EDITORIALS, FEATURES.
orange county
sec. it. PAGE 1
THURSDAY, JULY 14, 1940
Finance study group
sets realistic goals
~ Some realistic goals for improvement of public school
facilities and school organization in Orange County have
been proposed by the 14-member School Finance Advis
ory Committee.
* Adoption of all or a good part of the committee’s
program is likely. And the county commissioners judg
ment in closely studying and enacting these recommenda
tions will be well founded. The committee has given
very practical answers to questions that will be raised on
its recommendations for $3.6 million in school spending
during the next decade.
That its proposals are greatly reduced from the
needs cited by the school boards themselves shows that
the committee is not a> rubber stamp to help sell the
school boards’ programs to tl\P people. Though three
Board members served on# this group, the committee^
cost analyses have already been questioned by some school
authorities.
But at the least the citizens committee has proposed
a very ambitious program, yet one that can be carried
out wih a digestible tax increase, and that can put future
school financing on a businesslike basis.
Propose bonds, five-cent hike ...
For instance — it proposes for this year a five-cent
increase in the tax rate to obtain school building funds.
If a proposed $1.5 million bond issue is authorized and
approved by the voters next spring the estimated addi
tional tax rate increase would be $.11 — or a total of
$.16 over the current $ 95 rate.
On ,the same basis, the combined requests of the
school boards lor the coming fiscal year would necessitate
' aTTThCrea&r several times tbfs comparitiveTy modest hike
—A substantial number of Orange County citizens could
not and would not “buy” a single whopping tax increase.
The Advisory Committee’s report is defensible and
further commendable in • that it does not now propose
“frills” in buildings. Yet it realistically acknowledges the
necessity for setting up adequate .facilities to pave the
way for good instruction.
The Committee has honestly evaluated the existing
buildings and facilities, made a thorough study of expect
ed enrollment growth, and turned in an attainable set of
recommendations for financing a 19-year building pro
gram. Then the Committee urges that its study be re
viewed and revised at least every three years.
The Committee has obviously not proposed too
much. It will be major accomplishment to make a suc
cessful start on what has been recommended. There is
no need to bicker over whether it is too little.
Fraternity site set
for its proper place
After traveling a full circle of considering four oth
er locations the University of North Carolina has come
back to the logical solution to the need or a new fra
ternity house area.
'A strip of land in the University’s Mason Farm pro
perty-more specifically, bordering the Finley Golf
court development.
1 The University first offered a smaller tract nearby
to fraternities several years ago at a time when the fra
ternities preferred to be closer to the campus. Since then
three ill-fated proposals to locate new fraternity areas
in Chapel Hill residential neighborhoods have been
brought forth and properly killed off.
The Mason Farm site one short Tnile east of the
campus is and always has been the proper place for fra
ternity development. 1 he Town of Chapel Hill should
fbe glad to annex the area and have this public property
' put on the tax books through long-term lease to the
student Greek letter groups.
Various benefits cited . . .» - _
The site is in an area where it cannot be considered
harmful to existing private residential property. The
building there of a well-planned fraternity court will be
an improvement of undeveloped land and will bene
2:' {Editorials contria&d on this page)
Price of peace
isfhe problem
that confronts
school board
It’s foregone that the appeals
of four Negro pupils who are
seeking admission to Chapel Hill
Junior High School will end up
in federal court.
There the School Board maj
find itself in^a peculiar positior
to defend. True enough, th«
Chapel HHl Board is the only o <
in the state that has set down <
potential de-segregation plan ii
advance and stuck to it. This plar
will result in the transfer o
three Negro first graders to whit<
schools in the fall.
This policy will apparently •
bo tho basis of tho Board's do- t
fonso of tho suit. Tho court
may agroo that this permissive •!
policy is "oil deliberate speed" ’
toward the elimination of race
as a conoids ration in the as
signment of school pupils. But
any difficulty in defending the
action is going to coma at this
point.
It’s a question of whether the
court will consider as sufficient
“speed” this plan that continues
segregation until someone until
someone seeks integration. Un
deniably this policy alone doesn't
constitute compliance with the
1964 Supreme Court edict, though
it may qualify as a defense in
being an acceptable step toward
compliance in due time.
Since North Carolina has a Pu
pil Assignment Act that speci
fically authorizes desegregation
to whatever extent a local school
board chooses, the Negro inte
grationist is invited legally to.
seek his own goal.
_The Hodges administration
foals that tho effect of tho
North, Carotins plan, which
cifkally authorized racial de
segregation locally while the
other southern states were try
ing "massive resistance," has
been to "buy" racial peace in
expensively.
Now the question confronts lo
cal Board members. Will they
“buy .peace” less expensively if
they okay the pending appeals?
Their risk, and they know it, is
that by going to court they may
stir up more upper grade de
segregation requests during the
litigation — and they may also
lose the court suit—unless they
can make the present year’s per
missive desegregation policy stick
as a defense against such law
suits.
School funds dilemma
is another dilly, too!
Here’s the kind of problem that
puts the county commissioners in
such a tough spot in their slot
as arbitrator between the County
and Chapel Hill School Systems.
During the commissioners’ dis
cussions of the current expense
budget requests for the schools
last week it was brought out that
the Chapel Hill Board’s request
would divide out to about $46
per pupil. The County Board’s
request would amount to $37 per
. pupil.
The commissioners notes that
the County System proposed to
hire 12 new teachers on local
funds within its request, while
Chapel Hill already drew a tidy
sum from its $.20 supplemen
tary school tax. So the commis
sion** wondered figuratively:
Why should it cost $9 a pupil
more to educate a child in
Chapel Hill than it .does in the
County system.
To reason the problem out only
to this extent of course does not
"(See NOTEPAD, Page Two)
foundation
i
-Walt Partymiuer, York Gazette•* Daily
fit its private owner-residents. It will benefit the Uni
versity in providing housing tor over 500 students. And
it will benefit the town as valuable revenue-producing
property, while relieving the perennial pressure to lo
cate unwanted fraternities in settled residential areas.
Just one warning note: The University, though its
supply of land is dwindling every yeaV may as well be
prepared in due time to allot more than the i2 acres of
the presently proposed area to fraternity use. If the
growth of the University of North Carolina is to con
tinue- unrestricted, a tract several times this size may
eventually be needed.
The money should go
for better education
During his Democraitc primary campaign for gov
ernor Terry Sanford was scoffed a* for his endorsement
of t^&TJnited Forces for Education program that would
increase school operating expenditures about $50 mil
lion.
The idea was called a “Santa Claus program.'1
North Carolina’s schools were depicted as quite adequ
ate without such an outlay for their betterment. Ttve
candidate was tagged “High Tax Terry” for his boost
ing of the program which would allegedly burden the
citizenry with an unjust tax bill.
Saw funds available ...
Sanford himself stood fast by this plank in his plat
form, declaring that his examination of the state re
venue picture showed this $50 million program could
probably be accomplished without a tax increase.
I^ast week the State Revenue Commissioner, never'
known for his radical predictions, pointed to a 22 per
cent increase in revenue collections over the previous
fiscal year. In fact, he forecast, it looked as though
there’d be about a $5o million surplus, for the bien
nium ending next June 3d.
So, as it turns out, Governor-nominate Sanford’s
arithmetic was pretty accurate and his optimism was
well justified.
'—Seems he was right* ... .
The people of North Carolina overwhelmingly
voted for the man who suggested a $50 million addi
tional expenditure for better public schools. He told
the public where he thought the money could be found.
(Editorials continued on Page Two)
flfyejletoff of ©range Count?
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