Court Opinion

ID: 9454745
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-04 18:57:36.290296+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:34:17.176732
License: Public Domain

SKELTON, Judge
(concurring) :
I concur in the opinion in this case but I do so only because existing law leaves me no other choice. I take advantage of this opportunity to record the reasons for my reluctance.
It is my belief that a system which authorizes a government official in Washington, in his sole discretion, to cut off funds to a local school district under the guise of a “deferral”, without a prior hearing and determination of the merits of the matter, contravenes the fundamental principles upon which this federal republic was founded. It is true that under the Fountain Amendment to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. § 2000d-5 (Supp. Ill, 1965-1967)), a hearing must be held, after notice, within sixty days of the notice and the deferral cannot continue more than thirty days after the hearing unless there is a finding of non-compliance at the hearing. At first blush, this would appear *1204to protect the rights of the school district involved. As a practical matter it does not, for the system produces contrary results in most cases. It is generally a foregone conclusion that the decision of the examiner at the hearing will go against the school district in the .overwhelming majority if not all, of the cases. It would take an independent examiner, indeed, who would decide in favor of a school district when he knows that for all practical purposes Washington has already made a decision against the school district when it issued the deferral notice. Consequently, in most cases, the hearing is just a formality for the purpose of making a record on which the district can appeal if it desires to do so. In the event of an appeal by the district, the deferral remains in effect until the district exhausts its administrative remedies and while the case is in court. This could take from one to two years, or more. During this time, the funds of the district are cut off. This means, for all practical purposes, the district has been denied these funds during this period.
To put it another way, the school children of the district have been denied the funds during the pendency of the case. A period of from one to two years or more taken out of the lives of these school children is gone forever, especially for those who finish school during the time in question. The benefits they would have received from the funds thus denied them during this period can never be restored to them. Therefore, the so-called “deferral” is really a denial during the pendency of the proceedings.
Furthermore, the withholding of funds by the government has the appearance of punishment or penalty against the trustees of the school district and the adults living in the district because they have not complied with orders issued from HEW in Washington. The sad part about it is that the denial of funds does not punish the trustees or the adults, because they are not in school. The punishment and deprivation is inflicted on the school children themselves. They are the ones who suffer.
The cutting off of funds from school districts by the HEW is done on the theory that it will help children of minority races in such districts. As a matter of fact, in many cases, when this action is taken, the resulting hardships and deprivations fall on the children of the minority races. Their parents are not financially able to supply the teachers, buildings, and programs which the withheld funds would have supplied, whereas, the more affluent parents of children of the white race may be able to supply them without government help. So, in many cases, the program hurts the very children it was designed to help.
This is the system Congress has created. The courts are powerless to do anything about it. Until Congress sees fit to change it, we will have to live with it.