IV Statements, letters, supplemental material, etc.: Abbott, G. Patrick, secretary, Local 9410, Communications Workers Barber, Hon. Mac, chairman, Education Committee Georgia House of Finneran, Mrs. Betty, teacher, Roosevelt High School, statement of.. Jewish Community Relations Council, St. Louis, Mo., statement_of__ Lietman, Dr. Allan, director, Early Childhood Education Study, "The Mardirosian, Vahac, chairman, Educational Issues Coordinating Com- Moreno, Edward V., The Mexican-American Commission: Page 1484 1472 1305 1337 1481 1218 1361 1464 1434 1345 1496 1489 1380 1252 1176 Exhibit I.-Criteria for the New Principal of Hollenbeck High 1178 Exhibit II.-Procedure for Processing Grievances and Com- 1178 Exhibit III.-Revised Communication No. 1. Murphy-Blair District Board, statement in behalf of... 1179 1498 Nicholson, Dr. Lawrence, directors, Harris Teachers College, statement of_ 1453 Parks, John E., parent, University City, Mo., statement of 1441 Powers, James J., executive director, Missouri Association for Non- 1496 Shepard, Dr. Samuel, Jr., superintendent, Banneker School District, Statement of.. 1389 1387 St. Louis Public Schools, ESEA, Title I, 1969–70 (table). 1135 NEEDS OF ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION FOR THE SEVENTIES FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 1970 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, GENERAL SUBCOMMITTEE ON EDUCATION, OF THE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND LABOR, Los Angeles, Calif. The subcommittee met at 10:40 a.m., in room 1540, U.S. Courthouse, 312 North Spring Street, Los Angeles, Calif., Congressman Pucinski (chairman of the subcommittee), presiding. Present: Congressmen Pucinski, Hawkins, and Bell. Staff members present: Will Henderson, minority staff; Charles Knox, staff member; and Alexandra Kisla, clerk. Mr. PUCINSKI. The committee will come to order. The General Subcommittee on Education has been for some time now conducting a series of hearings throughout the country and in Washington on the educational needs of the 1970's. The whole purpose of these hearings is to, first, conduct an overseeing operation on existing programs to see how they're working, whether they are working, whether they are achieving the goals that we had set for these programs at the time Congress approved them, whether there are any ways that we can improve these programs and, also, to see what new programs and new approaches are needed to meet the educational needs of the 1970's. In our visit here to California, to Los Angeles, we want to see how the Elementary and Secondary Education Act is working out. particularly the titles I, II, and III. We also want to see how the lunch program is working out. We would like to have some idea what is being done with the Juvenile Delinquency Act which this committee has jurisdiction over and which has been on the books now for several years, and we would like to see what, if anything, is being done with that. And then we would also like to see what are the needs of this particular school community in the seventies. There's no question but that along the line in the discussions here when you look at the educational needs of the seventies you have to address yourselves to the special needs of the various minority groups, particularly in the disadvantaged communities. We also will be looking at what effect the various court decisions around the country have on the whole question of integration, and that ties into the educational needs of the 1970's. So we're very pleased to be here this morning and I'm particularly grateful to my two colleagues from California, Mr. Hawkins, who is the whip of this committee and who has stayed with us through all of (1131) our hearings and has conducted his work very diligently and has been a pillar of strength to the committee in bringing it better understanding of the many problems that we deal with. We're also very pleased to have with us the ranking minority member on our committee, Mr. Alphonzo Bell, who I consider to be one of the Nation's top authorities in the whole field of education. There are few men who have done their homework as thoroughly and as well as he does in the field of education and we're privileged to have him as a member of our subcommittee. He has been most diligent, most conscientious in fulfilling his responsibilities on this committee. And, so, we're particularly pleased to have with us today two of the hardest working members of our committee. There will be other members, hopefully, joining us as we move along. When we conclude our hearings here, we will have hearings in other cities around the country. So before we begin with our first witness, I would like to call upon two very distinguished colleagues to ascertain-to get their views on this particular set of hearings and perhaps give you a deeper idea of specifically what we intend to do during our 2-day visit here in Los Angeles. Mr. Hawkins. Mr. HAWKINS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to, first of all, thank you for the trip that you've made out here and I know that it is a real sacrifice for some of the eastern Congressmen to come out to California which is so far away. We appreciate the fact that you did include Los Angeles. There are some of us, of course, who feel that Los Angeles has school problems about as acute and certainly as serious as those in Mississippi and Alabama, and I am not one who is anxious not to disclose our problems but to see our problems, what they really are, and to start doing something about them. I think that if these hearings indicate anything they will indicate that California, which certainly has been publicized as having wonderful schools, that perhaps this is a lot of rhetoric and we need to really see the schools for what they are. Certainly the problems in the black community are not far different from those in the other schools, and I think that the statement by the U.S. Commission on Education just a few days ago that our schools are turning out two-thirds kids who may be acceptable but certainly one-third who are functional illiterates is an indictment of American education itself. I feel that the sooner that all parents, not just black parents and the public find out the children who are dawdling, the children who are turning to drug problems, the ones being turned out even if they don't drop out, and those who stay in are not receiving an education adequate to the times in which we live; that all parents, all people, black and white alike, will come to a better understanding and certainly to recognize the necessity to do something about American education. I believe that these hearings will be the means perhaps of clarifying the issues and stimulating that type of interest. Mr. PUCINSKI. Thank you. And I would like to just add one footnote, for the witnesses invited here, of course, for today's hearing and tomorrow's hearing-and we express our deep gratitude to the staff of Congressman Hawkins and Congressman Bell for their co operation-the witnesses that we've invited hopefully will give us testimony on the problem at the grassroots level. So frequently congressional committees will come into a city like this and invite an entourage of public administrators who engage in a long series of self-serving statements on how well the programs are working out when we know that the programs are not necessarily working out well. And, so, we're grateful to both Mr. Hawkins and Mr. Bell for arranging for this committee to hear people who are deeply personally involved in the problems, who can tell us the strength of the programs and the weaknesses, because that's the only way that we can effectively legislate. I am most privileged to welcome to the committee today one of the hardest working members of the Congress and certainly one of the hardest working members of our committee and subcommittee, the distinguished minority leader of our committee, Mr. Bell. Mr. BELL. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to echo the comments that were made by my colleague, Congressman Hawkins, about your being kind enough to come out here and share this meeting. I think it's very important, and I think that the juvenile delinquency situation, the needs of the 1970's, and many of the other points that you mentioned are obviously of great importance to our committee and to the Nation. However, since the time-the last time that the General Subcommittee on Education visted Los Angeles there is another important issue that has been raised. Judge Gitelson issued his order for desegregation of the schools here. As a result, there is today almost unprecedented interest in local educational policies and the educational facilities which our community provides for the young. I have some question on the Gitelson decision. I suspect that it may be overturned on appeal. I don't believe in busing young students who don't want to be bussed away from neighborhood schools. But the Gittelson decision has had the very desirable effect, I believe, of forcing the public, and particularly parents, to reconsider the whole problem of quality education and to understand that from the standpoint of public policy this means more than just having a top-flight school within the immediate neighborhood. Educational facilities in Los Angeles are not of uniform quality. Substandard school facilities tend to be concentrated in low-income areas, but busing new students in to use them does not improve their quality and it only creates a different group of victims. We who oppose student busing, however, have a profound obligation to correct this inequity. It is an obligation which will be even stronger if the Gittelson ruling is reversed. Uniform standards of quality must be strictly applied. More than that, greatly expanded programs of compensatory and bilingual education are needed in many areas. In addition, we need to realize that the quality of our education plan is lost often in subtle, almost invisible ways in low income and ghetto schools, and one of the purposes of our hearing today is to learn more about that problem. For the implication of the court order on student busing is clear. Neither the courts nor the public are going to continue to allow children in the United States to have anything less than equal educational opportunity. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for your indulgence. Mr. PUCINSKI. Thank you very much, Congressman Bell. I might say that we were this morning very fortunate to visit the Grape Street School. Congressman Hawkins arranged for us to visit that school. Mrs. Haynes, who is the principal, was good enough to take us through her building and I had an opportunity to see some of the title I programs and title III programs and some of the other programs in action and we were most impressed with the dedication of the teachers, the dedication of the principal, and the desire of these young people to learn. We were deeply concerned about the fact that much of the help which these people so urgently need to provide the good education that Mr. Bell talks about, the kind of good education Congressman Hawkins talks about, is just not forthcoming, and this is the whole purpose of these hearings, to see what we can do to make these Federal programs flow more smoothly into the areas of greatest need. There is no question that there is motivation on the part of all parties concerned. I think it's the responsibility of this committee, the Congress of the United States working with the State agencies and State governments, to bring meaningful help to these youngsters. Now, our first witness this morning is Mr. James Robertson. Mr. Knox. Mrs. Manesba Tackett. Mr. PUCINSKI. Oh, Mr. Robertson is delayed. We will first have Mrs. Manesba Tackett, T-a-c-k-e-t-t, who is chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee of the Black Education Commission. Mrs. Tackett, we are very pleased to have you here. Congressman Hawkins has been a champion of trying to initiate programs which will give youngsters from minority groups a deeper and broader understanding of themselves and their contribution to society. We're very pleased to have you here this morning because right now we have before my committee legislation dealing with ethnic studies and we, of course, have the present legislation, so we're very grateful that you take time out for the committee. You may proceed in any manner you wish, Mrs. Tackett. STATEMENT OF MANESBA TACKETT, CHAIRMAN, AD HOC Mrs. TACKETT. Honorable Congressmen, I am Manesba T. Tackett, chairman of the ad hoc committee on black education, and education chairman of the Community Relations Conference of Southern California. I want to thank you for the opportunity of coming before you to discuss the problems as we see them, especially in the black community. The Community Relations Conference of Southern California, known as CRCSC, is an association of 97 civic, fraternal, labor, religious, housing, and human relations organizations in the Greater Los Angeles area. For nearly a quarter of a century, CRCSC has been interested in quality education and has issued the attached statement expressing its concurrence in the Supreme Court decision of 1954 declaring segregated education inherently unequal and urging the Los Angeles Board of Education to integrate its schools. |