that Englewood will have an additional impact of 1,350 children to accommodate by September 1, 1941, or shortly after. We have no funds with which to build buildings or to employ additional teachers; $1,500 valuation back of each census child makes it impossible. We are now trying to house 2,523 children in buildings built to accommodate 1,865. Statement from Harper Johnson, Superintendent of Garden Home School, School District No. 18, Arapahoe County The Garden Home district lies south of west Alameda and is just 31⁄2 miles east. of the Remington Arms Plant. We made a survey a month ago and found that there were 287 people living in the district engaged in some kind of defense work. Also there were 163 houses under construction at that time and several more have been started since March 20. The activity that is under way now seems to be mostly in anticipation of work that may be available. I could not predict what the situation will be 6 months from now. In 1936 the school census of our district was 614 and by 1940 it had increased to 1,224. The Garden Home district is now bonded up to the legal limit. If there is further increase we will not be able to meet the situation. Statement from Fletcher M. Miller, Superintendent of Lakewood Schools, School District No. 47, Jefferson County We have had a very rapid increase in the number of children for the past 10 years. In 1930 our school census numbered 352. In 1941 it will number approximately 1,100. During the past 10 years we have had to add to our building or build new buildings almost every other year. During this time a complete basement and manual-training room has been excavated and placed under the grade-school building. The west end of the grade-school building has been added, a new junior high school has been erected, a new gymnasium building which serves both the junior and senior high schools, and a new senior high school. Facilities in our senior high school will care for approximately 250 as a maximum; we have 240 enrolled at the present time. We can care for approximately 250 in our junior high school with a total enrollment of 220. Our grade school is greatly overcrowded at the present time. We have 12 grade rooms available, 11 of which are now occupied. We have divided all of our grades except the third and fourth which must be divided next year. We would like to keep the maximum in any grade room at approximately 35 pupils. At present the average daily attendance in grade 1 is 78; grade 2, 81; grade 3, 60; grade 4, 66; grade 5, 71; grade 6. 74. As you can readily see, we are not only up to our maximum in grade facilities but already have a crowded condition which should be relieved. The Lakewood school district is located approximately between the city of Denver and the location of the new Remington Arms Plant. The school buildings proper are located a mile and a half from the Remington Arms Plant buildings. The main thoroughfare, Sixth Avenue, just passes within 4 blocks of the school which is located on Tenth Avenue. The school district extends north and south of the plant and occupies practically all of the territory between the plant and the city of Denver. The Lakewood Public Schools are the nearest schools accredited by the North Central Association and the State accrediting agency. to this fact Lakewood already receives as tuition students the high school pupils from the Daniels district which borders the plant on the north and from the Bancroft and Washington Heights districts which border the plant on the south. Due to the above fact, it is logical that the greatest increase will be in the Lakewood area. Due While the total enrollment has increased, our allowance per child has dropped from $2,609 to approximately $2,200 this year. We are able to issue approximately $40,000 in bonds. One or two new elementary schools, as well as additions to junior and senior high school, will be absolutely essential if we are to properly care for the increase when the Remington Arms Plant is in full operation. This means that the district alone should have approximately $400,000 to care for the increase due to the new defense plant. Daniels, which is located directly west and north of the Remington Plant, is a small district with a school erected without toilet facilities and designated for only 8 grades. It is terribly overcrowded at present and numerous shacks are being erected which add to the difficulties of the distret. This district as well as Washington Heights, Bear Creek, and Garden Home will be effected under this program similarly. We have approximately 225 families now living in the Lakewood school district who are engaged directly and indirectly in defense work. The schools in Jefferson County alone are in need of approximately a million dollars to take care of the estimated increased population of 30,000 coming into the territory from the employment of 10,000 people in the Remington Arms Plant, which is situated in the Daniels and Lakewood districts. A large percentage of these people are erecting homes in unrestricted areas where there are no sewage or other utilities. Many homes are being erected of discarded lumber, billboards, tin cans, and other materials which are made into shacks not fit for habitation. In addition to shacks of this nature, many of the buildings can be assessed to only $50 to $75. In general, the average tax from these homes will fall below $3 and many will have several children to enter the public schools. A very small part of the territory is zoned and only a small part of the district will be served with sewage and utilities. Many trailer and cottage camps are already being built each week. At the present rate of increase, school facilities will be almost unbelievably inadequate next September. Each district responds to the limit but it is difficult at the present time to see how they can carry on without some Federal assistance. The four statements noted above clearly indicate that if the children of parents employed by these defense projects are to be reasonably cared for from an educational standpoint some form of Federal aid will be necessary. The State of Colorado provides no funds that may be legally used to meet such emergencies. 3. Colorado has a migratory workers' problem, particularly in the beet-raising areas of the State, which our people feel is really a Federal problem of their maintenance as well as for provision for the education of their children. Federal aid for Colorado to help school districts take care of their increased educational load due to the influx of migratory workers will be a wise and constructive expenditure of Federal funds. 4. The problem of adequately caring for the educational opportunities of the children of parents who live on Government posts in Colorado is a serious one. We believe that the provision in your bill S. 1313 which creates a committee to study this problem and make provisions for its solution by the use of Federal funds is also a wise and constructive proposal for the use of Federal funds to make provision for the education of these children. Respectfully submitted. W. B. MOONEY, Executive Secretary. [Telegrams] Senator ELBERT D. THOMAS, JUNEAU, ALASKA, April 28, 1941. Chairman, Committee on Education and Labor, Washington, D. C.: Federal aid under S. 1313 imperative for educational program in Alaska. Due to defense program school population in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Kodiak, Sitka, Unalaska, and Duthharbor has increased beyond local and Territorial ability to provide buildings, teachers, and other school facilities. Fear hundreds will be without school opportunity next year unless Federal aid becomes available in next few weeks. Lack of shipping facilities and short building season in Alaska necessitate early construction if schools are to be provided for next school year. Refer you to Anthony J. Dimond, Delegate from Alaska for further detailed information. Hon. ELBERT D. THOMAS, JAMES C. RYAN, Commissioner of Education. SPRINGFIELD, ILL., April 29, 1941. Chairman, Committee on Education and Labor: Our association favors the enactment of S. 1313, particularly as it applies to school costs in defense and governmental areas. House Joint Resolution 34, of the Illinois Legislature, provides same endorsement. IRVING F. PEARSON, Executive Secretary, Illinois Education Association. Hon. ELBERT D. THOMAS: WASHINGTON, D. C., May 3, 1941. Being unable to attend hearing before Committee on Education and Labor on S. 1313, permit me to respectfully request that the American Coalition be recorded in the record of hearing as in opposition to this bill. Hon. ELBERT D. THOMAS, JOHN S. TREVOR, President, American Coalition. STATE OF NEVADA, DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, MY DEAR SENATOR: Elementary schools in Nevada receive the major portion of their financial support from State and county apportionments based on the average daily attendance in the school for the preceding school year. High school districts are supported largely by county aid or special high-school district tax. A very serious burden is put on any Nevada high school or elementary school which has a sudden increase in school population, since, under our system, there is no provision made by our statutes whereby additional funds may be provided for school districts, apart from emergency loans or special taxation. This department is quite perturbed over the situation which threatens to face three or four established school districts next year, due to the expansion of the national-defense program in certain areas. Boulder City, Las Vagas, and Hawthorne are at the present time anticipating increases in the school population due to the fact that families are moving into this area to work on Federal projects involving new airports and the naval munitions depot. Children of these families will undoubtedly not own taxable property in this State, yet the children must be supplied with an education. The established schools in these three communities are already crowded, and each is financially handicapped at the present time due to lack of adequate revenue with which to support the schools. It will be a serious problem for any of these school districts to have to provide additional teachers next year for the increased enrollment due to the influx into school of these children whose parents are engaged in national-defense work, since the State and county apportionments to be made during the 1941-42 school year will be made on the basis of the present school population which does not include these newcomers. The school budgets were prepared in February and submitted to county boards of commissioners in March, so no provision was made in these budgets for any added revenue to the schools involved by means of special district taxation. What is true of the schools in Hawthorne, Boulder City, and Las Vegas will also be true of any Nevada schools directly affected by national defense programs, for there is no discretionary fund set up in this State to take care of similar situations. On the other hand, Nevada school districts and the State Department of Education are sincere in believing that the best educational opportunities should be offered to every child who lives in the State, and we would not, if we could, turn away from our school doors these children of defense workers or the children of Federal employees residing on Government property and reservations. With the above situation in mind, the State Department of Education of Nevada strongly urges the passage and approval of S. 1313. We are sincere in believing that it will tend to reduce the existing educational inequalities in elementary and secondary schools, that it will enable us to furnish educational facilities and the needed additional teachers in defense areas (both military and industrial), and that it will also make it possible for children of Federal employees residing on Government property and reservations to have educational facilities in our established schools without, at the same time, depriving the Nevada children who reside in that district from the facilities which should be afforded to them as the sons and daughters of Nevada taxpayers. May I request that a picture of the situation in areas such as those which exist in Nevada may be furnished the Committee on Education and Labor when the hearings on S. 1313 commence on Monday, April 28. We have faith that if the members of the committee understand the situation they will report the bill out favorably and sponsor its adoption into law. Respectfully yours, MILDRED BRAY, State Superintendent of Public Instruction. Hon. ELBERT D. THOMAS, UNITED STATES SENATE, Washington, D. C., May 23, 1941. Chairman, Committee on Education and Labor, United States Senate. DEAR SENATOR THOMAS: I am enclosing herewith copy of a letter from Miss Mildred Bray, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Carson City, Nev., for insertion in the record of the hearings on S. 1313. DEAR SENATOR BUNKER: This morning I received a copy of S. 1313 from W. Alan Thody, clerk of the Senate Education and Labor Committee, who wrote me that hearings on the bill would be held the latter part of this month. I have read the bill carefully and believe that it offers the ultimate solution to some of our school finance problems in this State, particularly in Boulder City and probably in Las Vegas, and Hawthorne. With the new airport near Las Vegas, it seems quite possible that the school will be financially handicapped through the attendance of children of Federal employees who are nontaxpayers, and the same situation ensues for the Mineral County High School and the Hawthorne Elementary School because of the enlargement of the naval munitions depot. I know that you will give this bill your thoughtful consideration and aid it in every way possible. It really seems to offer future help for certain vexatious school finance problems in your State. Very truly yours, MILDRED BRAY, State Superintendent of Public Instruction. Hon. ELBERT D. THOMAS, STATE OF FLORIDA, DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, Tallahassee, Fla., April 23, 1941. Chairman, Committee on Education and Labor, United States Senate, Washington, D. C. DEAR SENATOR THOMAS: I wish to take this opportunity to stress the importance of early action by Congress on legislation relating to appropriations or grantsin-aid for education in the various States. It has long been recognized by many of the leaders throughout the Nation that the resources of the Nation should be used to provide the educational facilities needed by its children and that without Federal assistance adequate educational opportunities are impossible in a number of the States and particularly in the Southern States. The present emergency involving national defense has accentuated greatly the educational problems in many areas of the Nation and has served to emphasize the need and urgency of early steps to provide Federal funds for education. The situation in Florida is particularly acute at this time. A recent study by the Brookings Institution as reported in the volume The Florida Fiscal Situation points out the fact that expenditures of the State of Florida for education constitute the largest major expenditure in the State. In spite of this fact, as pointed out by this report, at least $10,000,000 additional funds are needed on the basis of present enrollments to bring the expenditures for education in the State only to the national average. Under present conditions there is little likelihood or prospect that more than a fraction of this sum can be made available from State resources in spite of the urgent need. Florida attracts winter visitors from practically all sections of the Nation and, for that reason as well as for the benefit of its own citizens, should have school facilities which are comparable with those of any other State of the Nation. Such facilities cannot be provided on the basis of State resources alone. I should like to summarize below some of the major problems and needs in education in this State. A study of this situation should show clearly the urgency of our problems and the importance of Federal assistance. (1) There are a number of defense projects in the State which have brought thousands of people to areas where present school facilities are totally inadequate to meet the needs and where resources will not permit the expansion of those facilities. A recent tabulation, copies of which have been supplied to the United States Office of Education, shows the need of approximately $318,000 for salaries of teachers and other current expenses, $4,684, 150 for building expenses, and $146,958 for other educational needs which are not now being met in those communities. Only by Federal assistance can this problem properly be met and solved. (2) There are a number of counties in the State in which there are substantial numbers of Federal employees residing in Government property, reservations which are exempt from taxation, where school facilities have to be provided for the children. This number has been greatly increased during recent months and will undoubtedly be still further increased during coming months. In the Pensacola, Jacksonville, and Camp Blanding areas this situation is particularly acute, although there are a number of other areas in which the problem is nearly as serious. (3) Florida produces a large percentage of the winter vegetables used in the Nation. In numerous areas such as the Okeechobee region, there are large numbers of migratory workers who come largely from other States, particularly during the winter months. In many of the other vegetable-producing sections of the State, the situation is nearly as serious. The education for children of these workers is as clearly a Federal as a State responsibility. (4) With present resources, it would be impossible to increase salaries of Negro teachers in most areas of the State without reducing the salaries of white teachers. To reduce the present low salaries for any group of teachers would be unthinkable. To provide salaries for Negro teachers equivalent to those for white teachers based on training and experience would require $1,500,000 additional funds per year. In addition to salaries of Negro teachers, substantial amounts will be needed to provide more adequate buildings, better supplies, and other needed facilities for the Negro schools, in spite of the fact that proportionately greater improvement has been made in many respects in the Negro schools during the last 20 years than in the white schools. (5) As a result of tradition, greater emphasis has been placed on high schools in many areas of the State than on elementary schools. As a result, many high schools have longer terms, better facilities, and better salaries. A number of counties are now seeking to provide the same salary on the basis of training and experience for elementary teachers as for high-school teachers. In many instances this cannot be done without materially detracting from standards for the high schools. Considerable sums of money will be required to provide facilities in the elementary schools which compare at all favorably with those in high schools in many areas. In short, in spite of substantial progress and marked increases in the amount of funds provided for education in Florida during recent years, the current expenditure per child in Florida for school facilities is still approximately $30 per year less than the national average. Only when Federal funds are made available can proper standards be established and adequate educational facilities be provided for all of the children in Florida-the State which has had the greatest percentage increase in population of any State in the Union during the last decade. Yours very truly, COLIN ENGLISH. STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, Senator E. D. THOMAS, Chairman, Committee on Education and Labor, United States Senate, Washington, D. C. DEAR SIR: I am submitting to you a statement of the needs of Texas Schools as I see them after extended investigation. Texas is faced with a serious shortage in school buildings and equipment because of the fact that this State is caring for about one-sixth of the training program now going on over the Nation. Teachers must be supplied for the children of the families who are coming in to work in defense industries, school buildings must be maintained, and supplies furnished. 317387-41--25 |