North Carolina Newspapers

*iHtTr wg CAaOLDU tngg SATOHPAY. FEB. tt, 1I8S A Report To The Joint Comnitt^ On Education Of Tiie NoiHt Carolina Legislature BT A Gsomp or KSntESBNTAnVE NBGRO CITIZENS DRAWN FROM VARIOUS PARTS OF NORTH CAROLINA ^ (RMTMra NOn: Itmnir «f the Cteracter of the Docmnent below preaeated before the ItSS 0«Mnl llwMntlj of NorUi CaroUna aad its potentially determlninf inflnence on the fntnre •t ttw Nagn, Its hMorlc powlhllltlrt, the Carolina Times is publiahii^ it this week instead of ita «MMd •tfterialk. Tkh Seeement wtm piqued bjr a fronp of oatstandinr leaden and Inflnentlal cltisens of the We «ge Mff readers oarefBlIy, thoafhttolly and prayerfnlly to examine its contents.) Lasdies aztd G«itlemen: We appreciate deeply your gmerosity in penbitt^ us to express our views with re- foence to legislation which has been proposed for con sideration by the Legislature of North Carolina. The group Which appears before you today is compos ed of persons, who, in our opinicm, are outstanding cit izens of North Carolina and who occupy important po- aitions in their respective conuaunities. We are here be- cauM of our spontaneous in- tarest in the s^ools of North Caix^ina and although we are ^ an organized body, al- m^t everyone in this ^roup is identifi^ with some major organization or group lo cated in our State, ^e Grand Masto- of Free and Accepted Prince Hall Masons, the Ex ecutive Secretary of the North Carolina Teachers As sociation, the President of the General Baptist State Convention, the Resident of the North Carolina Federa tion of Women’s Clubs, the ehtors of North Carolina’s three Negro weekly newspa pers, the North Carolina Cor respondent of the Pittsburgh Courier, a member of the State Executive Committee of the Democratic Party, mem bers of the Judiciary and Senatorial Committees of the Party, three Negro membere of City Councils in North Carolina and numerous busi ness and professional men and labor leaden are in the group which appears before you today. Our immediate conceni has to do with the Senate Bill No. 9 (and House Bill No. 12) —a bill entitled "An Act to Provide for the Enrollment of Pupils in Pul)llc Schools.” We are also interested in otii- er bills which have been in troduced within recent days and which propose to alter the administration of North Carolina’s public school sys tem, namely Senate Bill No. 112 (House Bill No. 177) and the Worthington Bill. Senate BiU No. 9 proposes to place in the hands of ■city and county boards of educa tion the final authority and responsibility for assignment of pupils to kshools within their respective tmits. Hie Bill has apparently been in troduced as a result of the recommendation contained in the third paragraph of the r^mrt submitted on Pe- cember 30, 1954, ^ the Gov ernor’s Special Advisory Committee on Education. The Committee’s report also states that its reconomendation was made in view of the decision of the United States Supreme Court, handed down on May 17, 1954 and doling with racial segregation in the pub lic sdioou. We respectfully submit that, in our opinion, the trans fer of authority over the en rollment and assignment of popilB, from the State Board of Education to the local units will be harmful to the pres et system of Public Educa- ti(m in North Carolina, and that the enactment of this a^ otha* proposed legisla tion would not be in Jceeping with the enlightened position of leadership for whidi North Carolina h^ been noted. In like manner. Senate Bill No. 112 proposes to decentralize the authority for operating the public sdiool system. Un der Section 115-10 the pow ers and duties of the State Board of Education are re duced cmisiderably from what they are at the present time. By the same token, the pro posed Section 115-13 describ ing the duties of the State Superintendent of Public In struction weakens his po sition m that he is no longer diarg^ with “The duty of directing the schools or en forcing and construing the school law.” Instead, he will be reduced to a public rela tions officer. Section 115-135 has to do with employment of principals and teachers and provides for mandatory term ination of all contracts at the end of 1954-55 school term. This section can become the means of undue pressure up on members of the teaching profefssion and places them in a position of insecurity which they do not deserve. It is to be hoped that whenever North Carolina*makes further changes in the terms of em ployment of principals and teachers, the Legislature will move in the direction of pro viding tenure for the thou sands of persons who have prepared themselves ade quately and have entered up on careers in the teaching profession in North Carolina’s public schools. Approximately one million, or one-fourth of the popula tion of our State, are colored people, most of whom had hopied that North Carolina would take the lead in de veloping a positive and forth right position leading to in tegration of the schools in ac cordance with the Mandate of the United States Supreme Court. We are sure that many white persons in North Caro lina have shared our hop0 in }Iiis respect. CXu* hope has been ground ed in a belief that North Carolina’s stalwart citizens and their traditionally wise legislators will always take the path of sound reason on matter affecting the welfare of our state. Thus, our ap peal takes the form of an analysis of the consequences of action proposed in bUls be fore the Legislature bearing on the problem of integrating the Public School System. We propose to show that progress of all people in North Caro lina has been seriously re tarded by the shackles of seg regation and that the removal of these shackles through a State policy on integration, firm leadership and a cen tralized school system wUl enable us to make great stride of progress, proudly and to the advantage of all citizens. Our views along these lines are organized a- round three points as follows: I. The legislation proposed tends to decentralize the authority and responsi bility for operating our public schools and there by to hinder the State ^ard of Education in its efforts to carry out both state-wide functions as signed to it. ^ ■II. Racial segregation in the public schools and in em ployment b producing a burden which is becom ing too heavy for the eco nomy of onr State. in. Enactment of legislation of the type proposed Is not hi keeping idth the best traditions of North Carolina. I HARMFUL EFFECTS OF DECENTRALIZATION In the outset, we wish to point out that in our opinion, the proposed legislation af fecting the public schools seeks by various means to avoid the execution of the Su preme Court’s decision and to slow down or retard the process of integration. The Bills introduced are designed to achieve this end largely by decentralizing the authority for operating the North Caro- , lina public school system. The "history of North Carolina, however, reveals that many efforts liave been made to deny ^ or restrict educational opportunities of Negro cit izens through legislation or other more subtle means. These efforts, however, have usually backfired when it ap peared that they not only limited the opportimities of Negroes but hampered the total progress of our State in irfdustry, economics and edu cation. The history of these efforts is reviewed in A RE PORT TO THE GOVERNOR OR NORTH CAROUNA ON THE DECISION OF THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT ON MAY 17, 1954 prepared by the Institute of Grovemment of Chapel Hill. This report points out that from time to time our sys tem of public education has suffered because of efforts to close, decentralize or other wise restrict the efficieny of our schools. Under the sys tem of strong centralized con trol, we have made significant progress which has been punctuated from time to time by efforts at decentralization, llie present legislature, there fore, has the choice of putting its great wisdom to work on the problem of supporting the Supreme Court of the land or falling into the time worn trap of sacrificing efficiency of the schools while shadow boxing with an unfounded fear of school deterioration through recognition of the citizenship rights of one- fourth of the State’s popula tion. We appear before you today to urge that you will approach the problem at hand objectively and in the light of what has been accompl^h- ed in similar situations else- whers in the country. It is our firm belief that^the successful integration of the schools involves full integra tion of the teaching force as well as pupils. In early 1954, the Board of Education of the City of Washington adopted the principle that all teach ers would be hired and pro moted on the basis of merit and that no reference to race would appear on their application forms or on Iheir teaching records. To those who may feel that this could not work in North Carolina, we refer you to integrated schools on Army Posts with in our State. Several of these schools employ Negro' teach ers with satisfactory results. We wish also to call your at tention to John Chavis, a fabullous Negro teacher who operated a school patronized by the wealthy white families in North Carolina in ante helium days. The history of this learned North Carolina Negro is well known to most of us and needs no elabora tion here. We wish also to review briefly some of the problems which our dual system df education has imposed upon North Carolina’s efforts to develop an efficient public schools system. Already we find. ourselves struggling to carry a burden whi* exceeds our ability and it is apparent that integration of our schools SATURDAY Cke L. E. AUSIIN Pablisher FEB. 26, 1955 CLATHAN M. ROSS, Editor ALWRT SMITH, Mani^ig Editor M. E. JOHNSON, BuslneM Manaser JESSE COJKIELD, Circulation Manager •aturdar bf th* UMITU) IHIMnirii II' at fU K. FtWtrnr M. M tiM fon Offiea CWt|lM ttM Aet s IftMb No tuanntM ot putdteMtaB of unaoilalM i rial. I^attan to tba •dttor for pubUeattoa bmsI ba ricnad and eonliiMd to 800 woitfa. BabH(tp«sa lliMi; 10« par eon: bhbOH •MS; Ooa Jmr, mM (rontaa OiMrtrHti. must b« acoompllshed for fls-jers. cal reasons as well as those of a legal and moral nature. Many recent reporUi have called attention the low efficiency with which North Carolina operates its 121 mil lion dollar a year public school system. C)ne such re port is that developed in 1947 by the well-seasoned re searcher and President-Em eritus of Ipwa State College, Raymond Hughes, and his able associate, William Lan celot. Lancelot and Hughes compared the .48 states on the basis of commonly accept ed measures of educational ability, educational effort and educational accomplishment. According ^to these authors, North C^olina ranked 44th among the stat^ on ability to support education, 27th in ef fort put fqrth, but 40th in ac complishment. They point out that the State receives a relatively small income for school purposes and has many children to educate; that only nine states devote a larger percentage of income to education, but'that the ef fort goes unrewarded due to too many small schools, too many small school systems, and the dual system within the small system. Thus, North Carolina makes a ^eat fi nancial sacrifice for a rela tively small accomplishment. This low efficiency in the operation of North Carolina schools is reflected again in a recent report of the National Education Association, high lighting education differences among the 48 stat^. Accord ing to this report. North Cuolina ranks 45th among the states on median, school years completed by the adult popidation; 43rd on per cent of functional illiterates, per sons with 1^ than five years of schooling; 37th ob per cent of adult population with col- le^ education; 42nd on army rejections due to education^ status; 46th on average num- bet of pupils per teacher; 44th on number of school-age children per 1,000 wage- earning adults, 45th on in come payments per capita; 44th on income payments per school-age child; 44th on in come payments per pupil in average daily attendance; 45th on per cent of school- age children in school; 41at on average value of public school property per ^pupil? 38th on per cent of persons of ' voting age voting in the 1952 presidential election and 7th on financial eflort made to support schools. Like the Lan celot and Hughes’ study, tiiis study clearly indicates that North Carolina puts forth greater financial efiort but gets a disappointingly small return on its educational in vestment. A third recent report, that of the .North Carolina State Education Commission, broughtrliito clei^ focus %e basic causes for low ^cifacy in the expenditure of educa tional funds in North Caro lina. Authorized by the Gen eral Assembly of 1947 “to study all educational j^ob- lems to the end that a sound overall educational program may be developed in North Carolina,” this committee called a^ntion to the waste resulting from small school administrative units. Said the Commission; “Since a local administra tive unit should be siilB- ciently large to warrant the provision of all essential and desirable administra tive and supervisory ism- vices, except, those provid ed by the State, local units of school administration which are established in the future should be organised so as to assure in the tinit an absolute mininmiti of 3,500 to 4,000 school popula tion and a desirable mini mum of 9,000 to 10,009 school population.” 'This recommendation is in line with the recommenda tions of informed experts in school organization and fi nance who propose the 3,500 minimum for school systems and an absolute minimtun of 300 pupils for a secondary school. If schools are smaller than thise recommended their programs will have to be re stricted or else the schools will have to be provided at mcreased cost. A satisfactor ily organized school ^ould have enough pupils to justify at least one teacher per ele mentary grade and twelve teachers for the high school grades. That North Carolina does not approach these sound .standard for tihe financial op^ation of schools is evi dent in the fact that in 1953, 137 of Nortti Carolina’s 172 school administrative units enrolled less than 6,000 pupils and 71 units enrolled less than 3,000 pupils. More over, only 73 of the 971 high sdiools in North Carolina em ployed twelve Of* more teach- According to the Durham Morning Herald for January 30, Governor Hodges made the following stetement as he gave his wholehearted sup port to the recommendation ttiade by the Commiaaion, on Higher Education that a cen tral board be- created to di rect activities of the state: university and colleges: “The time has come to eliminate duplication and waste caused by lack of planning and fore sight in higher education dr- cles.” Is it not time to eli minate similar waste in the administration of . p u b 1 i c schools? The position and recom mendations of the State Edu cation Conunission, already endorsed by the North Caro lina Congress of Parents and Teachers, the North Carolina State Bo^ of Education, The North Carolina Educa tion Association, The North Carolina Farm Bureau, and the North Carolina Federation of Women’s Clubs all of whom sponsored the publication of the report of The State Edu cation Commission, are whole heartedly endors^ by this delegation. The Conamission has held that “North Carolina schools, supported by North Carolina citizens, should pro vide the type of instruction which citizens desire for their children,” that “educational opportunity should be equal ize for all children through out the State, regardless of race and 'regardless of place of residence.” In this respect we call at tention to the Supreme Court’s decision iaffirming the principle that equality of edu- cationfd opportunity cannot be achiev^ in a segregated school system. Instead of perpetuating and encouraging educational in efficiency ti^ugh legislative enactments that skirt the real problems of pubhc education in North Carolina: small schools, small adminlstnitive units and the dual edncation systems, all of which will surely be intensified by even small steps toward decentral ization of the public school system, this delegation adds its voice to that of thousands of others comprising the United Forces for Education in Noi^th Carolina and urge this A^embly to enact leg^ '.ation “placing on the State Board of Education the re sponsibility, with the assist ance of county committees on reorganization, to make and carry out a plan for deter mining on a state basis, the number of local administra tive units and the number of school attendance areas that (Please turn to Page Seven) Letter To Editor The Editor The Carolina Times Durham, N. C. Dear Sir: I see by the Sunday papers that there is being observed a bicentennial of Ehrangeline’s heartbreaking experiences, by "decendants” in Louisiana. The article, written by a Hugh A Mulligan purports to teU the story of persecutions of Catho lics in Canada ^under their new British masters in 1755. There is no doubt that Catho lics ihave been persecuted to some degree, in this case as elsewhere. And it has been un fortunate for the individuals who have suffered under such persecutions, which is always altogether unlike the spirit of the lowly and lovely Jesus in whose name are wrought. But as a church organization, the Roman Church really has no ground of complaint when it is occasionally made subject to some degree of persecution, ^ce she is the author of it among so-called (Kristians. Her occasional persecutors have, very frequently, resorted to it out of a mistaken sense of “righteous indignation” against the persecution and aicroach- ments of the Roman Church, it self. It is a fact, too, that all other (^lurches have gone on record as being opposed, unequivocal ly, to the practice of any perse cution whatever, and liave la mented the imwise actions. of some few of their constituencies under the heat of passion. BUT THIS is NOT TRUE OP THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH! On the contrary, her coimcils and spokesmen have declared persecution as a righteous in strument in the hand of the church to strengthen the church! But, I guess we murt expect to be fed these maudlin at tempts to curry sympathy from those who do not know history. Jt should'not be difficult for us to gueis the religious affilia tion of an Irish author by the name of Mulligan. Truly yours, J. J. WaW» ^ "A Firm Stand Has Thrown Hi Spiritual Insight “COURAGE” By Reverend Harold Roland Pastor, Mmmt Gilead Baptist Church "Have not J commanded thee? Be strohg and of Good Courage. Josh. 1:9.” Courage is essential for this difficult business of living. It helps us to live in the face of perils, dangers, trials and diffi culties with poise and power. The noble souls of the ages have possessed it. It is needed in lof ty, noble living. Men and wo men who have led humanity along the path of progress had courage. They wore towering, motmtain-peak characters. Jos- hua was a man of dourage. He needed it to stand with the mi nority against the majority. Anybody can drift. But courage is demanded to swim against the tide. He who would walk the untired path must have Great courage is needed for great living. In these times when truth is impopular we need courage! The truth has been on the run in many soul strength of courage.. Be courageous, Dare to live nobly. A coward is a slave! Free your self from the enslaving shackles of cowardice. I know two preachers in South Carolina who must take their places among the courageous souls of our times. Why? They stood and won for God and truth in perilous times. Courage is needed for daily simple living. It is the power to &oe the simple daily de mands. The word courage comes from the word HEART! So to be courageous is simply to have a heart to face the de mands of dally living. Many are failing and falling in the face of life’s daily demands. Why? They simply lack a heart for daily living. How can I increase my courage for daily living? There is nothing yet found that gives the courage for daily liv ing as a daily habit of medita tion, prayer and daily reading places.„“Truth crushed to earth! ol God’s word. TRY IT! My will rise again...” Why be afraid to stand for truth^ The truth is safe! But a lie is dangerous. In these times of fear, suspicion and hysteria we need the inner Friend, it works! It will give you courage to stand and be victorious. There is a very beautiful passage in Job...“Thy words have kept men standing on their feet...’’ Stop running away from the dally demands of life. Ask God to give you courage and jrower to face life just one day at a time. It takes coiuage to live for God and righteousness. In the moral struggles of this nation one hundred years ago Harriet Beecher Stowe stands out. And in the great moral struggles of our times there is a little wo men with a great soul. There is a little woman who is stout hearted and courageous—^that most courageous women who was bom in Georgia, Lillian Smith. She is the very embodi ment of all that is NOBLE AND COURAGEOUS! Noble living demands cour age! It took courage for an Abraham to follow the Holy vision; a Joseph to stand amid the trails and temptations of Egypt; a Nathan to tell David the truth and an Amos to stand at BetheL Let us shun, thn ranks of cowards! And take our stand among the noble courageous souls of the ages..“BE STRONG AND OF GOOD COURAGE...” Life Is Like That BY H. ALBERT SMITH ■ Not The Outward' Appearance Several years ago, I sat with a friend of mine, a fellow stu dent, in the Bangor Opera House watching a news reel. The picture of the late Warren Gamaliel Harding, then presi dent of the United States, was flashed upon the screen. My friend obviously impressed by Harding’s physical personality remaiked with considerable m- thusiasm; “Look at that face, ‘Smitty.’ There's strength in that face. There’s a masterful man, a man worthy of the honor that is his, a man who is a fitting symbol of Anglo-Saxon manhood and masterfulness..” A Contrast A moment later, Calvin Coolidge, the vice-president, was shown. Beside Warren Har ding, Mr. Coolidge did not show to any advantage at all. In fact, it seemed to me that somebody could have done the vice-presi dent a favor by not showing him and Harding simultaneous ly or almost so. My friend suddenly became vocal again. He voiced his sen timents in these words: “I don’t like him. Look at that chin; it’s weak.” Abilities Stressed Some years later, I heard a prominent government official who bad been close botti to Harding and Coolidge during their tenure in the White House. This man drew a picture too-a picture of ttie two men. But his portrait carried no suggestion relative to pfaysieal ajq^earance. He was- concerned with the abilities of the two men. His delineation presented a contrast that revealed Coolidge as a towering giant and Harding hardly worthy to be considered as being in the same class with the thinned-face man from Ver mont. Reversed Contrast I'll remember for a long-time the contrast di4wn. That offi cial said that Coolidge could move with his little finger more than HarfUng could with both hands. Some of us will re member that the adminislration of Warren Harding brought to America no particular glory or honor. And certain scandals as sociated with it, Buch as the Tea-Pot Dome Incident, are re alities the Republican Party would like to forget and wish the Dmocrats would. St. Chrysostom Back in the 4th century, there lived a little man who bore the name St. Chrysostom. He was a preacher of such great ability that he drew people by the thousands and was known ak the man with the golden mouth. But it is said that this man was so small in stature that he could scarcely look over the pulpit stand behind~whidi he stood to deliver his sermoiui. It was also said of him that he was so powerful, winsome, and captivating in his eloquence that before he had finished a sermon, he appeared physically to be a giant. Two Minliters During my student days, I attended a minister’s confer ence held in the People’s Bap tist Church in Boston, Massa chusetts. Two ministers, the late Dr. Adam Clayton Powell, Sr., then pastor of the Abbysinia Baptist Church, and the Rev., Paul Thompson, then pastor- ing a small town in the Bay State, were present. Size Difference The Rev. Powell in those days was a large man of stsik- Ing physical proportions and a fog-horn voice whlch.he knew how to use effectively. The con ference president introduced the New York minister who briefly spoke. Following this, Mr. Thomp son was introduced. He was a very small man who stood in decided contrast with the Rev. Mr. Powell in every physical characteristic. Of this he seem ed conscious as he began by tel- Ung his audience that he lacked the size and physical equipment of many preachers, but when ever he came before an audi ence, before he got through, they knew he had been around. Had Ability Whether the dapper, diminu tive clergyman made that statement to compensate lor an Inferiority complex, as a boast, or to . offset Improslons he thought his predecessor had made, or merely as an humble acknowledgement of confidence in hll message, partly humor ous, I can't say. I do not know, however, that bis remark was taken in good spirit 'and provoked general mirth. In fact, the Rev. lliomp- son was a preacher of consider able ability. He not only had a message but &iew how to toD it and combined, with his homi- lectlc ability, spiritual insight, ■and fluency,'unusual hisrtonic and dramatic abilities. Time Limited During World War I, a Mnall (PIms« turn to Pag* S«fvcn)