Evening star., 1960-09-27
Nixon Queried
On Schools Vote

ANs "nAACu-MI. bGCO EICoo
ident, you mentioned schools,
it DaS just yesterday, / think
you asked for a crash program
to raise educational standards,
and this evening you talked
about GdUGnceS in education.
Mr.. Vice President, you said,
it tDdS back in 1857, that sal
aries paid to school teachers
1Dere nothing short of q ma
tiondl disgrace, higher salaries
for teachers, you added, tDere
important, and if the situation
1OGSn't corrected, it mould lead
to national disaster. Yet you
refused to uote in the Senate
in order to break a tie uote
tOhen that single uote, If it
had been yes, Mould haze
granted salary increases to
teachers. I Donder If you could
explain that, sir.
Mr.. NixOn-I am awfully glad
to get this question because,
as you know, I got in the last,
my other question, wasn't able
to complete the argument. I
think that the reason that I
voted against having the Fed
eral Government pay teachers
salaries was probably the very
reason that concerned Sena-
tor Kennedy when in January
of this year in his kickoff press
conference he said that he
favored aid for school conStruc-
tion, but at that time did not
feel that there should be aid
for teachers salaries, at least
that is the way I read his re-
marks.
Now, why should there be
any question about the Federal
Government aiding teachers
salaries? Why did Senator
Kennedy take that position
then? Why do I take it now?
We both took it then and I
take it now for this reason.
We want higher teachers
salaries; we need higher teach
ers' salaries, but we also want
our education to be free of
Federal control. When the
Federal Government gets the
power to pay teachers, in
evitably, in my opinion, it will
acquire the power to set stand
ards and to tell the teachers
what to teach. I think this
would be bad for the country,
I think it would be bad for the
teaching profession.
There is another point that
should be made. I favor higher
salaries for teachers, but as
Senator Kennedy said in jan
uary of this year in the same
press conference, the way you
get higher salaries for teachers
is to support school construc-
ton. which means that all the
local school districts in the
various States then have
money which is free to raise
the standards for teachers
salaries.
I should also point out this.
Once you put the responsibility
for the Federal Government
paying a portion for teachers
salaries, your local commu-
mites and your States are not
going to meet the responsibility
as much as they should, I
believe. In other words, that
we have seen the local COM
munities and the States as
suming more of that respon-
Sibility.
Teachers salaries very for
tunately have gone up so per
cent in the last 8 years, as
against only a "a per cent rise
for other salaries. This is not
enough, it should be more, but
I do not believe that the way
to get more salaries for teach
ers is to have the Federal Gov
ernment get in with a massive
program. My objection here is
not the cost in dollars, my
objection here is the potential
cost in controls and eventual
freedom for the American peo-
pie by giving the Federal Gov
ernment power over education,
and that is the greatest power
a Government can have.
Mr.. Smith - Senator Ken
nedy's comment?