Milford chronicle., 1953-11-27
Teachers Dislike
Mixed Classes
CONTINUED from first page)

our lou LC pear Iu6 luCI0dS6u OUR
dens which arise from a situation
which we did not make and from a
policy with which we disagree or
about which we have grave reser-
VatiOns-at least as far as elemen-
tary school is concerned"
Going into some of their cOnclu-
siOns, the dean said:
LAS you would suspect, they say
that they are very much impressed
by the difficulties and they are
quicktO point out what they see as
good features of segregation itself.
They further say that they believe
that an increase in the proportion
of Negro children in their school
will increase the difficulties.
ALSO, they say that they have
had more trouble with the racial
problem this year than they had
last year, although it should be
pointed out that only three of the
six children now enrolled were en-
rolled last year; that is, there has
been no chance for the teachers
and pupils to become really adjust
ed to the Negro students as people
But in summing up, the teach
ers essentially expressed themselv-
es as not having closed minds at
this point. They say that nOn-seg-
regation has not been in force long
| enough for them to decide as to
whether or not it will work"
In his report he confined himself
to four general questions: What is
the situation in HOckessin as these
| teachers saw it last Thursday?
What are the difficulties which they
report as occurring in the HOckes-
sin school? What is the attitude of
the teachers themselves toward the
matter of segregation? Finally,
what are some of the conclusions
of the teachers based on their ex-
! perience?
1t was in response to the latter
two questions that the dean spoke
of their feeling of unjust treat
men tand not making any final
decision.
On the background, he said in
/ part that the teachers pointed out
/ the community and even the school
/ board are sharply divided on the
/ desirability of ending segregation.
And furthermore, the ending of
segregation they say, has aggra-
waited the situation.
"They say that the past history
/ of HOckeSsin has been one of good
relations between races, but that
: this has now been set back cOnsid-
erably.
mot only are the races more at
odds, it is alleged, than before, but
even the cOlOred people themselves,
the teachers say, are disagreeing
or fighting among themselves. Here
they say that the children or in
! dependent and self-directing Negro
parents are still going to Negro
schools, especially 107. On the other
hand, they believe the six children
in the white school are of what they
call controlled parents, that is,
under the influence of the NAACP.
1T is easy to see, of course,
that the white teachers are and
say that they are distrustful of
the motives of the NAACP. They
say that the original six children
were guinea pigs to achieve a So
cial, not an educational objective,
for, among other things, they came
to school with health certificates
already prepared.
"The teachers say that the
NAACP IS trying to (and succeed
ing in) fOmenting discord, that mis-
information has been spread ."
AS for the second question, Dean
| PenrOse said "The difficulties seen
by the teachers may be somewhat
arbitrarily grouped as physical
emotional and intellectual" He then
proceeded to give examples OF
these cited by the teachers.
After reading the report Dean
| PenrOse gave some conclusions and
opinions of his own. Among them
That the report does not constitute
an argument for segregation; il
doesn't negate the legal approach
to the problem.
eve can't assume the breakdown
will be smooth" he said. "The
peOle involved should be the ones
who help to carry it out.
"And finally, it is not a school
problem but a community prob
lem"