Cayton's weekly. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1916-1921, 1920-05-15

visory staffs exclusively of Negroes. His
idea was to develop faith among the boys
and girls among their own people and in
themselves. The same policy for the colored
schools should be adopted for the capital of
the nation'
Mr. Bruce said that he had felt it of great
Importance that the provision in the law
placing the assistant superintendent Of the
colOred schools in control should be safe
guarded Where he had deviated he said
was to avoid frictions, but in every instance
he had tried to make it plain to the superin-
tendent his position in the matter.
Mr.. Bruce read prepared statements deal
ing with legislation for the coored schools
from the first part of the nineteenth century
until the present. The law Of 1864, he point
ed out, provided that the fund raised and
appropriated for the public schools in Wash
ington and Georgetown should be apportiOn-
ed between the white and coored schools.
according to the ratio of white and colored
children. Mr.. Bruce contended that this was
a matter of vital Importance which had not
been followed, and urged that if any legis-
lation was proposed amending the school laws
a provision for such allotment of school
funds be made. He said that over period
of ten years only II per cent of the aggre-
gate appropriation for the schools had been
for the colored schools, and that during the
last five years the estimates of the board of
education and of the Commissioners and
the appropriations by Congress had provided
substantially less for the colored schools than
for the proportion of colored students justi-
fed
He said that the president Of the board of
Commissioners in 1918 said that the Com
missiOners did not attempt to appOrtion the
estimates for the schools on the basis of the
ratio of the colored and the white schools.
After declaring that he had gotten along
without friction under three superintendent
of schools, Mr. Bruce added: ''I regret to
say that rccurent friction has developed I'M
der the present administration. Mr.. Thurs
ton has interpreted the law in an altogether
different way.' He cited a number of cases
in which he and Supt. Thurston differed
Referring to the opposition Of the Parents
League, Mr.. Bruce declared that the leaders
of that organization had been INSCRIPTIONS;
that they ''didn care fig for facts.' but
were simply exercising grudge against him.
The Parents League, he charged, was con.
troled by small body Of disgruntled per-
sons, mentioning r. NJ Hewitt R. R. Horn
err, the Rev. j. Milton Waldronx and Dr.
and Mrs. Tanner as among the leaders. Mr..
Bruce said he attended meeting of the
league to which he had been invited but was
refused an opportunity to speak He charged
that many of the people active in the league
were disgruntled because they had been
disappointed in seeking favors for relatives
in the shoots from him.
In the course Of his testimony Mr. Bruce
made number of recommendations relating
to the colored schools. He suggested that
the assistant superintendent Of the colored
schools should be considered an associate
superintendent and that if the superintend-
ent had power to veto recommendations of
the assistant superintendent of colored schools
the board of education by a two-thirds vote
should upset the superintendent veto.
Other suggestions were that the assistant
superintendent of the colored schools be
elected by the board of education for spe-
cific term, say five years.
That the assistant director in manual train
ing. music etc. in the colored schools should
be given the title Of director, as in the white
schools, and their salaries equalized with