The Daily Alaska empire., 1947-10-03
COMMUNICATION

Editor Daily Alaska Empire: 1 wish to emphatically protest against the removal of the children of the Fifth Grade from the 5th Street school to the Indian School on Will. loughby Avenue. have child now in the Fifth Grade at the 5th Street School. He went to that school last year. In fact, he has been going there since he first started school. Now that the Indian Affairs has seen fit to close the Juneau School for natives, why should he, with others, have to pick up and get out to make room for new pupils from the Indian Ar fairs school.
 I do not believe in discrimination against the Indians, but neither do believe in discrimination against the Whites. The Indian Affairs re- ceived from Congress this year an appropriation of between 3 and 4 million of dollars for the welfare, medical care, education etc. of the Alaska Indians. This an appropria- tion in which no Whites can partl- cipate Yet, the Indian Affairs claim lack of appropriation for their excuse of closing the Juneau Indian school.
 I protest the removal from a health standpoint. Tuberculosis is more rampant in that section of town than any other. The school board. in cooperation with the h. dian Affairs attempts to assure us that they will do, and are doing everything in their power to guard against tuberculosis and other dis eases. Have they been doing this in the past, and if so, why is it that there is new such high per- ccntage of tuberculosis among the
 Indian children,-so much higher than among the white children. Throw them together and they can etf:le happy medium, but at the cost cf tte rate among the white children in0 easing about four hundredfold. If they have been so unsuccessful in the past in com batting tuberculosis among the Ma tive children, who TOW, by some miracle is going to teach them how.
 In these days Of juvenile delin- quency parents who really guard their children are cautious of
 where and in what districts their children are allowed to go. Ger tainly the section of town in which the Native school is located is not district to which cautious par ents would wish their children to go even occasionally, let alone passing the greater portion Of the day there as they will if forced to go to that school
 As an alternative, if the decision of the School Board is final to force all Fifth Grade pupils to go to the Willoughby Avenue school, I would suggest that the parents of those children get together and hire a building, possibly club hall. This should not entail too great expense as the Club could still use the hall for evening meetings. Then we could present the School Board with a place to send our children to school without charge to the School Board, since they say they are cramped for room. The teach CTS already hired could then teach the pupils in the hired hall and there would be no reason for our children being forced to go to a highly undesirable section of town
 to receive their education.
 I feel that many people, if the School Boards intention is carried out, will send their children to the States for schooling, if a more suitable plan than removal to the Willoughby Avenue school cannot be reached.
 (Signed) w. s. PEKOVICH