resources to pay the additional costs. Thus the funds that would come from this bill are necessary to finance the needed school consolidations and reorganizations. Section 7 also provides that States may disburse the funds received to local school jurisdictions for such school buildings as the State educational authority finds to be in the interest of greater efficiency and economy. This provision is based precisely on the idea that funds will be needed for financing desirable consolidation of schools. The decision in these matters must of necessity be left to the State authorities, for the whole theory back of this bill is the preservation of State control of education.

As to whether State or Federal funds will tend to perpetuate undesirable local school organization depends in large measure upon the plan of apportionment used by the States. It is the clear intention of this bill that funds shall be used, among other things, to finance desirable school reorganization. One fundamental principle that should be followed in the apportionment of State funds to local school jurisdictions is that the State should encourage the efficient organization of schools and avoid placing a premium on the status quo. This, however, is a State and not a Federal function. After all, the virtues of democratic government are not obliterated by its inefficiencies. There are some things worse than the inefficiency, or even the expensiveness, of democracy.

One other comment should be made. General Fries attempted to argue that the use of "school jurisdiction" as a term in section 7 would leave the States free to appropriate funds to private schools. He thinks that "school jursidiction" could be interpreted to mean a parochial school. A reading of Section 7 (a) shows the absurdity of that contention. The expression used is "to local school jurisdictions or other State education agencies" clearly implying that "local school jurisdiction" is a State agency, as of course it is, and every person who knows anything about school law knows that it is. A parochial school by no stretch of the imagination can mean a "State educational agency." Furthermore, section 7 (a) makes the money available to local school jurisdictions "for all types of expense of public elementary and secondary schools." No court in the land has ever held that a parochial school is a public school in a legal sense.

The CHAIRMAN. Are there any others who wish to be heard? (No response.) If not, then the hearing will be adjourned.

(Whereupon, at 4 p. m., the hearing was adjourned subject to the call of the chairman.)

(By direction of the chairman, various statements, letters, telegrams, and so forth, received by the committee during the course of the hearings, were ordered to be inserted in the record as follows:) MATERIAL SUBMITTED BY D. W. ROBINSON, CHAIRMAN OF THE LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE OF THE SOUTH CAROLINA EDUCATION ASSOCIATION

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE APPOINTED PURSUANT TO HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 74 "TO MAKE AN INVESTIGATION OF THE STATUTORY LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA DEALING WITH EDUCATION," ETC.

To the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

Your committee appointed February 13, 1941, pursuant to house resolution 74 to make an "investigation of the statutory laws of South Carolina dealing with education and the election of school teachers and their salaries, and to report the result together with their recommendations to the General Assembly at its present session" begs leave to submit the following report:

IV. The distribution of school funds

The "equal protection" clause of the fourteenth amendment to the Federal Constitution requires a State and its political subdivisions to provide substantially equal educational opportunities for children of different races. While the State may provide separate schools for Negro and white children, as South Carolina has done (art. 11, sec. 7 of the Constitution of 1895), it must accord equal facilities to each race; otherwise there is discrimination within the meaning of the fourteenth amendment. Gaines v. Canada, 305 U. S. 337; Pearson v. Murray, 169 Md. 478, 182 Atl. 590, 103 A. L. R. 706.

This constitutional guaranty also prohibits discrimination against Negro teachers. Alston v. Norfolk School Board, 112 Fed. (2d) 992, certiorari denied

85 L. Ed. 81; Mills v. Lownes (D. C., Md., 1939), 26 Fed. Supp. 792, 30 Fed. Supp. 345. The "equal protection" clause of the State constitution of 1895 (art. 1, sec. 5 would probably be similarly construed).

In the light of these fundamental principles the committee has within the time available made as complete an investigation as possible to ascertain whether there is any inequality in the distribution of school funds.

In order to determine whether the statutory laws of this State require or permit inequality in the matter of public school education, we report these facts which we believe to be accurate.1 For the sake of conciseness we present them in tabulated form. Errors which a more through study would uncover are not such as would change the conclusions.

1 These figures were furnished by the department of education on the basis of 1939-40 records.

Third grade certificate__

Number of school busses.

Children transported..

Bus transportation expenditure:

(1) State aid..

(2) Local supplement.

Total bus transportation.

Total expenditure for all public school educational purposes except buildings

From a study of these figures the committee has reached the conclusion that there are inequalities in the expenditure of public funds for education in this State. The nature and extent of this discrimination is more difficult to ascertain. Since the fourteenth amendment is binding on the counties and school districts, we have considered their expenditures as well as that of the State itself.

Bus transportation. While the larger white enrollment in high schools and the existence of many consolidated white schools legitimately calls for more busses for whites than for Negroes, there can be no such difference as the expenditures and the number of busses for each race would indicate. This committee cannot say how many of the 1,652 busses should be assigned to Negro children but it does say that 8 are not enough.

The committee recommends that State aid for bus transportation be abolished. Its reasons are: (1) It would eliminate, so far as the State is concerned, a serious racial discrimination. (2) State funds can best be used to make education available in the school room. Transportation offers many local problems which can best be solved in the local community. Until the State is in position to spend much more for education it should forego expenditures for transportation. (3) Since no county obtains more than $14,000 bus aid from the State, it will work no particular hardship to leave transportation to the counties.

Teacher load. While the average teacher load for Negro teachers is higher than for whites, we find no discrimination in this regard.

Average term.-The average term length of 175 days for the whites and 147 days for the Negro means that the Negro child must go to school 10 years to obtain the number of days a white child obtains in 8 years. Further study will no doubt show that this is due in part to the economic condition of the Negro parent in rural areas. However, the shortness of the school term in many Negro schools is due to the failure of State and local authorities to furnish adequate funds. recommend that the short terms of these Negro schools be lengthened.

We

Absence of high schools. Nineteen counties in this State have no public high schools for Negroes. No bus service to other high schools is furnished. Obviously this is a principal reason for the sharp decrease in Negro high-school enrollment. It is our judgment that since relief, unemployment, lack of education, and unskilled labor go hand in hand, the State is doing itself a great economic injustice in not furnishing adequate high school educational facilities for Negroes.

Negro high schools should begin to teach their pupils trades. Only a small fraction of high school graduates go to college, yet in many instances the curriculum is intended to prepare the graduate for college. If we geared our public school education to training the pupils to farm, to lay brick, to build houses, to cook, to nurse, the State would reap benefits in lower relief costs and higher buying power in years to come. To a degree this is also true of the white schools.

We recommend that the State board of education and the several county boards make a special study of the Negro high school problem and that the State board report its views to the 1942 general assembly.

Teachers' salaries.-As the committee has indicated, the existing teachers' certificates give little evidence of a teacher's value. The first grade certificates

do not even represent college credits. The holder of a doctor's degree has the same certificate that thousands who have no college degree hold. In the absence of a yardstock the committee is unable to say whether the average pay differential between white and Negro teachers is discriminatory or not.

It is the committee's opinion that the average white teacher in this State is a better teacher than the average Negro teacher. This is natural. Sixty-four percent of the white teachers and only twenty-four percent of the Negro teachers hold college degrees. The white colleges from which these teachers come have a higher scholastic standing than the Negro institutions. The white teacher generally has been better able to take advantage of educational opportunities than has the Negro. This is no reflection on the Negro teacher; it merely means his opportunities have been more limited. (See Wilkinson, Special Problems of Negro Education, p. 22.) Representatives of the Negro Teachers Association recognize this fact and recognize also that the present certificates do not present the proper basis for determining the value or ability of a teacher.

There are, however, among the Negro teachers, many who deserve salary increases in order to bring them to the level of the white teacher of equal value. In order to provide some additional compensation for the better Negro school teachers, the committee has decided to recommend a salary increase of $10 per month to be paid out of State aid, beginning with the session 1941-42, to those Negro teachers who hold college degrees. Present records indicate that there are now approximately 1,909 of such teachers actively engaged in school work in the State. In making this recommendation the committee is cognizant of the fact that the possession of a college degree does not necessarily mean that a teacher is well qualified for his job. It represents, however, the best indication now available and since the committee is of opinion that something should be done for these better teachers prior to the working out of a satisfactory plan of certification, it has decided to make this recommendation. The cost to the State would be not more than $152,720.

It is the judgment of the committee that while the elimination of these inequalities will over the years result in increased expenditures for public school education, the State will be more than repaid in the increased value to it of the better educated Negro. It is reasonable to presume that in the future he will become a taxpayer with buying power rather than a client of our relief agencies. The low Negro enrollment in high schools is directly attributable to the failure of the State to provide adequate educational opportunities. We believe there is a great opportunity here to improve the economic condition of South Carolina.

V. General recommendations

Because of the resolution's requirement that the committee report to the present session of the general assembly and of the committee's desire that its report be filed in time for consideration at this session the committee's study of these problems has necessarily been limited. The committee has had no paid staff, all of its members have been busy on other matters, and it has expended no appreciable amount of public funds. It has attempted in a limited time to study matters which demand more thorough investigation.

It is the recommendation of the committee that the State board of education: 1. Set up a teachers certificate division in the office of the State superintendent of education. That it staff this division with the most competent people available, paying them adequate salaries, and direct this division to immediately work out a satisfactory plan of teacher certification.

2. That the State board of education continue the study of the problems which have been mentioned in this report and that it employ such assistance from within or without the State as it may deem advisable for this purpose.

We recommend that the general assembly appropriate the sum of $25,000 annually for the support of the teachers certificate division in the department of education, the sum of $25,000 to provide teacher examinations, and the sum of $25,000 to the State board of education for a comprehensive study and survey of public school education in this State, which should include a direction that the State board include within this study all of the problems which are mentioned in this report.

Respectfully submitted.

Referred to the committee on education.

D. W. ROBINSON, Jr.,

JOHN H. PORTER,
W. BRANTLEY HARVEY,
J. H. HOPE,

E. R. CROW,

STATEMENT SUBMITTED BY RALPH B. JONES, COMMISSIONER, DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, STATE OF ARKANSAS, LITTLE ROCK

ARKANSAS' NEED FOR FEDERAL AID TO EDUCATION

It is generally agreed that it is the function of the public-school system to provide adequate educational opportunities for every child from his entrance into the system until he is ready to take his place in society. Unfortunately this condition does not prevail in Arkansas. Educational opportunities differ greatly within the State and in may instances great disparities exist between the opportunities provided in the State and in other States.

Disparities within the State.-Within the State are found disparities such as the following:

1. Assessed valuation of property per child enrolled ranges from $21 in one district to $9,474 in another, from $240 in one county to $1,736 in another, from $21 in a district in one county to $2,225 in another district in the same county. 2. A total of 1,995 districts enumerate 100 or fewer persons of school age (6 to 21) while only 124 enumerate more than 1,000 persons.

3. Only 68.3 percent of the white enumerates and 32.7 percent of the Negro enumerates reside in school districts providing 12 years of schooling.

4. The area of 1,721 school districts in the State is 10 square miles or less. 5. By counties the revenue per child enrolled ranges from $16.18 to $37.74, with a State average of $27.83.

6. The percentage of enrollment by length of term is as follows: 9-month, 36.30 percent, 8-month, 38.87 percent, 7-month, 12.64 percent, less than 7-month, 12.19 percent. The average length of term for white schools in 1939-40 was 163 days, for Negro schools, 144 days.

7. A total of 89.36 percent of the school enumerates reside in school districts voting the maximum school tax and these districts embrace 90.13 percent of the total assessed valuation of the State.

Arkansas and the Nation.-The following comparisons show certain inequalities that existed between Arkansas and the national averages for 1937-38:

1. Current expense per pupil in average daily attendance: Arkansas, $31.62; United States $83.87.

2. Average number of days schools were in session: Arkansas, 157.6; United States, 173.9.

3. Average value of school property per pupil enrolled: Arkansas, $82; United States, $274.

4. Áverage salaries of teachers, supervisors, and principals: Arkansas, $571; United States, $1,374.

5. Percent of total enrollment enrolled in high school: Arkansas, 14.07 percent; United States 23.97 percent.

6. Percent of income from taxation and appropriation derived from the State: Arkansas, 46.6 percent; United States, 29.8 percent.

7. Wealth per pupil enrolled in public elementary and secondary schools: Arkansas, $3,234.67; United States $11,912.56.

8. Income per pupil enrolled in public elementary and secondary schools: Arkansas, $967.18; United States, $2,550.87.

9. Percent of income expended for total public education: Arkansas, 3.80 percent; United Sates, 3.87 percent.

Improved program. In an effort to reduce inequalities in the State, Arkansas reduced its number of school districts from 4,594 to 2,920, between 1928 and 1940, during which time the high school enrollment increased from 38,639 to 73,768 despite a decrease in total enrollment. Between 1934 and 1940 the State increased its contributions to local school districts from $2,000,000 to $5,400,000, in addition to providing approximately $1,000,000 more for various school purposes including purchase of free textbooks, matching teacher's retirement contributions, providing facilities for blind and deaf children, and providing for State and county school administration.

Numerous studies made of the school situation in Arkansas have indicated that if educational facilities on a par with the national average are to be provided the children of Arkansas, assistance will have to be granted the State by the Federal Government. The chief causes of this condition are the low per capita wealth and income, the disparities within the State, the cost of transporting pupils into groups sufficiently large to provide acceptable school services, the need for additional buildings, and the necessity for maintaining a dual school system.

Data from Advance Statistics of State School Systems, 1937-38, by David T. Blose, U. S. Office of Education, and from State Comparisons of School Support, National Education Association, February 1941.