Evening star., 1954-06-06
Continued From First Page.)

NNOAIl1luCu IIOIu EnSI FdS0sI
slightly, for just as in other large
cities, many white residents have
= been moving outward into the
- suburbs. while Negroes have
taken over in the old downtown
neighborhoods.
y One Quarter Negro.
Baltimore's residents are now
more than a fourth Negro. and
the Negro portion of the total
school enrolment is even greater
OF the 1925 pupils currently
enrolled. 86.970 are white and
51.325 are colored. The colored
enrolment thus amounts to over
a third.
In Washington. Negroes in
creaSingly have been moving into
more and more areas of the city.
especially since the outlawing of
the old racial covenants. But in
Baltimore residential segregation
is more sharply drawn. Negroes
still live mainly in three large
areas, all near the city'S heart.
The rest of the city Is virtually
exclusively white, except for a
few small islands remaining from
what once were suburban viii
lagos, now engulfed by the city's
growth.
Only where the colored is
lands abut the surrounding areas
occupied by white people are
neighborhoods racially mixed
And Baltimore's adherence to q
traditional southern outlook has
limited such mixing. Negroes
usually find it impossible to buy
homes in white neighborhoods,
a fact which white leaders
frankly admit.
What this means when applied
to the school situation is that
the ending of race segregation
will probably have far less mean
ing in Baltimore than in Wash
ington, at least to begin with.
For Negro children and white
children in few cases live near
enough each other to become
mixed, at least on the elementary
level.
This, of course, greatly simpli-
fies the administrative problem
of the school system.
Besides this convenient resi-
dental pattern. Baltimore school
officials, unlike Washington s,
have the advantage of not hav-
ing to worry about a city-wide
boundary system.
Few Boundaries.
OF Baltimore'S ITS schools,
only about 25 or 80 have boun-
daries. These are schools which
are seriously crowded. The boun-
daries have the effect of prevent
ing children living outside them
from attending those schools.
But they do not prevent a child
living within the zone from at
tending school elsewhere, pro-
vided the parents request this
and school officials are persuaded
there is a good reason for it.
In general, as in any school
system, children especially in ele-
mentary classes are expected to
attend the school nearest home.
But this rule is administered in
formally, except in the cases Of
crowded schools.
In the fringe areas between
Negro and white communities,
there are some white schools not
quite full, and there are also
spare seats in some white sec
ondary schools. It Is in these
schools where Baltimore's new
racial policy will bring some
mixing next fall.
DR.. John H. Fischer, Balti-
more's school superintendent. be-
lieves the initial mixing will be
small not only because of the
factors already mentioned but
from the choice of the students
themselves.
!. DR.. Fischer, who now is pre-
pairing to present integration
plans to the school board next
Thursday. has not made any firm
estimate of the number of Negro
and white pupils who may move
into schools now belonging to
the opposite race in the fall.
- MY assumption" he said, "is
that the great bulk will want
to stay with their friends in
their present schools. We don't
believe there will be much mix
ing. We think that children will
stay for the most part in schools
In their own neighbor hoods"
No Plans to Shift.
= School officials do not have any
plans to shift children from
school to school merely to- equal
lie class sizes, If this would take
them out of their own neighbor-
hoods.
& In theory, in the fall, a COL
ored child whose parent was
willing to transport him could
apply at any non-crowded white
school in the city and be ad-
4 The We0fhe