and other States who came to Washington to work in war industries-then liked our State so well that they stayed and persuaded others to come and join them. Our proximity to Seattle-10 miles-makes our district ideal for those who wish to work in Seattle and commute. Boeing's, with its huge plant turning out aircraft for defense purposes has hundreds of workers who live in our district. Others such as Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corp., Todd-Seattle Drydocks Inc., and many others have workers who reside in our district. A huge increase in enrollment caused double shifting in our largest elementary school for 2 years. An addition, doubling the school in size, relieved the situation for only a few years. Next year it will be necessary to employ four additional teachers to cope with increased enrollment. Since there are no school rooms available for the extra load it becomes necessary to double shift all first and second grades. A simple case which will show this increase may be obtained by comparing this year's graduating class, 44 pupils, with this year's kindergarten, 164 pupils. Before the war 25 teachers were employed-next year we must have 56 teachers. We shall need $39,348.67 in Federal funds next year to balance our budget for maintenance and operation. We shall also need all assistance possible for the construction of an elementary school and a new junicr-senior high school. This would be the only way that we can keep even with the situation that is developing here. The estimate on the new elementary school is $240,000, while that of the new junior-senior high school is $1,400,000. The people of this district have voted a special levy of 30 mills the past 3 years and bonded themselves to the limit. Until we can show them some building activity it will be useless to ask them for more. The school construction bill which would relieve our situation here as well as many others is amended S. 287. I understand that hearings will be conducted on this legislation June 1 through June 15. Will you please file a copy of this letter with the Subcommittee on School Construction of the Labor and Public Welfare Committee in the Senate? If possible I would be glad to have you use our school as a sample of what is happening to others. Our district has been very fortunate thus far in receiving Federal funds. This has helped to relieve the extreme pressure that we have experienced. It is very necessary that this aid be continued until such a time as manufacturing and larger interests enter our district thus raising our low valuation. I am writing this letter primarily to keep you up to date on our affairs. have always been very generous with your assistance in our problems. let us know when we can help you. You Please Sincerely yours, DONALD I. CADY, LETTER OF HON. EARL J. MCGRATH, UNITED STATES COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION, FEDERAL SECURITY AGENCY Hon. HUBERT H. HUMPHREY, UNITED STATES OFFICE OF EDUCATION, Washington, June 20, 1949. United States Senate, Washington 25, D. C. DEAR SENATOR HUMPHREY: A member of our staff reports that during the hearing on school building aid bills before your subcommittee on Wednesday morning, June 15, Mr. Elmer W. Henderson, director, American Council on Human Rights, stated that Federal funds made available for vocational education through the Office of Education had not been administered on a fair and equitable basis as regards the minority race. It is unfortunate if there has been an intended discrimination in the allocation of Federal funds for vocational education. Certainly this office does not condone such practice. In order that you may appreciate our position in this matter, may I point out that the apportionment of funds made available to the States through the several vocational education acts is determined entirely by formulae contained in the several acts. This office has no discretion in making allotments to States. The distribution of these funds after they have been received by a State from the Federal Treasurer is entirely the responsibility of the State board for vocational education in that State. The Office of Education has no authority to control such distribution and it can take exceptions to any actions of the State board only when such action is not in accordance with the provisions of the Federal laws applying to the use of these funds. The State board for vocational education in each State submits to the Office of Education its plan for the operation of vocational schools and classes in that State for which it expects to use Federal funds. The basic Federal Vocational Education Act provides that if this plan is found "to be in conformity with the provisions and purposes of this act, the same shall be approved." A failure to conform to the provisions of the Federal laws is the only basis on which the Office of Education can disapprove a State plan submitted by a State board. I would like to emphasize that no State plan contains more than one set of standards for any program of vocational education in that State. There are no instances where lower standards have been proposed for any minority group. Sincerely yours, EARL J. MCGRATH, United States Commissioner of Education. LETTER OF FREDERICK C. MCLAUGHLIN, EDUCATIONAL DIRECTOR, PUBLIC Hon. HUBERT HUMPHREY, United States Senate, Washington, D. C. DEAR SENATOR HUMPHREY: On Monday, June 13, I was privileged to speak before the Senate Subcommittee on School Construction regarding the need for Federal aid. I was very sorry not to have had the pleasure of meeting you but Senator Thomas was very attentive and seemed genuinely concerned with the capital needs of the schools of New York and other parts of the country. My statement was largely concerned with the need for Federal aid in New York State and particu'arly in the city of New York. I was called on rather short notice and did not have an opportunity to study carefully the various bills that have been introduced relating to this question. Since that time, however, I have made a point of studying the various measures now before the Senate granting Federal aid to the States for school capital purposes. In the view of the Public Education Association, S. 287, as amended by Mr. Magnuson for himself and others, provides a sound, well-conceived plan for distributing Federal funds for local school-building purposes. In our statement before Senator Thomas, I pointed out that a school building is an integral part of the education process and that the administration of school-building programs should be the responsibility of professional educators and should be handled through the State education departments and the United States Office of Education. S. 287 meets this objective fully beside providing safeguards against Federal control and wasteful and inefficient spending of Federal funds. We like particularly the feature of this bill providing a measure of equalization in distributing Federal funds among States and encouraging the States themselves to continue school district reorganization plans and to establish and maintain school-building standards through adequate supervision by the various State education departments. I have read over various statements made before your committee on this question. We feel the proposals made by Mr. George Heck, and incorporated in S. 1670, to be dangerous in many fundamental respects such as bringing noneducational agencies into the school construction program and establishing a pattern of Federal-local relationships which would almost inevitably provide Federal control in local school affairs. On the other hand, this citizen group would endorse fully the testimony given before your committee by Dr. Austin R. Meadows and Dr. Edgar Fuller of the National Council of Chief State School Officers. I would like very much to have our position in support of S. 287 made a part of the official records of your subcommittee. With all best wishes. Sincerely, FREDERICK C. MCLAUGHLIN, STATEMENT IN RE RENO SCHOOL DISTRICT No. 10, WASHOE COUNTY, NEV. Reno School District No. 10, Washoe County, Nev., is faced with financial problems which are common to numerous other school districts in the State. The $5 constitutional tax limitation precludes any increase in local revenues, and the district's obligation for bonded indebtedness will necessitate reductions in maintenance and operation costs. Average daily attendance figures show an increase of more than 30 percent for the past 5 years, and predictions based upon birth statistics and current enrollments indicate a 40-percent increase for the next 5-year period. The existing financial structure for school support at State and county levels is totally inadequate and unless adjustments are made or added funds are secured from new sources, it will be necessary to eliminate or curtail vital public school services. The present desperate predicament may be attributed to several causes: 1. Lack of plant expansion to meet the needs of a rapidly growing school population during the past two decades and the partial relief of this situation through bond issues totaling $4,000,000 within a 2-year period. The last school building completed in the system was first occupied in the fall of 1928. Enrollments have increased 64 percent since that time and in addition to the two elementary buildings which will be ready for occupancy this fall, it probably will be necessary to construct three additional elementary buildings within the next 5 years. 2. Increased cost of services, supplies, and materials of every type. 3. The failure of the State legislature to consider new sources of revenue and legislative enactment of an increase in the tax rate for State purposes, with a corresponding reduction of the rate formerly applicable at county and district levels. Continuance of existing services will be dependent immediately upon supplemental sources of support, since local tax resources have been fully utilized. RESOLUTION ADOPTED BY 1949 ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF MAYORS Resolved by the 1949 Annual Conference of the United States Conference of Mayors, That (1) since the lack of adequate school buildings is severely hampering the education of our children and (2) since the so-called Federal-aid-to-education program neglects the very important matter of school facilities, this conference petition the Congress to enact legislation providing for direct low-interest-bearing loans and grants to public agencies for school construction-without any intermediary State agencies involved. Adopted: Washington, D. C., March 23, 1949. LETTER OF DONALD ROBERTSON, SUPERINTENDENT, CARSON CITY PUBLIC SCHOOLS, CARSON CITY, NEV. CARSON CITY, NEV., June 13, 1949. Miss MILDRED BRAY, The building situation in the Carson City school district is critical and will get worse in the next few years. Our elementary school has grown to the extent that the number of classrooms needed has doubled in the last 5 years. It has increased from an average daily attendance of 242 in 1943, to an average daily attendance of 491 in 1949. The high-school building will become inadequate within 2 years It has increased from an average daily attendance of 131 in 1943 to 165 in 1949, and September of 1949 and thereafter for several years, the incoming freshman class will be much larger than in the past so that another large increase in enrollIment will occur soon. The elementary school has made use of five Quonset huts and has secured a building from the Reno Army Air Base to take care of the needed classrooms to date. While these provide fairly good classrooms, they do not provide many other needed facilities. Last year three sections were needed in the first grade where only two were needed the year before. This means that one new classroom must be available every year for the next 7 years. It is very unlikely that additional emergency buildings will be available. The high school also will need additional building space. The assessed valuation of our district is $3,745,000. According to the State law, our building bonding capacity would be $344,500. We have planned an elementary building to cost an estimated $300,000. Even this would only take care of present needs, leaving future building needs for the elementary school and for the high school without the bonding capacity to handle them. At the present, however, even if the district bonded itself to its greatest legal extent, it would be impossible to handle the bond because the tax rate in the county is at the legal limit of $5 and we would not have the taxing capacity to amortize the bond. It is difficult to see how Carson City district can provide the needed building without some other source of aid. Yours sincerely, DONALD ROBERTSON, Superintendent, Carson City Public Schools. STATEMENT SUBMITTED BY J. HAROLD SAXON, EXECUTIVE SECRETARY, GEORGIA EDUCATION ASSOCIATION The following facts and conclusions are submitted in support of proposed Federal legislation for aid to States and Territories in financing capital outlay expenditures for school plants and facilities and in support of the amended Neely bill, S. 287, under your consideration. 1. A comprehensive study of school buildings in Georgia 1 reported in February 1945 revealed that "39.1 percent of the white high school plants, 40.3 percent of the white elementary school plants, 86.4 percent of the Negro high school plants, and 96.9 percent of the Negro elementary school plants * * * are incapable of being economically and satisfactorily made acceptable." 2. Continued study of the conditions of present facilities indicates that building programs including rehabilitation since that date have not succeeded in reducing the general percentages of inadequacy. (For example, in the biennium July 1, 1946, to June 30, 1948, total capital outlay expenditures reported amounted to only 51⁄2 million dollars.2) 3. Estimated construction costs as presented in the education panel study: (a) Employed, cost estimates admittedly 25 percent less than the present (time of study) cost per classroom with the necessary storage rooms and offices. (b) Included no provision for purchase or development of school sites. (c) Included no provision for increased enrollments due to increased birth rates, nor for the addition of the twelfth year of public school education, toward which Georgia schools are now in transition. Total estimates of this early study must now be revised, therefore, because(a) The 25 percent decline in building costs was not realized; rather there was an increase. (Engineering News Record reported 297.7 for March 1944 to 356 for November 1948. The $83,500,000 total arrived at in this study would be adjusted on the basis of these increases, to over $130,000,000.) (b) Larger sites are necessary. (The study showed that nearly one-half the total number of sites are inadequate in area, and that site location and development are also substandard.) (2) In (c) Average daily attendance has not remained, and will not remain, constant due to (1) Increased enrollments due to birth rates. (For biennium ending June 30, 1948, an increase of 5,082 over preceding period was reported.) creased attendance due to compulsory attendance law and visiting teacher program. (3) Transition to 12-year program. 4. A questionnaire survey conducted in the spring of 1949 reveals the fact that the need is greater at this time than ever before. Returns from approximately 80 percent of the administrative units in the State show a need for a building program cost of $130,198,762. On the basis of this report for those systems reporting, the total estimate for the State would be $162,748,452. The attached table presents more detailed data from this questionnaire study. 5. Based upon questionnaires returned (approximately 80 percent of the total), the maximum amount of capital outlay funds which would be made available by voting the complete legal limit of bonds for all systems was reported to be $28,454,675. Considering only those systems reporting, then, there is an estimated need for $101,624,087 for which no present provision is made. 6. Surveys and studies of some individual county and city systems have revealed needs in excess of those reported on the questionnaire form, indicating that figures just quoted are conservative. 1 A Study of School Buildings in Georgia, issued by the Educational Panel, Agriculture Industrial Board of Georgia, Athens, Ga., February 1945. 2 76th and 77th Georgia School Annual Reports of the Department of Education to the General Assembly of Georgia. 7. A number of the county and city systems in the State have also reported acute need for facilities to take care of abnormally increased enrollments resulting from the impact of Federal activities. 8. Present efforts among leaders in Georgia are directed toward a reorganization of the education finance procedure by which an economic index rather than a 5-mill base on assessed property valuations may be employed. It is anticipated that such a move would lead toward sounder and more effective financing procedures. 9. A number of counties and cities have voted the legal maximum of bonds and are making heroic efforts to provide school buildings. Progress (which can be documented) in providing educational opportunities for all of the children of the State of Georgia is being recorded. The attitude of the people and of the press indicates an awareness of and a determination to deal with the critical problems. Federal aid should induce extended local and State effort far beyond any previous record. 10. A program of Federal-State-local cooperation in financing the establishment of school plants based upon educational need and specifications offers the only possible hope for adequate relief. LETTER OF ALBERT SEELIGER, SUPERINTENDENT, FALLON PUBLIC SCHOOLS, FALLON, NEV. CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL DISTRICT B, Re Request of Dr. Edgar Fuller. Miss MILDRED BRAY, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Department of Education, Carson City, Nev. DEAR MISS BRAY: In the fall of 1944 when I came to Fallon as superintendent of the consolidated school district, the schools were in the middle of the impact of a growing school population. Classrooms were in the 45- and 50-pupil stage from the first grade on up. Building costs were high but we could not wait for lower prices-the need was here. By a vote of 30 to 1, a bond election for $160,000 was passed in May of 1946 calling for a new building at the West End and for a gym and remodeling at the Oats Park School. Later, we succeeded in securing a building from the FHA at Gabbs, Nev., to house our lunch project. We are at the present time moving a 1-room school into house another class next fall. In the past 4 years we have increased our classrooms from 17 to 27 and we find that we will be in need of at least 1 more classroom each year for the next 6 years at least as our increasing enrollment in the primary grades. We made an attempt to meet our problems and we will be unable to secure any more funds through bond issues until our present ones are retired. We sincerely hope that any Federal or State building aid will be retroactive in order to equally help those districts that went ahead and tried to meet the demands for more and better school facilities. In the event aid is not forthcoming we will once again return to the classroom loads of 50 and better and the children will be the losers. Respectfully yours, ALBERT SEELIGER, Superintendent, Fallon Public Schools. LETTER OF FLOYD SMALLEY, SUPERINTENDENT, HAWTHORNE SCHOOL DISTRICT No. 7, HAWTHORNE, NEV. MISS MILDRED BRAY, HAWTHORNE, NEV., June 8, 1949. State Superintendent of Public Instruction, DEAR MISS BRAY: In answer to your letter of June 1, regarding school-construction legislation. Hawthorne school district No. 7 in Hawthorne, Nev., Mineral County, is facing a very severe problem in regard to school-building construction. |