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NEEDS OF ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION

FOR THE SEVENTIES

FRIDAY, APRIL 24, 1970

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

GENERAL SUBCOMMITTEE ON EDUCATION,

OF THE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND LABOR,

St. Louis, Mo.

The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2 p.m., in the mezzanine auditorium, Mart Building, 12th and Spruce, Hon. Roman C. Pucinski of Illinois (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.

Present: Representatives Roman C. Pucinski, Augustus F. Hawkins, Albert H. Quie, and William Clay.

Staff member present: John F. Jennings, counsel.

Mr. PUCINSKI. The committee will come to order.

We are very pleased, as the members of the House General Subcommittee on Education, to be here in St. Louis today at the invitation of our colleague, Congressman Clay, a member of our committee. He. I might say, is one of the hardest working members of our committee because these hearings today are a continuation of a series of hearings we have been holding on educational needs of the 1970's.

We have been trying, through these hearings, to anticipate the needs of the Nation in the field of education rather than responding to these needs as we have been doing in previous years. Previous policies of responding to the needs have led to a situation where all levels of government come up with help that is too little too late. We know there are huge problems facing the whole world of education and this Committee's assignment, since it has jurisdiction over 55 million youngsters at the elementary and secondary level of this country, is to see what the nature of the problem is, to see how well the existing programs are working out, and then to see what the needs are in the way of additional legislation to help the communities of this country.

We are most grateful to our colleague, Congressman Clay, for inviting us here and giving us an idea of some of the work that is now being done in the St. Louis schools and some of the problems that face these schools. We were distressed earlier this week by testimony of the Director of Evaluation and Research here, Dr. Moeller, who told us the St. Louis school system has a $9 million deficit for the remainder of the school year, which creates a very serious problem, if not a crisis, for the school system.

This morning we had occasion to visit the Banneker school district. We also had an opportunity to visit the work-study high school. While, frequently there is a tendency to criticize the shortcomings of education, indeed the visit to the work-study high school was a most impres(1365)

sive experience for all of us because it shows us there are exciting things happening in American education, too. I would think the workstudy high school is an outstanding example of imaginative thinking and planning, and we are very pleased this school is a result of Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

We are hopeful that these 3 days of Hearings Hefelih Sul Daak Wiй give us a better idea of what is being done and what can be done effectively and, also give us, a better idea of the magnitude of the problem with which local school districts are faced all over the country.

Congressmen Clay, I would certainly like to thank you for inviting us here. I would like to take this opportunity to thank your staff for all of their cooperation, as well as the members of the St. Louis School Board for their assistance in making our hearings possible.

Before we proceed with our first witness, I would like to call upon Congressman Clay for a statement.

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Mr. CLAY. We certainly want to thank you on behalf of the residents of the First Congressional District and the citizens of the metropolitan St. Louis area. I want to say we are deeply indebted to the committee for coming to our town to view the problems, and to take the interest they have taken in the St. Louis school Perhaps, as a result of some of the things that you have seen so far, will be able to work out some of the problems in the field of education across this country. "I do not want to be too lengthy, Mr. Chairman, because one of our witnesses this afternoon has a plane to catch very shortly. I think perhaps we ought to proceed with the hearing. "Mr. PUCINSKI. I would like to thank Congressman Clay and, for the record, point out on my immediate left we have our colleague from Minnesota, the ranking Republican' member of our subcommittee, Mr. Al Quie. To his left, we have our colleague from California, Mr. Gus Hawkins. 6) 1948 Hodobe to 1 919 in Hot 973 15 2599 Do you gentlemen want to add anything?ound ou en hoon godt of Mr. HAWKINS. No 1919 2599 9t of paibrogzon to 296 "Mr. Pecinski. We also have here representatives of the other Congressmen in this area and are especially pleased to have with is Mr. Edward Filippine, who is a staff assistant to Senator Thomas Eagleton. Mr. Filippine will be making a statement before the committ later this afternoon." #01 992 of, sidor 941 10 911 90 1617 992 As our first witness this afternoon, so we can move along in order to accommodate Dr. Shepard, I wonder if we may call Dr. William Kottmevér, superintendent, St. Louis public school system for the committee row off to ono to obtain 179 Dar 9191 ngay 'Dr. Kottmeyer, I notice that we do have a prepared statement by you. Your entite statement, of course, will go in the record at this point in its entirety, and we will let you proceed in any manner you wish, BT 90 not forb moillum cel m92/2 10019 20

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rio n toa ti.meldong 25roi192 7, 197 £ 2916979 dbidw‚1897 foodse nilt to STATEMENT OF DR. WILLIAM KOTTMEYER, SUPERINTENDENT, Toode 19ouse ST. LOUIS PUBLIC SCHOOLS foodozdeid toqgo as bad oels 97! Dr. KOTMEYER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman of it bromport Members of the committee, you have been provided with a formidable packet of materials. The formal statement of the school system would

be incorporated in a set of mimeograph sheets entitled "Hearings on Education in the 1970's" to the general subcommittee. You have also some background material and a fairly thorough review of the Federal programs in the city of St. Louis in the form of a document, a fairly garish looking document, called "St. Louis Scorecard."

It has a detailed history of Federal support of the St. Louis public schools and a variety of other statistical material, no doubt, that will concern you. There is also included in that packet a booklet entitled "Catalog of Special Projects, 1969-70," and that essentially contains all of the many Federal projects which are being operated in the St. Louis public schools.

Finally, there is a copy of a response to the recommendations of the community conference on St. Louis public schools which may be of interest to you. There was held on November 22 a fairly representative conference in the city for the purpose of getting grassroots response as to the needs of the community and some not unreasonable observation of the isolation of the bureaucracy of the St. Louis public schools with which all of our systems are afflicted.

If I address myself specifically in addition, then, to this more lengthy statement, I suppose it would be most profitably, sir, directed to section 3 of that section called "Recommendations" in the mimeographed materials which deal specifically with some observations on the Federal programs.

The first one of those, of course, which is described or gone into in some detail is one that is, no doubt, so very familiar to you that we will not be tedious about it. That has to do with the earlier appropriations. I mention it again. I know you are completely familiar with the fact when the Federal appropriations, which is a very substantial part of the operation of our school system now, are delayed we have a rather dramatic instance of the catastrophic consequences of that kind of an appropriation delay which gives us a great deal of difficulty. Incidentally, when the program began, in 1965-66, we had for title I something like $5.2 million. That has rather steadily shrunk until we are at the point of about $3.2 million and that, of course, continues steadily to decline.

en The number of ADC children in the city of St. Louis, which was Originally 20,000 such children and was, of course, the basis upon which we got the assistance, some 2 years later was up to 30,000, and the current count is something in excess of 43,000. Thus the number of children requiring this kind of additional program is very rapidly -increasing, whereas the Federal funds, of course, are correspondingly derteasing.

Now this year, for example, on the business specifically of the appropriations just a couple of weeks ago were were given indication that the lasts delivery of the Federal funds for this year would be forthcoming Now, that is specifically $1,008,000 for the city of St. dubsAhasi it is now the middle of April it is quite obvious that these moneys can be used effectively only for summer school operations.29ited.

Curiously iweise in the situation where the State department of edubation for the first time in its history has provided some support for summersclodolsofroma State tax sources. Thus, by the mandate of the State department we are required to expend in all districts, non

title I and title I districts, equally the State money, which, incidentally, is not enough to run the summer school, but it must be distributed equally. We have now and must expend before August 31, $1,008,000 of Federal money. Thus while our program is being supported helpfully by the Federal funds during the course of the school year— and this, of course, is the basic element of our instructional program$1 million of that shrinking sum has been held off until the summer. It is essentially in conflict with some of the restrictions of the State department of education.

Thus, on the one hand, we are engaged in trying to expend wisely $1,008,000 by August 31, whereas we are simultaneously stripping this school system because of diminishing local and State resources. That is the story of the $9 million deficit which we face next year.

We have approximately $76 million of income coming into the city next year. The budget is presently at $85 million. Thus, while, for the regular program which carries the heavy weight of our instruction, we are stripping the school system of vital services, we have an inundation of funds which must be expended before August 31. This, of course, is the result of the delay in the appropriations.

We understand, of course, the desire of Congress to have school systems be responsible in their accountability for the expenditure of funds and that funds should be reasonably expended for the benefit of the children. I should like to point to this as an illustration of the fact that school systems are very frequently victimized rather tragically by the delay in the appropriations and that subsequently, if we are investigated, as we no doubt will be, the sagacity and astuteness of our expenditures of Federal funds will obviously be up to question.

Mr. QUIE. Would you mind responding to questions on that

statement?

Dr. KOTTMEYER. Surely.

Mr. QUIE. That $1,008,000 is money that you should have received for the present school year but the delay, now, you feel will require you to spend it in the summer?

Dr. KOTTMEYER. That is true. It was desperately needed for the basic program during the year.

Mr. QUIE. The last school year, the 1968-69 school year, you had the money from title I. Now, what happened to those programs that you funded in 1968-69 during this year of 1969-70 when you had less money and then it was so late in coming that you didn't even have that little over a million dollars?

Dr. KOTTMEYER. Sir, we have had a number of very substantial programs for which I think the community should be grateful to the Federal Government. For example, in the elementary schools of the city of St. Louis we have never been able to provide library services because we didn't have enough money for books. We had a long history of 50 cents per pupil for library books, no rooms, no facilities, no money for librarians. Through a judicious combination of title II and III funds we have today in the city of St. Louis, and in many of the ancient structures that you saw some of today, corridor libraries, and every elementary school child in the city of St. Louis is being given a service which the children have not had in the history of the public schools.

At midsemester of this year, the title III support for this program, approximately $325,000, was suddenly withdrawn by the Federal Gov

ernment, and the local school board had the choice of either terminating this very effective, substantial program or footing the bill out of local funds. This taps the local reservoir to the extent of $325,000 unanticipated. It will be a recurring expense of the school system.

Mr. QUIE. Title III is a different situation though. When you received your title III money there was never any expectation that this would last longer than three years so there was some expectation, I imagine, in title III that you would be losing the Federal funds.

I think you were talking about tile I and the continual reduction of the amount of title I money that you are receiving, so if we could stick with the title I project.

I mean any school can expect that unless the number of poor children should be drastically reduced you should continue to get that amount of Federal money. What happens to those programs now when you did not have any money?

Dr. KOTTMEYER. We have a very substantial teacher aide program which had to be dropped.

Mr. QUIE. Also I wonder why you had such a tremendous reduction in Federal funds, not counting the late funding of this last year. When you went from 20,000 AFDC children to 40,000 AFDC children you should have had twice as many counted. I know that there were some effective changes where you included more children across the country and therefore you would lose some, but with that kind of increase in AFDC load in St. Louis I think you would have an increase rather than a reduction.

Dr. KOTTMEYER. That was not correspondingly increased. Essentially the poverty area school districts are based, or the identification is based, upon the citywide average of ADC children, which at that time was 15 percent. Thus a district becomes a poverty area under that criteria. Those districts were originally identified for Federal purposes and there has been no substantial opportunity to increase or change the conditions under which we received the money.

Mr. QUIE. I still do not understand, with that increased load of ADC, why you had a reduction in the amount of money because the total amounts of money each year increased in Federal appropriations. There was not any reduction-I take that back. I think there may have been a reduction between 1968 and 1969 fiscal year, but there has been a substantial increase since then.

Let me ask Dr. Moeller.

Dr. MOELLER. May I add a point here, Congressman Quie?

Last year the St. Louis schools received 4.3 million to start the year and this year it was 3.9 million. We did receive $1 million, as Dr. Kottmeyer said, in addition to that. I do not want to give you any inaccurate information, but the State of Missouri has a formula which averages several years of count for impoverished kids and that way it is a conservative factor which is brought in which is not particularly helpful for a school district which is undergoing rapid social changes. I think it is 3 or 4 years which are averaged in. This way the school district does not receive the aid which would be commensurate with the amount of increase in ADC, such as St. Louis has had.

Mr. QUIE. I think our committee ought to look at that because the intention of the law was to count the number of children with incomes below $2,000 in the census year 1960 plus the number of chil

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