Although HR 12373 makes provision for the appointment of a nonboard member as secretary, it does not state that this individual should receive remuneration for his services as is the case at present. This legislation also does not state whether the newly elected board shall elect its own officers or whether the board members will be organized into standing committees to carry on the business of the board. HR 12373 does not mention the role of the superintendent in relation to the board of education. Is it correct to assume that the present Rules of the Board of Education would remain in operation under HR 12373? A question arose as to the desirability of having the three members at large select lots separately as to their terms of office so that the possibility of all three members being elected at the same time would not occur. Would an election based on plurality be less expensive to run than a spin-off election? Do all nominees, whose names are submitted by at least 250 registered voters, get their names on the ballot? Should there be a minimum qualification standard set for board membership? Is it wise to plan for a majority of the board of education members to be elected at the same time or should some provision be made to give some opportunity for experience or continuity of service on the board of education? Although some cut-off point must be set in determining who will serve on the board, is the limitation of the two highest on the list too restrictive? The provision that meetings shall be open to the public, except for committee meetings dealing with appointment of teachers, is a sound one. However, the definition of "teachers" should be used to include all professional employees. Class 1 through Class 15, and not exclusively for employees listed under Class 15 of the D.C. Teachers Salary Act. Should a definition of the term "teacher", therefore, be included in HR 12373? We have raised these questions as the bill was analyzed in order to be helpful in directing the attention of the District of Columbia Committee to some of the problems which may require solutions. The District of Columbia Education Association endorses HR 12373, however, because its enactment would be a significant step toward participation of D. C. citizens in their municipal affairs. It could be a means of bringing greatly needed improvements to the public schools in the capital of the United States. Respectfully submitted. ELLEN F. DATCHER, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA EDUCATION ASSOCIATION, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA COMMITTEE, Washington, D.C. GENTLEMEN: The DCEA Patriots, an organization sponsored by the District of Columbia Education Association's Committee on Citizenship, wishes to give its approval to HR 12373 as an initial step in obtaining participation by District voters in their municipal government. An elected school board should bring the citizens of the District a voice in how their schools should be run and give them a greater feeling of responsibility to work to achieve quality education for D. C. children and youth. Sincerely yours, LELIA LANE, Chairman, DCEA Committee on Citizenship and Chairman, DCEA Patriots. The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Albert A. Rosenfield, I believe you are speaking for the School Board, is that right? Mr. ROSENFIELD. Congressman McMillan, the vice president of our Board of Education is here with me, and I believe she has a statement to make. The CHAIRMAN. Would the Board members come up to the table. We will be happy to hear any statement, you care to make. STATEMENT OF MRS. ANITA FORD ALLEN, VICE PRESIDENT, ACCOMPANIED BY MR. BENJAMIN H. ALEXANDER, DR. EUPHEMIA L. HAYNES, AND ALBERT A. ROSENFIELD, MEMBERS, THE D.C. BOARD OF EDUCATION Mrs. ALLEN. Mr. McMillan, last night the D.C. Board of Education passed a resolution saying that it favored the elected School Board bill in principle. We did not have the benefit of copies of the bill at that time, and there has been no study of the bill, and therefore we were not able to approve or disapprove individual items in the bill. We are here to respond to any questions you might want to ask of us as individuals. The CHAIRMAN. The question here is whether you prefer to have the Board of Education continue to be selected by the judges, or to be elected. Mrs. ALLEN. In principle, we as a board agreed that your bill is a very fine effort to bring about some degree of self-determination by the citizens of the District of Columbia. We do feel that it provides a step in the right direction towards permitting the citizens of Washington to have some expression on the kind of education which their children will receive. The CHAIRMAN. Well, I have always been of the opinion that schools are about the most personal part of any city government, or any other government. I think the people in the immediate community should decide on the School Board and the teachers. I think that is something that should be left up to them. Mr. Nelson, do you have any questions? Mr. NELSON. None, Mr. Chairman. I only wish to say that while the District of Columbia is unique in that the interests of the Federal Government are paramount, nevertheless I wholeheartedly support an elected School Board, because this is a personal concern relating strictly to children and their training. This is purely a local concern which would in no way conceivably threaten the Federal interest. The incentive for real application and responsibility certainly would lie with the parents. And it has been my feeling that this is a real laboratory not only of performance, but training for responsibility in government. I feel that this is a wise step that should be taken, and I thank the leader for her testimony. I feel we can bring this bill to the floor and we can pass it into law in this session of Congress. The CHAIRMAN (to the Board). You may proceed further if you wish. Dr. HAYNES, Gentlemen, I do have a statement I would like to make. The goals and philosophy of a school system in a democratic society are certainly more than equipment of youth with tools and skills of exclusive academic origin. Ours we believe is a larger responsibility. And the superiority of a democracy to any other ideology must also be perpetuated by our schools. High level qualities of character, service to others, dedication and capacity for self-relation all have their roots entwined in the goals and philosophy of our democratic process. And these must go hand in hand with an academic acquisition. It is the Board of Education which must provide the training programs necessary to prepare our youth to understand and respect the elective process. Participation in the democratic process thus living the philosophy that they develop in youth is a first step in this direction. It is especially important today that democracy as a way of life present its true image throughout the world. The way best to achieve it though is through an elected school Board of Education for the following reasons: First, the election of a board by citizenry would necessitate responsiveness by members of the Board, and the administration, to the unique needs, desires and concerns of the community. Consistent with our democracy, an elected board affords greater opportunity for all elements of the community to have representation on that board. Because this bill does establish the school district as a community served by a Board member, the machinery is here provided for selection by each community as its representative one who is well known in his community because of his integrity, his sensitivity to needs, and his unselfish dedication to service. I deeply appreciate the opportunity to speak to you today. Because I believe very firmly in the democratic process, and I herewith express my support for the elected School Board. The details connected with the administration will be, I am sure, worked out to the satisfaction of all, that the Board will be in a position to discharge its responsibilities. I thank you. Mr. DOWDY. I have a question that any of you may answer. It is related to the same subject. The main question I have about this bill as presented and it would not be hard to remedy-you expressed the view for the democratic representation on the School Board—and it should be. Of course, the organization of the School Board I assume would be little if any different from now, except the way the members are selected. But it seems to me the bill, by providing three members at large out of an 11-member Board, rather dilutes and gets away from the one-man one-vote rule that so many people think is important now. If we are going to have an elected Board, I think the vote of the people of a district, on their representatives on the Board should not have his vote diluted by a third by having three members elected at large. This thought occurs to me. See what you think about it: There are four-year terms provided for the Board of Education— five elected for two years, and six for four and thereafter terms of four years. What would be-and this is what occurred to me. Have a ninemember Board, eight of them elected, one from each of the wards that are mentioned in the bill, and elect the ninth member at large, with the provision that he should have a two-year term, and that he should be president of the School Board. Thus the voters of the entire District would be selecting the School Board president, and each one of the election wards would have a representative on the Board, with four year staggered terms. Wouldn't that be more democratic, and get closer to the one-man, one-vote rule that seems so important today, than diluting the vote of each district ward by having three at large? Mrs. HAYNES. As Mrs. Allen has said, we have not had the bill before us to study. I can only speak of it in principle, because I have not had the opportunity to consider these issues. We did not know the details of the bill, except as we did get them from the press. So that I am quite sure there are details that I should be better informed on. But I do not have that background. Mr. DOWDY. Well, I just saw the bill last evening. And that is one of the things that occurred to me. Dr. Alexander, do you wish to make any comments? Dr. ALEXANDER. I have some comments on the bill, gentlemen. Dr. ALEXANDER. Yes, I was going to comment on that. I think that is not democratic when you ever elect by wards. I think that what we need is quality Board members, quality people. And I can never see why if we have eleven people living in Northwest Washington, if we have eleven persons who are candidates for the Board of Education, why we cannot vote those eleven members in. Mr. Dowdy. You do not believe in the one-man, one-vote rule? I have some doubts about it myself. Dr. ALEXANDER. My point, sir, is that we have a school system here that has been in trouble for a long time. Mr. DowDY. It is going to continue to be in trouble. Dr. ALEXANDER. Sir, it is improving. And it is going to improve as long as you have dedicated people on the Board of Education which we now have. We have a good Board of Education. If someone else tells me that I must vote the best person in Ward A, the best person in Ward B, the best person in Ward C, up to eight wards, then you are saying to me you do not want the best people in the District of Columbia to be on the Board of Education. What you are saying to me is I want the best person in A. If we are going to have the best school system, then we must get the best people. There are three things I have looked at in the bill. I was one of the fortunate Board members to have secured one over ten days ago at least I think it was-no, a week ago I read it. There are three things here. And I hope that the time can come when we cease speaking about wards, and start thinking about quality people. Mr. DowDY. That is the Supreme Court's idea, thinking about wards. Dr. ALEXANDER. Sir, we do not have to agree with everything that has gone on. What we must do is state our convictions and our beliefs. I believe that in the District of Columbia, the eleven members should be elected by wards, and I can give you another reason. Mr. DOWDY. You said you believe Dr. ALEXANDER. At large, I mean-not by wards. And I can give you another example on that. If they are elected by wards, what would happen? Just by chance I could afford to run. And as I read the bill, I do not know whether I can afford to run or not. But what I would try to do if I were elected by wards, I would try to have the best teachers, the best physical plant, the best everything in my ward. 83-350 0-67-3 And if the ward adjacent to me, the four around me, did not have this, then I would say to the people who elected me, "Look what I have done for you, send me back." And this we do not want. Let's have all the Board members for all the people in the District of Columbia. The CHAIRMAN. If the gentleman will yield. Some of the complaints we have had were from people stating their community did not have any representation on the Board, and they would like to have their community represented. That is one of the reasons for this proposed legislation. Mr. Dowdy. Which of the wards-I do not know if they have been set up or not-which of the wards do you feel has no person that is competent to serve on the School Board? Dr. ALEXANDER. I did not say that, sir. What I said was there is no doubt that the intelligentsia in Washington, D.C. is concentrated in the Northwest section of our city. There is no doubt about that. Now, I am saying that if it is there, then maybe they should have not one or two or three-maybe they should have five from that area, because we want the best people that we can get. Mr. DOWDY. Do you think the other wards would vote for all from one area? That is hardly human nature. Dr. ALEXANDER. No, I am not for wards at all, sir. I am for an elected School Board at large. That is the point I am trying to make. We are appointed now essentially in that manner. We were appointed before; I think there was a lot of community agitation, as Mr. McMillan has stated, that they wanted it done from sections. But prior to that we had as many as maybe four to five members from the Northwest section of Washington, and they were good board members. Mr. DOWDY. I understand we are going to have a nine-man council in the District of Columbia, and I believe that the President's plan calls for them to be appointed from wards. Mr. STEIGER. Will the gentleman yield? Mr. DOWDY. All right. Mr. STEIGER. I thank the gentleman. Just one point, Doctor. You must confess that is an awfully arbitrary decision that you have made, that the quality of intellect resides in one ward within this city. I find that entirely unacceptable myself, simply by the normal distribution of talent. I would point out also the very pragmatic fact that-in the very improbable event that you are correct-the likelihood of these people being selected from the one ward is extremely distant in that the one ward can only muster that much strength. What you are saying is that you are going to sacrifice the guaranteed representation of the wards for the chance that the quality will emerge from only one ward. And I don't think that will bear examination, Doctor. Dr. ALEXANDER. Could I speak to that? I said the greatest concentration of intelligentsia, Mr. Steiger. And look at your universities. In the Northwest section you have American, you have Georgetown, you have George Washington, you have Howard. Four of our key universities-plus all the smaller schools, like Trinity, et cetera. And those professors are living in that area. |