Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-01-20
7 TOLD YOU So
Virginio's 9. o. P.
Is Sitting Pretty

pupil placement legislation which
they said would stand up in court.
The Dalton-B oothe plan pro-
vided for pupil placements much
like the original recommendation
of the Gray Commission, which
Gov. Stanley appointed to develop
a program for meeting the Supreme
Court edict and then repudiated.
Under the Dalton Boothe bills,
student assignments would be made
by local school boards for a number
Of factors. including "the welfare
and public interest of the schools"
Senators Dalton and Boothe said
at the time that their legislation
will constitute fortnight effort,
within the framework of the law
OF the land. to keep our public
school system intact, and to pre-
serve the customs and traditions
under which Virginians have lived
for three and half centuries"
But. on the surface at least, their
plan recognized that a Negro stu
dent might win assignment to
white school, provided the student
survived all the placement STAN
dards set up in the law. That pos
sibility was enough to kill the whole
idea. and their plan never even got
out of committee.
Besides Judge Hoffman's ruling,
Senator Dalton has another recent
court ruling to bolster his position.
He can point southwark to North
Carolina and show by contrast how
Virginia's Democratic leadership
has Numbered.
A pupil placement program
adopted by North Carolina has
withStood its first lawsuit. The
Fourth United States Circuit Court
OF Appeals ruled that North Caro-
hna's placement law is mot uncon-
stitutional on its face" and now
that State has a functioning place
ment program which so far hasn't
resulted in any indignation.
Locol Authority
Like the placement law proposed
by Senators Dalton, Boothe and
like the original recommendation
of the Gray Commission, the North
Carolina plan vests placement au-
thority in the local school boards.
The appeals court commented that
there could be no more logical
agency to make such assignments,
and held that the principle of stu
dent placement was legal as long
as race was not factor.
When the North Carolina place.
ment plan was being considered,
there were those who wanted a
sIerner program of resistance. But
under the leadership of Gov. Luther
Hodges, the State took what it be-
lieved to be moderate approach.
The North Carolina program in
cludes pupil placement, provision
for tuition grants TO children who
object to attending integrated
schools. and authority for local
ltie1 to close schools by a vote of the
people II conditions become "intol-
erable.''
This is far cry from the Vir-
GINA program, where the entry of
one Negro into white school would
result first in the closing of that
school by the Governor, and ulti-
mately in the withdrawal of State
funds from all elementary or high
schools in the community.
The Democratic position is par
ticularly sensitive in the forthcom-
ing campaign because Attorney
General J. Lindsay Almond, IT,.
apparently is going to be the
party's nominee for governor.
While he wasn't responsible for
Gov. Stanley's legislative program.
ne can hardly denounce it without
the Republicans saying that his
legal advice wasn't valued or
wasn't all 1t should have been.