FEDERAL AID FOR EDUCATION FRIDAY, APRIL 20, 1945 UNITED STATES SENATE, COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND LABOR, The committee met, pursuant to adjournment, at 10 a. m., in room 424-B, Senate Office Building, Senator David I. Walsh presiding. Present: Senators Walsh (presiding), Thomas, Donnell, Chavez, and Tunnell. Senator WALSH. Miss Borchardt, what witnesses are present that you want heard this morning? Miss BORCHARDT. Senator Walsh, in order to save the time of the committee, this morning we are asking that a number of witnesses who are from out of town and who wish to have just a minute be given the opportunity to make a brief statement, and we therefore ask that they be heard at this time. Then there are other witnesses who wish to make longer statements and you may wish to interrogate them. However, these first witnesses have left the classroom to come here to testify and are very eager to return to their homes immediately, and we should like to have each of them make brief statement at this time, and then be excused. Senator WALSH. Will you call them and bring them forward, please? Miss BORCHARDT. Yes; Mrs. Ousley, Mr. Paddock, Mrs. Dickey, Mr. Rueter, Miss Taggart, Mr. Benson, Miss Hitchins, Mr. Weyler, Mr. McFadden, Miss Masterson, and Mr. Turley. Senator Walsh, if it would be agreeable, we shall simply have each one make a brief statement which represents the point of view of his organization and I think in this way we shall save the time of the committee. Senator WALSH. Very well. STATEMENT OF MRS. NATALIE FENELON OUSLEY, VICE PRESIDENT, AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS, GARY, IND. Mrs. OUSLEY. My name is Natalie Fenelon Ousley, teacher of English at the Roosevelt School, in Gary, Ind. Senator WALSH. Have you a teachers' union there? Mrs. OUSLEY. Yes; we have. Senator WALSH. What is it? Mrs. OUSLEY. American Federation of Teachers, Local No. 4. Senator WALSH. How many members do you have in that local? Mrs. OUSLEY. Four hundred and fifty. Senator WALSHI. And how many teachers are there, altogether? Mrs. OUSLEY. Six hundred. Senator WALSH. And you want to say something in favor of or against the bill, Senate bill 717? Mrs. OUSLEY. I want to say I am testifying in favor of Senate bill 717 because it is the only Federal bill which has ever been before Congress which helps every American child and which definitely protects the interests of the classroom teacher. I taught 1 year in Mississippi at the high salary of $40 a month, teaching English, French, typewriting, shorthand and girls' physical education. I had to leave there in order to get a job in Gary, Ind., where I could make almost as much in 1 month as I made the full year in Mississippi. However, with the passage of Senate bill 717 I may be able to return to Mississippi to the children there of my race where I am so greatly needed. The language of S. 717 will help our children and our teachers more than any other bill would. Senator WALSH. You taught, you say, in Mississippi? Mrs. OUSLEY. Yes, Senator. Senator WALSH. Áre you teaching at the present time in a mixed school? Mrs. OUSLEY. A colored school in Gary, Ind. Senator WALSH. Is that a high school? Mrs. OUSLEY. All the grades are taught there from kindergarten to high school but I am teaching in the high school. Senator WALSH. Thank you, Mrs. Ousley. Any questions from any other Senator? The next witness. STATEMENT OF HOWLAND H. PADDOCK, PRESIDENT, WISCONSIN STATE FEDERATION OF TEACHERS Mr. PADDOCK. I represent the Kenosha Teachers' Union, Local 557 of the American Federation of Teachers. I am also president of the Wisconsin Federation of Teachers and financial secretary treasurer of the Kenosha Trades and Labor Council. The Wisconsin Federation of Teachers has 20 locals with upward of 500 members. The Kenosha Teachers' Union supports Senate ill 717 and the Wisconsin Federation of Teachers urges the passage of the bill. Particularly in Kenosha, the city from which I come, organized labor is unanimously behind the bill. The CIO council and the A. F. of L. council have both voted to support Senate bill 717. My State of Wisconsin presents all the characteristics and problems arising from the combination of industry and agriculture, having areas which are both urban and rural. Wisconsin, in most aspects of education, rates in the upper 25 percent among the States of the Union. This comparatively favorable rating, however, results from high standards in the cities which tend to offset the pitifully substandard conditions in the blighted rural areas. Thousands of rural teachers, for example, are leaving the profession because of the starvation wages. Children in these sections pay the cost in poor schooling or none at all. Such a loss can never be retrieved. |