Jackson advocate. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1939-current, 1955-12-31
Local Option On Schools


Has Virginia found the South's answer to the
Supreme Courts decision barring compulsory segre-
cation in public schools? The Old Dominion program
deserves nationwide attention
To the deep South it offers wiser, flexible
pattern of adjustment than the plans to abandon public
schools To the North and West it affords lessons
in what cannot be done to alter social customs by leg
islation
The central feature of the Virginia plan is to allow
communities to decide what kind of schools they shall
have and parents to decide whether their children go to
segregated integrated schools It begins with
rangement by which school boards could assign pupils to
schools according to both the welfare of the particular
child and "the welfare and best interests of other
children attending particular school," Children would
not be shifted from their present (segregated schools
except for good cause shown
This plan would make the most of possibilities for
local racial adjustments In many places the races live
in separate where the most convenient school is
naturally segregated In more than many North
erners realize the Negroes prefer their schools
(often they newer, better equipped).
Cases of compusion - and possible defiance of
the Supreme Court - will be narrowed to those where
school boards refuse to assign Negroes to schools they
wish to attend Here it may be difficult for complaints
to that the actual basis of assignments
cial but they appeal such to the courts
second feature of the plan is that parents =
white Negro-dissatisfied with the assignment of
their children get public aid from local and state
school funds) to pay their tuition in private
tartan schools. Virginans voting January 9 on
constitutional convention to make the payment of pub
lie money for private education possible. But Virginia
will retain constitutional provision requiring that
The General Assembly shall establish and maintain
efficient system of public free schools throughout
the state
Friends of the public schools question whether this
can be done under the new plan. They point out
eral difficulties. One is finances How public
schools be kept at standards if school funds
to pay for private schools? decline in public-schoo
enrolments would not produce proportionate decline
in costs.
But sponsors of the plan believe most of the public
schools will be continued Indeed, communities which
do not maintain public schools will get state aid for
tuition in private schools Another factor working
against general abandonment of public schools is that
private schools will probably cost than public
So parents will have to add to the public funds pro-
vided for tuition In short, the plan aims to give Vir-
ginians choice: To let them have separate schools
if they will pay for them.
Of course, the Supreme Court may not approve
when eventually comes to it. But it may be that
this plan is less defiance of the court than has been
assumed The court expected adjustments to local
ditions Moreover it did not bar voluntary segregation
in schools = although this has been widely assumed
1t did not require compulsory integration Yet under
conditions this is the practical effect Most Vir
ginians regard their plan simply preventing such
an effect.
Certainly their experiment has tremendous impi-
cations. practically and consttutionally