANSAS FARMERS UNION, IN BEHALF OF THE NATIONAL FARMERS UNION The United States Supreme Court decision Monday outlawing segregation in public schools, coupled with the current economic recession, justifies the initiation of a $4 billion program of Federal financial assistance to States for educational purposes. Generally, we had children literally hanging out of the windows of our high schools and grade schools even before the rolling readjustment reduced local tax revenues. Now the requirement for complete integration of our entire school system for all children, regardless of race, places a complete new and additional burden upon school facilities of Southern States. The National Farmers Union strongly urges immediate passage of legislation providing for the initiation of a $3 billion program of financial assistance to local school districts for construction of facilities required to meet the needs of the increased school population growing out of a higher birthrate experienced in World War II and the immediate postwar period. We also urge that at least $100 million per year be added to contemplated legislation to meet the extraordinary and sudden needs in Southern States for school construction and teacher retraining, particularly for vocational instruction brought on by the Supreme Court decision on school segregation. Appropriation of these Federal funds will not only help to smooth the difficult transition on the racial question, but will also be a very important factor in helping combat growing unemployment, particularly in rural areas. Farm houses which have been vacant for more than a decade are beginning to fill up. In many instances, their former occupants left the community for jobs in defense areas. As an emergency measure, the Congress helped provide schools for these defense-impacted areas. Now that these families have lost their defense jobs and moved back to rural areas, we need a program of Federal assistance to schools who must accept these children. Unfortunately, many of our schools in greatest need have exhausted their financial resources and are unable to provide school-plant facilities they need. In many areas where need for school construction is greatest, the districts have reached the limit of local financing. Their enrollment continues to grow, but the valuation of their taxable properties have not grown in proportion. During the depression days, many schools could not afford to construct school buildings. During the prosperous war years, materials were not available. We cant expect these communities to catch up from a 20-year lag due to the depression of the thirties and the high-cost and scarce-material forties without Federal assistance, particularly in the face of increasing problems-one of which is the nonsegregation order-which is beyond our control. Education is no longer a local, county, or State problem. The Congress must realize that it is a national problem, too, and make whatever readjustment that is necessary for the adequate training of our valuable national asset-our people. > (Whereupon, the committee recessed at 11:30 a. m., to reconvene at 9:30 a. m., Thursday, May 25, 1954.) CONSTRUCTION OF SCHOOL FACILITIES THURSDAY, MAY 25, 1954 UNITED STATES SENATE, SUBCOMMITTEE ON EDUCATION OF THE COMMITTEE ON LABOR AND PUBLIC WELFARE, Washington, D. C. The subcommittee met at 9:45 a. m., pursuant to recess, in room P-63, Old Supreme Court room, the Capitol, Senator John Sherman Cooper presiding. Present, Senator Cooper (presiding). Present also: Roy E. James, staff director, Committee on Labor and Public Welfare; and William G. Reidy, professional staff member. Senator COOPER. The subcommittee will be in order. I want to ask that there be inserted in the record a letter from Miles D. Kennedy, director, national legislative commission of the American Legion, with three resolutions which have been adopted by the executive committee of the American Legion opposing Federal control of public schools, a denial to any educational institution in which there is evidence of communism, and a resolution denying Federal benefits to schools which employ teachers refusing to answer questions respecting their membership in the Communist Party. (The letter referred to follow :) Hon. H. ALEXANDER SMITH, THE AMERICAN LEGION, Washington 6, D. C., May 20, 1954. Chairman, Senate Committee on Labor and Public Welfare, The Capitol, Washington, D. C. DEAR SENATOR SMITH: In connection with the hearings held this date by the Subcommittee on Education of the Senate Committee on Labor and Public Welfare on the school construction bills S. 359, S. 2601, and S. 2779, I attach hereto 3 resolutions which the national organization of the American Legion has adopted on this subject matter, as follows: No. 31, adopted by our national executive committee, October 1952; No. 150, adopted at our 1953 national convention, and No. 73, adopted by our national executive committee, May 1954. I would appreciate it very much if you could have these resolutions incorporated in your printed record of hearings so that the action taken by the American Legion may be made a part thereof. Thanking you for your courtesy, I am, Sincerely yours, MILES D. KENNEDY, Director. NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE AMERICAN LEGION, MEETING HELD OCTOBER 10-12, 1952 Resolution No. 31. Committee: National Americanism Commission. Whereas in the intervening time since the endorsement of Federal aid to education, October 9-12, 1950, by the national convention (Resolution No. 191), it is believed that many opinions formerly in support of Federal aid to education have changed; and Whereas it is now believed upon further study that Federal aid to education cannot be administered without Federal controls inasmuch as there has been no instance of Federal grants which did not immediately or ultimately result in such controls; and Whereas it is believed that the problem of financing the educational system can best be met at local levels; and Whereas the Constitution of the United States does not vest responsibility or authority over the education of children in the Federal Government, but in fact, the supervision and control of public education in the States is reserved to the States and to the people: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the national executive committee of the American Legion, meeting at Indianapolis these the 10th, 11th, and 12th days of October 1952, does hereby condemn the tendency to centralize power over education of our youth in the Federal Government and does state that, in principle, it is opposed to the appropriation of Federal funds for the provision of grants or assistance to the secondary-school systems of the respective States; and be it further Resolved, That the national legislative director is hereby directed to present the position of the American Legion to Congress on all future legislation seeking Federal funds or control over public education: Provided, however, That nothing herein shall be construed to represent an opposition or support to any legislation or appropriations heretofore made by the Congress of the United States, or future appropriations made to inplement existing legislative acts. 1953 NATIONAL CONVENTION OF THE AMERICAN LEGION, ST. LOUIS, MO., Resolution No. 150. Committee: Americanism. Subject: Communism in educational institutions granted Federal funds. Whereas the American Legion, founded upon high principles and ideals of citizenship, is dedicated to foster and perpetuate a 100 percent Americanism; and Whereas the American Legion, assuming full obligation for the furtherance of these principles, is cognizant of certain subversive, un-American, and Communistic influences which have infiltrated the United States, including some of the administrative establishments thereof, and public and private educational institutions; and Whereas the Congress of the United States, in order to stimulate education and individual initiative in the youth of this land, has adopted certain laws under which Federal funds are appropriated and grants made to construct, aid, and maintain institutions of learning meeting certain general and specific requirements; and Whereas the laws of many of the States and subdivisions thereof do not require teachers and other personnel to execute oaths of allegiance to the Constitution of the United States, or to take non-Communist oaths, or otherwise guarantee their loyalty; and Whereas our American youth at their most impressionable age, forming the mental structures upon which their lives and the future of their country will depend, must be entrusted to the formal education provided by teachers, instructors, textbooks, and publications; and Whereas some textbooks and courses of study in some of the institutions of learning are known to be subversive in text and calculated to discredit our American philosophy of life under our form of government and our Constitution: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, by the American Legion in national convention assembled at St. Louis, Mo., August 31-September 3, 1953, That the Congress of the United States be urged, in the interest of further promoting the general welfare, to withhold aids and grants of Federal funds to educational institutions at all levels failing to furnish satisfactory evidence, guaranteeing that all administrative personnel, teachers, and instructors in said institutions have executed an oath of allegiance or a non-Communist oath or have otherwise proved their loyalty to this country and its Constitution, and that the textbooks and courses of study within such institutions are of a nonsubversive character; and be it further Resolved, That the national legislative director is hereby mandated to secure the introduction of suitable legislation in the Congress of the United States to implement this resolution. |