Milford chronicle., 1959-05-01

closing of some schools entirely
and the merging of others into
more convenient districts togeth-
er with the drafting, presentation
and passage of legislation without
which certain of these detectives
cannot be satisfactorily solved; ;
"a the financial burden occasion
ed by new buildings and additional
personnel which will fall in part
upon local taxpayers and in part
upon the states; (5) the problem
of meshing substantial numbers of
Negroes into a hitherto all white
school system where the educa-
tional achievement level of the
former is significantly lower than
that of the latter and (6) the i'm
pact of integration upon a pre-
dominately Southern society. The
plaintiffs have objected to this lat
ter consideration as irrevelant.
do not agree. My reasons will ap-
pear fully hereafter.
Before considering the plan it
self, it is appropriate to state that,
in my judgment, any thought of a
total and immediate integration
of the Delaware School System is
out of the question. 1 agree fully
with the testimony of the wit
nesses in this respect.
Big Segment Issue
The question may then well be
asked why consideration should
not be given to the immediate des-
egregation of some large segment
of the System, such as the ele-
mentary or secondary grades. In
this connection, it can be fairly
said that the present high school
in the lower counties is
particularly open to criticism in
sofar as concerns segregation be-
cause in Sussex County, for IN
stance, there is. but one colored
high school located in Georgetown
in the central part of the county
with the result that large numbers
of colored students daily are
transported by bus long distances
(up to 25 miles, to school only to
have to face the same long return
trip at the days end. And, in so
doing, many of them may pass a
white high school close to their
own homes Even so, there are con-
reasons why total desc
grafton of the high schools should
not be attempted now. From testi-
mony of DR.. Miller, supplemented
by an exhibit introduced by the
State Board, it is possible to pre-
sent a fair picture of some of the
problems which arise as the re-
suit of such a plan. (See Chart
One.)
Overcrowding is clearly indi-
Gated, but that is only one of the
problems. Overcrowding creates
The need for additional rooms, ad-
litional teaching personnel and
additional facilities of many other
sorts. While only few estimates
ire given, the increased cost for
he construction and operations
budgets would obviously be very
The cost of the for
ner would fall on an unwilling cit
zenry and of the latter on a state
rapidly approaching a bad finan-
cial crisis.
Lower Academic Level
Moreover, aptitude tests are in
evidence indicating that the acad-
emic achievement levels of the
Negro are significantly lower than
those of white students of corre-
spending ages. To force integra-
ton at the high school level would
pose yet another serious problem,
i. e., at the expense of the white
students to downgrade existing
academic standards to a level
capable of being met by the aver
age Negro or to maintain existing
which, through no fault
of their own, many of the Negroes
could not presently meet.
Finally, but not of least impor-
tance, is the emotional strain upon
the whole educational system as
the result of an immediate desc
of any substantial seq
ment of the school system, such as
the high schools, in predominant
ly Southern society. This may
come about through forces oper-
ating both within and without the
school system. BY the high school
age, prejudice has unfortunately
had ample time to take root. These
prejudices will inevitably make
themselves felt in the classrooms.
AS an example of how similar ten
sions may be stirred up from with
out, we have the testimony of DR..
Madden, the superintendent of the
Seaford schools, who stated:
"That is right, sir. We had one
(held by Bryant BOwleS)
near our district, and the following
day there seemed to be a vicious
rumOr circulated that the SeafOrd
Board of Education had accepted
cOlOred students into the school.
We had parents coming to the
school that day and taking their
children out of school. We had
children roaming the halls, leav.
ing clasSrOOms at will with utter
disregard for teacher control or
discipline, without regard to any
thing had to say, the principal of
the school, and then even to the
point of having a representative
group of people come into the
school and roam the school at will
until / called them into my Office
to ask what the disturbance was,
and confronted with this statement
that they understood there were
cOlOred students admitted to the
school. / asked them to produce
any evidence. They, of course,
could do nothing but say that this
was hearSay evidence, and the
group then decided to leave, after
convincing themselves apparently
that there were no cOlOred stu
I4 I..:4&oI nut Cor tho uovt