"When the entire long record of Federal activities in connection with education is considered, it is evident that throughout the years the Federal Government has been increasingly concerned with the development of educational opportunities. This trend may be expected to continue." 28 In 1943 the Office of War Information reported that the United States Army and Navy were operating "the largest adult school system in the world." 29 Even in time of peace the vast educational and training programs of the Army and Navy cost the Federal Government hundreds of millions of dollars annually.30 Other Federal educational programs include the Nation-wide educational activities of the Extension Service of the Department of Agriculture, the support of Indian schools by the Department of the Interior, certain activities of the Office of International Information and Cultural Affairs of the Department of State, vocational and academic education in the Federal Prison System under the Department of Justice, et cetera. While the Federal Government has taken up essential educational activities which the States could not feasibly or adequately administer, it has also given aid to the States in supporting certain types of education, principally vocational training. Except for land grants for common schools, aid to fundamental elementary and secondary education for all children has received comparatively little consideration by the Federal Government. A few of the highlights in the development of Federal policy in aid to the States and local governments for special types of education and related activities are the following:3 The Morrill Act of 1862 32 made grants of land, or script in lieu of land, for the endowment and support of at least one agricultural and mechanical college in each State. In 1887 the Congress began to make appropriations for an agricultural experiment station in each State. In 1914, under the Smith-Lever Act, the Federal Government initiated a program of cooperation with the States in extension work in agriculture and economics.34 An entirely new policy in education was introduced with the passage of the Smith-Hughes Act in 1917, which provided for agricultural and industrial courses in secondary schools. In significantly entering the field of secondary education, the Federal Government established machinery for influencing the effort, policies, equipment, and teaching qualifications for vocational education in secondary schools.35 Federal funds for the purpose of cooperating with the several States in the vocational rehabilitation of persons disabled in industry were provided for the first time under provisions of a law enacted in 1920.36 Vocational education for physically disabled civilians was further provided for in the Social Security Act of 1939 and later amendments to this act. In 1943 the whole program of voca tional rehabilitation was revised and extended.37 4. THE CURRENT QUESTIONS RELATING TO FEDERAL AID It is evident from the foregoing disucssion that the principle of the Federal Government's participation in the education of the national citizenry is well established. The fundamental question at present is not whether the Federal Government is going to share with the States and local governments the responsibility for financing education. It has been doing that since the dawn of its existence, and in increasing measure through the years, with strong public support. The principal question now is: Should the Federal Government further increase its participation in education, and, if so, how and to what extent? Out of this query arise several others, of which the following are important: First, with respect to the form of Federal participation in education or aid to the States in financing education 1. Should the Federal Government enlarge its own extensive educational activities (by adding, for example, a universal training program)? 28 Ibid., p. 17. 29 U. S. Office of War Information. Advanced release, August 15, 1943. OWI-2279, p. 1. 30 Information obtained from the Bureau of the Budget. 31 For further data see the source named in footnote 24. 32 12 Stat. 503-505. 33 24 Stat. 440-442. 24 38 Stat. 372-374. 35 F. S. Swift, Op. Cit. p. 49. 36 41 Stat. 735, ch. 219. 37 57 Stat. 374. 2. Should the Federal Government give support to additional special types of education in the public schools (such as those now carried on under specific Federal controls)? 3. Should the Federal Government give further aid to the States and Territories in financing their whole school systems under State and local administration? 4. Which of these types of Federal participation in education would involve the least or the most appropriate kind of Federal control? 5. How should the Federal Government aid in reducing inequalities of educational opportunity and in maintaining a minimum educational level for the national citizenry? 6. How can this be done without weakening the State and local effort for the support of the schools? Second, with respect to the extent of Federal participation 1. What proportion of our total national income do the people of this Nation wish to spend on elementary and secondary education? 2. What proportion of this expenditure should be borne by the Federal Government and what proportion by the States and local government? 3. What are the suitable bases for the distribution of Federal aid? 4. Should the Federal Government give assistance only to public schools or to all tax-exempt, nonprofit elementary and secondary schools? The answers to all these questions (and many others which might be raised in connection with this general problem) rest upon the premise that the education of our youth is of the highest importance to the maintenance of our democratic form of government, our national welfare, and the economic and social advancement of society.38 The current proposals for Federal aid usually imply grants by the Federal Government to the several States on the basis of need. Such grants would not be intended to take the place of the educational financial outlays now being provided by local communities and States, but to supplement these funds, which are widely believed to be insufficient. The purpose of equalization of educational opportunity, as expressed by advocates of further aid to the States for general elementary and secondary education, is to provide an equitable standard of education both within the States and between the various States and regions. PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, CHAIRMAN, SUBCOMMITTEE ON EDUCATION, DEAR SIR: This communication is addressed to your committee on behalf of the American Teachers Association with a membership of 10,000 and affiliation of 20,000 teachers, and on behalf of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity with a membership of 9,000 college men scattered over the country. We of these organizations are exceedingly interested in Federal appropriations for public schools in this country. We are particularly interested in the kind of appropriations which will tend to equalize opportunities for American children without distinction as to national origin, race, or any minority status of their parents. On behalf of these organizations I am writing to approve S. 472, Educational Finance Act of 1947, introduced by Senator Robert Taft et al. We believe it to be the most promising of the several bills which have come to our attention. We, however, urge that the provisions for the $40 minimum expenditure per child as one of the requirements for the eligibility of a State to receive benefits from Federal appropriations, be raised to at least $50 expenditure per child. It would seem unnecessary to array arguments in favor of this change as there have been increases in living and other costs since the bill was introduced Moreover, there is a very strong movement now in the interest of increasing teachers' salaries: If this increase reaches proportions expected, this alone would strongly tend to out-mode the $40 minimum expenditure Accordingly, we urge this revision We think also that the bill could be strengthened by amending it explicitly so as to require rather definite and detailed accounting to the United States Office of Education where minorities are concerned and the publication of accounting. Along with this provision should go the rights of the individual to enter complaint in case of failure of the State to live up to its obligations under the proposed law 38 76th Cong., 1st sess., Senate, Committee on Education and Labor. Minority views on S. 1305. Report No. 244, pt. 3, June 13, 1939. p. 1. and to have his complaint adjudicated in court. The rights to benefit under this proposed law are specific and apply to the individual. Therefore, the individual should be authorized to enter complaint of injustice under its administration. Finally, these two organizations go on record emphatically as endorsing the principle of educational support from the Federal Government since with the high mobility of the population of this country, education cannot be regarded as a purely State function. Sincerely yours, HOWARD H. LONG, American Teachers Association and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. Hon. GEORGE D. AIKEN EXECUTIVE OFFICE, Nashville, Tenn., April 18, 1947. Senate Office Building, Washington, D. C. DEAR SENATOR AIKEN: I understand that your committee has under consideration S. 472, a bill to provide Federal aid to education for the States which are in need of assistance. I would like to say that as Governor of Tennessee I heartily endorse the provisions of this bill and I hope you will do what you can to obtain its passage. We, of course, would be interested only in Federal aid for public education which made specific provision that the control of education remain in the hands of State government. The Seventy-fifth General Assembly has recently enacted the most far-reaching school legislation in the history of our State. State appropriations for schools are $34,697,538, or approximately double any previous appropriation for public education in Tennessee. However, we are still below the average for the United States. With the passage of the new school legislation and a sales tax bill to finance it we have just about exhausted our means of further support for education. Approximately one-fourth of the teachers of our State this year are substandard as weighed by the minimum standards prescribed by our State board of education and this situation appears to be national in scope. The average training of our elementary teachers has been cut from 3 years of college to 12 years of college. The number of men teachers in our schools has been cut in half. There is a minimum number of people enrolled in our colleges who are planning to teach. In fact the situation has become very critical in Tennessee, and I fear that what we have been able to do at the State level will not be enough to restore our schools to the standards they had achieved before the war, to say nothing of raising the standards to what they should be. I know the problems you face in Congress are numerous and great, but I know of nothing that will do more to help us solve the problems which we face in this country than to expend wisely money for the education of the boys and girls of our country. Any consideration which you may give to this matter will be appreciated. With all good wishes, JIM MCCORD, Governor, From: Theodore Miller, legislative representative for: Students for Democratic Action, 1740 K Street NW., Washington, D. C. To: Mr. Philip R. Rodgers, Clerk of Senate Subcommittee on Education and Labor. For: Inclusion in hearings on Federal Aid to Education. Students for Democratic Action endorse fully the principle of Federal aid to education. The Students for Democratic Action are particularly aware of the lamentable condition of America's schools today. The membership of our organization is composed largely of college and university students; they have experienced at first hand the inadequacies of our school system which most Americans appreciate and deplore. They have only recently come from secondary schools that are overcrowded, that are working on double shifts, that have at times had three and four different teachers for the same course over a period of 8 or 9 months. At our national convention in Washington, D. C., March 28-30, 1947, we adopted as the first plank of our program for action for 1947-48, under the heading of Student economic needs, the following statement: "We support legislation for Federal aid to State educational programs, labor education, increased vocational education, local 2-year colleges, an extensive federally financed scholarship program.' SDA realizes that the fundamental problem of our schools today lies in the inadequate salaries that are paid to America's teachers. We take comfort, therefore, in the unanimous endorsement of the principle of Federal assistance to supplement public school teachers' salaries by all groups that testified for Federal aid to education at the Senate Subcommittee on Labor and Education hearings. The National Congress of Parents and Teachers, the American Federation of Labor, the Congress of Industrial Organizations, the American Federation of Teachers, and the National Catholic Welfare Conference, all testified on behalf of appropriation for salaries of public-school teachers only. We urge the speedy resolution of the problems involved in the controversy over the public versus private school issue. Only in this way can a bill be passed by the Congress to provide this much needed, long awaited assistance now. It has SDA's complete philosophy demands intensive action on this measure. been the practice of well-meaning individuals in the past to point the finger of scorn at those States or areas that maintain pathetically high illiteracy rates and low educational expenditures. From their behavior the public has been led to believe that those States or areas were quite capable of raising their appropriations and that they didn't because of some peculiar reluctance on the part of the citizens there concerned. We know this to be untrue. We recognize that the plain fact of the matter is that they simply do not have the money to spend. The only way to provide that money is through the Federal Government. At a time when totalitarianism, in practice and ideal, is rife in the world today; at a time when the administration deems it essential to the well-being of democracy without as well as within the borders of the United States of America to send $400,000,000 to Greece and Turkey, we cannot well afford to forsake the education of our own people. Democracy flourishes only in the atmosphere of knowledge. If we are to have a well-informed people we must have a people so educated to the tenets of democracy, so capable of assimilating essential information that they may distinguish as between totalitarianism on the one hand and democracy on the other. This is a time for the strengthening of democracy at home as well as abroad. And to begin with the children of America is only good common sense. These arguments have been made before; this problem is one of long standing. Why then do we wait? The overwhelming majority of the people favor this measure. Business groups, labor groups, church groups, veterans organizations, northerners, southerners, easterners, and westerners are all agreed on this common ground; leading Senators and Representatives have approved the principle. And yet, the opinion of competent observers of the political scene is that, while the Eightieth Congress is generally favorable to the principle of Federal aid to education, it is not "must" legislation, it probably won't pass this session. This measure is as vital to our foreign policy as the Greek-Turkish aid bill, as important to our domestic policy as tax legislation. We say that we are interested in full employment, in full production-an economy of abundance; how vividly the United States Chamber of Commerce has shown the direct connection between these important goals and an educated populace. The demand for radios, books, homes, clothing, better and more nourishing food comes only from an educated people; the skills to produce these commodities are learned in our public schools. SDA urges legislation from this session of the Eightieth Congress. In the words of Dr. Harold F. Clark, of Teachers College, Columbia University, if the present teacher shortage continues, "disastrous educational and social conditions will prevail in a few years." It is the right and heritage of every American child to a decent education; we must not deprive him of this right any longer. STATEMENT OF THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL WOMEN'S CLUBS, Inc., on S. 472 The National Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs, Inc., representing 112,000 women in 1,852 communities endorses the principle of Federal aid to education and asks for Senate approval of S. 472. Our members are convinced that maintenance of a vigorous democracy demands a high standard of education throughout the country, for the school children of today become the voters of tomorrow. We know that State boundaries are no bars to ignorance. With the mobility of our population, the educational welfare of its citizens is the concern of the whole Nation and not merely of the State where the children temporarily reside. Citizens of tomorrow must be educated today. For years we have known that our entire educational system has many weak spots. The rejection by our armed services of over 750,000 men because of educational deficiencies has dramatically focused the attention of the Nation on the shortcomings of our educational facilities. After careful study of the variations in educational standards throughout the Nation, we have concluded that the only way we shall achieve equality of educational opportunity throughout all of our States is to tax wealth where it is found and to educate children where they live. As businesswomen we look at the proportion of income in annual wage or salary compared to the amount of education completed. We find that those limited to a grade-school education predominate in the lower income brackets. In interpreting income as relative worth of an individual to his community, then, the more and better his education, the more enriched his community, wherever he chooses to live as an adult. We know that there is a distinct. relationship between educational levels and per capita retail sales. It is significant that there is a regular corrolary in the median break-down of States and areas on these two items. As professional women, and many of us are teachers, we are familiar with the exacting standards which should be required of those teaching future citizens. We are keenly aware that those possessing these necessary qualifications cannot be attracted to the teaching profession when business and industry offer more lucrative opportunities in modernized pleasant surroundings. We feel it is vital that sufficient national income be spent to bring the field of education into proper focus in our civilization; that expenditures be proportionate to the importance of the mission of education. We are in favor of S. 472 because it leaves control of expenditures to the State which is a fundamental American tradition, It provides for a fair, just, and sound distribution of Federal funds. Our conviction is that S. 472 is an urgently needed remedial measure in the critical situation which we face in education today. The welfare of our Nation's children demands its passage. The plight of the teaching profession makes such aid an evident necessity. Provisions for an adequate educational system throughout the Nation warrant the thinking and the support of all people in all States in the interest of maintaining and promoting a soundly functioning democracy. Hon. GEORGE D. AIKEN MASSACHUSETTS TEACHERS FEDERATION, Chairman, Senate Subcommittee on Education, Washington 5, D. C. DEAR SENATOR AIKEN: It is my understanding that hearings on S. 472, the Federal aid to education bill, are tentatively scheduled to be held in early April before the Senate Subcommittee on Education, of which you are chairman. I am writing, therefore, to request that you regard this letter as a part of the hearings on S. 472 and record it appropriately. After many years of taking no part one way or the other in attempts to obtain Federal aid to education, this organization, through its board of directors which has power to speak for it, voted on December 14, 1946, to support the then S. 181 which is now known as S. 472, with practically identical provisions as the earlier bills. Therefore, we should like to be recorded as in support of S. 472, and we do this realizing that it would cost Massachusetts money and that Massachusetts would receive no direct financial return. We feel, however, that the United States Government has a real responsibility for helping the poor States to attain a reasonable level of educational opportunity. Sincerely yours, HUGH NIXON, Executive Secretary. |