COST OF DISRUPTION However, we need to be free from the tactics of demonstration and disruption which siphon off energy and time. The crucial consideration here is that this legislative effort must firmly eliminate extraneous political ambitions. It must reject those organized forces in the community who would use the education of these children. as pawns in their quest for personal and political power and advancement. Our children represent a far too priceless asset to passively permit this to continue. My plea here is that the guidelines in the regulation should recognize that all the motivations in the various communities are not all laudable and not fixed on the educational advancement of children. I think, also, to overplay that we can be justifiably suspicious of the fact that this tactic is a gate through which the establishment will walk as it foresakes its responsibility to education of children, because, you see, it is not only the exclusive responsibility of the community to educate innercity children, these children have a right to educational opportunity equal to the educational opportunity of any other children. And if we allow the establishment to foresake this kind of responsibility obviously the establishment already has more power, more resources, both social and economic and any otherwise and if we allow them to secede from the responsibility of educating innercity children then we have lost a great share of the assistance which is rightfully-which rightfully belongs to these children. ACCOUNTABILITY OF ESTABLISHMENT So I am very leery about any kind of guideline which sets up the innercity community as the exclusive power. I think the better strategy would be to design legislation which holds the establishment close to the responsibility and at the same time allows some real participation by the innercity communities and that includes the exercise of rationale and an appropriate amount of power. The same thing can be said about the educational establishment itself. If the decisions are going to be made in the communities themselves about how the design and execution of an educational program ought to proceed and the professionals then are ostracized from this decision, they are not going to feel responsible to be held accountable for what happens in these programs. And if in the end-well, it can mushroom to such proportions that we are making decisions which fly in the face of the knowledge that we already have about the innercity education. In Other words, rational decisions can be overrun by extraneous motivations of the community and I think this is an important part to keep in mind. I know this is important. I merely want to raise the caution that we need all the resources present in the general community, not just those present in the innercity. And now on the subject of integration. There is no question but what the integration of the schools is the only means to reach the fundamental democratic ideals of children. 59-411-71-pt. 12—5 CONDITIONS OF TRUE INTEGRATION Before elaborating on this point, the Senate Committee should understand that integration as defined for the purposes of this statement has a radically different meaning than the mere mixture of pupils from different racial and ethnic backgrounds in the same student bodies. True integration would be achieved in my view when the following conditions pertain : 1. Since integration can occur only when and if complete access to participation in school life is made accessible without discrimination a comprehensive program should be designed to prepare receiving schools for the experience of true integration. Such a program should precede the actual mixing of the pupils by at least 1 year. The program should aim at eliminating the discriminatory practices which will surely develop in the absence of effective measures to prevent this expectation. Now, I say discriminatory practices and attitudes. We know nothing about changing attitudes. As a matter of fact, if we can change the behavior I do not think we have to worry as we do now about attitudes. The result, of course, is that the minorities in the schools will be devastated. These are the minorities, no matter what the minority is, white or black, that I am referring to here. Moreover, the programs to eliminate the practice of prejudice and discrimination should continue for a modest period of 3 years following the date that racial and ethnic mixture is introduced into the schools. 2. Legislation requiring the integration of schools should clearly delineate the objectives of the orientation programs and the inservice programs occurring during the 3-year period referred to above. In other words, some limitations should be drawn about the objectives and activities of those programs. Otherwise we will find ourselves in a limbo because these programs will be used for everything except what they ought to be used for. 3. The staffs of the schools should simultaneously become representative of different racial and ethnic backgrounds and the administrations of the receiving schools should evidence racial and ethnic pluralism. 4. Some stipulations designed to reduce the extravagent degree to which the educational institutions now rely upon test scores as a consideration in the design of the educational program should be built into the legislation in a coherent manner that does not allow bizarre interpretations, and consequent grouping of children which will defeat the aims of true integration. 5. There may be some short, thin line of demarkation between a recommendation and advance. I merely want to make this statement: The design of additional legislation intended to enforce and facilitate the law of this country as it relates to the integration of schools should include sizeable input from the professional teacher organizations. To fail to do this will be tantamount to ignoring the bourgeoning power which these organizations possess. And they are going to be very, very much interested in what happens to the teachers if we begin to transfer teachers and integrate staff and transfer administrators to effect some representative racial backgrounds in these various schools. These recommendations are by no means intended to be comprehensive, but in my view they must be considered and acted upon if we are to truly provide an equal educational opportunity in a way which honestly enhances significant movement toward the stated democratic ideals of the United States of America. I am going to conclude at this point. Among the documents which accompany this statement is a list of specific recommendations related to the issues I have raised. I sincerely thank you for this opportunity to address the Senate Select Committee on Equal Educational Opportunity. RECOMMENDATIONS These recommendations are presented in this form in response to Senate Committee staff to be specific and succinct. 1. The legislation and guidelines should encourage if not mandate an administrative entity at the school district level, which is strategically located so that it can be effectively responsive to the needs of innercity children. The establishment of such an administrative entity should be related to the size and scope of the compensatory education program operated by that school district. 2. The commonality of innercity educational problems in the large cities permits the establishment of specific instructional goals. Consequently, the administration of the federal compensatory education programs should aim, with support from legislation and guidelines, at the establishment of coherent objectives. At the same time, the possibility of the wide divergence of program designs directly related to instruction and achievement should be severely curtailed. Time limits should be set for reaching these goals. Such a plan may very well be developed so as to be in line with appropriate accountability considerations. In my judgement, the problem of improving reading achievement must be solved before other depressed educational areas can be rationally attacked. 3. Federal appropriations should be related to specific objectives which are established for certain periods of time. The appropriation should then provide adequate resources for reaching the goals. The eligibility of innercity pupils for participation in compensatory education programs should be broadened, by liberalizing the criteria. Identification of individual pupil partcipants should be discontinued. Once eligibility is established, it should be permanent through the elementary school years, at least. 4. Since it is apparent that by far most of the country's children will continue to be educated in the public schools for the forseeable future, the direction and responsibility for the design and implementation of compensatory education should be given to the public school system. Enough latitude should be allowed to the localities to recognize and exploit the idiosyncrasies of a particular district to the benefit of the program. 5. Recently (within the last two years) guidelines accompanying educational programs other than those provided under Title I of Public Law 89-10 have virtually mandated that Title I funds be used in support of these efforts. Title I should be considered the central educational effort, and the other productive programs (there are several) as supplementary. The supplementary efforts should have adequate funding. 6. There is little or no encouragement evident that would lead to the belief that the competencies of new teachers who now leave the teacher training institutions will improve. Even though they are fully certificated, we can expect to receive these teachers who are grossly lacking in their understanding and ability to successfully cope with innercity educational problems with no alternatives but to assign them to innercity schools. Provisions for the training of these innercity teachers should be made so that there is adequate financial support, and so that the training activity relates to specific educational goals. The responsibility for this effort should be given to the school districts, where the responsibility of operating the program effectively is now and will continue to be seated. 7. Early childhood education programs should be more strongly emphasized and more ambitiously provided for. The curriculum, at least for the early years of operation, should emphasize the development of language facility and reading readiness. Close coordination and synchronization with the Title I program should be required. Early childhood educational measures should look toward programs for innercity pupils which begin at least by age three, and continue through the kindergarten year. 8. If community involvement and participation is to continue to be a major consideration, it should be circumscribed in the legislation and the guidelines so that the professionals are not released from the responsibility to make decisions which will hold them accountable. The motivations of politically powerful organizations and individuals which are extraneous to improving the educational achievement of children should be severely curtailed. Parent participation directly supportive to the instructional effort should be strongly encouraged. 9. The distance still to be traveled on the road to complete and meaningful integration of the schools is great. There is ample reason to question whether it will be achieved if we do not take specific and definite steps in preparation. As integration is attempted, specific programs calculated to prepare school personnel should be inaugurated at least one year prior to beginning the integrated situation. Subsequently the progress to eliminate discrimination in every aspect of school life should be monitored. Programs to reach this goal should be continued for three years. The total effort, since it will bear directly upon the professional fate of teachers, should solicit input from teacher organizations. Senator MONDALE. Your recommendations will be included following your statement; also, the evaluation of the program which you included with your material by Daniel U. Levine dated May 1971, and the Webster-McGraw-Hill research report will be included in the record.* Would you agree that the outlook for the average black child in the Kansas City ghetto area, as is true in other ghetto areas was a very bleak one indeed in terms of reading, in terms of comprehension, in terms of having available to him a reasonable opportunity to get the kind of education he needed to work for his life potential? Would you agree that his chances were very slim indeed? Dr. WHEELER. Right. I would wholeheartedly agree with that. Senator MONDALE. And by large proportions, indeed, your statistics reflect this they were underachieving, they were not in grade level in any basic skills and they were sliding further and further behind as a result? Dr. WHEELER. Quite correct. PRESCHOOL PROGRAMS Senator MONDALE. So what was sought under your program was in fact to provide equal educational opportunity, isn't that what this whole thing is about? You decided that the key strategy was to begin with reading skills? Dr. WHEELER. Right. Senator MONDALE. You concentrated all your effort there? Dr. WHEELER. Right. Senator MONDALE. You took resources amounting to $400 per child over and above the per pupil― *See appendix 1, pp. 5756 and 5761. Dr. WHEELER. Except not in the beginning. Dr WHEELER. Yes. And which fluctuates because some programs continue and some don't. We always consider the Title I effort as the core of support and even though we would solicit financial support from other sources, it was always in connection with Title I program, so the main thrust was the Title I. The funds we solicited elsewhere were solicited for fill-in gaps from Title I, or to give the Title I effort the support it needed. But the entire effort was a synchronized one based upon Title I as the core of it. Senator MONDALE. And the result of your 3-year effort is that the children are now by and large at grade level? Dr. WHEELER. In the first three grades. Senator MONDALE. First three grades. But that is where you concentrated your effort? Senator MONDALE. After that, in the following grades, you have not had a concentrated reading program? Dr. WHEELER. Yes; but it is not as ambitious because we always felt the prognosis was much brighter in the early grades. Our strategy has been that if we can solve the problem in the early grades, the problems will not manifest themselves in the same large proportions in the grades which follow. READING KEY Senator MONDALE. In your recommendations, you included a strong plea for preschool assistance? Dr. WHEELER. Yes. Senator MONDALE. Do you have Headstart and other efforts? Senator MONDALE. Have they been helpful, in your opinion? Dr. WHEELER. Very helpful, although at times very difficult. You see, the guidelines for the Headstart are written here in Washington. We are in Kansas City. Senator MONDALE. Headstart program, I assume, is run by Office of Education, or the school system? Dr. WHEELER. It was until recently. Senator MONDALE. Now you run that? Dr. WHEELER. Well, the Office of Education is the final sponsor of the Headstart program now. Senator MONDALE. Don't you have an input into the running of the program, then, in Kansas City? Dr. WHEELER. We have little input into the design of the guidelines. We have the responsibility for the operation, yes. We are one of the few school districts who will take on the difficulties involved, but it is a very important program. Senator MONDALE. But if it is true that you have been able through the concentrated program to get the children up to grade level by the third grade in reading, would it not make even more sense to start at age three? Dr. WHEELER. Yes. Senator MONDALE. They would lose less time, would they not? |