Senator MATHIAS. Mr. Chairman, I wonder if I could interject one question?

Senator ERVIN. Yes, sir.

Senator MATHIAS. How big are the average schools in your district, Congressman?

Mr. HUBER. They run a tremendous gamut because, for instance, the Detroit school is now broken down to subdistricts. Anyone of those subdistricts is larger than any district in the State. We have some 50-odd districts that are involved in this case.

Senator MATHIAS. Would you say the larger of the schools could qualify as neighborhood schools?

Mr. HUBER. Well, with the exception of the Detroit school district, I think that is true. I think the school districts themselves with the exception of the Detroit district consider themselves neighborhood schools.

Senator MATHIAS. In other words, students could walk to school in most of the schools except for Detroit?

Mr. HUBER. As we fan out from Detroit where the areas increase in size because of the urban sprawl and as you get further and further away this is so. But in the Ferndale district they don't have a single bus in the district except for some retarded or special children.

Senator MATHIAS. Would you advocate a national program encouraging more and smaller schools in neighborhoods that be truly neighborhood schools so that busing can be eliminated, not only for questions of racial balance, but for any reason?

Mr. HUBER. If we could teach reading, writing, and arithmetic I would be all for it. I would like to see our graduates from the school system be able to read and write and add and subtract, and so many of them can't now with all this advanced technology we have developed over the years. I think the smaller schools might have a lot of advantages.

Senator MATHIAS. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Senator ERVIN. I would also like to point out that I have another great American on my side whose birthday we were celebrating last week. That is Abraham Lincoln. In speaking of the Dred Scott decision, Lincoln said, in substance, that it was erroneous and contrary to such precedence that we had on the subject. He refused to accept it as a guide for Government or the people, and declared that he would do everything within his power to secure its reversal.

Mr. HUBER. Thank you, sir.

Senator ERVIN. Thank you very much.

Our next witness is Dr. John Schade, a member of the School District of Rockford, Ill.

I want to express our appreciation that you came here today to appear on very short notice.

TESTIMONY OF DR. JOHN SCHADE, SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER,

,

ROCKFORD, ILL.

Dr. SCHADE. Thank you, Senator and committee and people of the public who showed up at these hearings.

I was aked to write out my comments, and I did do so. I have a sense of humor and certainly to laugh with a sense of humor eases the

load. However, these are not all my notes, thank God. However, they do happen to be the petition presented to Hon. Daniel Walker, Governor of Illinois. I would just read the top of the petition, 15,000 names from the city of Rockford. It says:

We, the undersigned, respectfully submit this petition expressing our objection to forced busing or redistributing of schoolchildren to accomplish equalization of achievement, social or racial desegregation or for any other reason. We feel that equal opportunity for quality education should be achieved by other methods. We would support any legislation to ban forced busing. As taxpayers we expect the elected officials to protect the rights of our schoolchildren to attend their neighborhood school.

I want to be sure I presented this evidence, and this is the only copy I have, but if you would like it you can have it on receipt, otherwise I would take it back.

Senator ERVIN. We would hate to take all those documents. How many signatures?

Dr. SCHADE. I would need a truck

Senator ERVIN. We would like to have the words of the petition. If we can have them duplicated, we will return the original to you. Mr. SCHADE. Fine.

Senator ERVIN. Then, let the record show that Dr. Schade presents exhibits before the committee, petitions addressed to the Governor of Illinois, which is included in the record, signed by 15,000 citizens of Rockford, Ill., schools.

Dr. SCHADE. Fine.

I was called upon yesterday at 2 to leave by 6 o'clock and be here this morning. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity. I have fought forced busing for 5 solid years in Rockford and successfully until recently.

I have prepared a 4-page statement and it won't take too long, but that is to be somewhat of a story-type thing because I had to write it out during the night.

I finished at 5:30 this morning. I will sit down and read this for you. We have copies given to the committee members.

The subject is forced busing to achieve racial balance in our schools. Representing Concerned Parent Group of 15,000 opposed to forced busing: W. John Schade, Jr., 3611 Larson Avenue, Rockford, Ill. Fiveyear member and past president, Rockford Board of Education, District 205, Rockford, Ill., acting as an individual and on request. This is important that some may construe I am acting on behalf of the board of education.

I am a citizen of Rockford since October 1958, a father of 11 children ages 31 to 11 years, six girls, five boys, also grandfather of eight, so definitely interested in education, for all other children, too, also am a licensed practicing chiropractor in Illinois since 1946.

Rockford is the second largest school district in Illinois with 40,618 students, 6,608 minority included, about 2,200 teachers and over 70 schools including five high schools, a budget of over $50 million yearly. The board of education has made every effort to expend their money in a fair and equitable manner throughout the district as to new school construction, quality staff members, and materials to work with. Title funds have been put to excellent use where applicable and proof has been shown our board of the positive effectiveness of the use of these funds, especially our reading program. I personally have made efforts

to track down reports of neglect of minority neighborhood schools but have found them groundless, in fact, to the contrary, a financial study last spring, including Federal and State funds proved in some instances nearly double the per pupil expenditure in some minority areas could be shown.

Historically, Rockford, as many other communities across this Nation, operated under the neighborhood school concept.

Approximately 7 years ago and for several following years much pressure was exerted on the board by a past superintendent of Rockford schools, in concert with vocal militant minorities and some of the majority, to visit a forced busing program upon Rockford's schools. Some 15,000 residents signed petitions and waged great effort to stop forced busing by removing the superintendent who espoused such a plan. Some boundary changes for integration and two pilot busing programs were tried, taking minorities to all-white elementary schools. This latter program was doomed to failure by an unofficial, personal, dual discipline policy of the then superintendent, and had to be suspended because of methodical beatings carried on by the undisciplined children. This was unfortunate because many people tried to make this plan a success.

Upon electoral change of board members, the past superintendent was let go and a new superintendent sought. A period of peace and reduction of racial friction and tensions followed with much constructive work such as several "target schools" being developed to aid lower achieving areas, might be compared to "intensive care" in health field.

Enter into this climate the newly elected State superintendent of schools of Illinois who turned with great fervor to pressure for desegregation, even though not de jure, and many new goals for the seventies as he has called his multifaceted educational plan, arrived at by a series of public hearings, then screening the material so only the militant, catering to children's whims response with some general material, was included. He then declared 14 of our 70-odd schools in violation of his guidelines for racial representation, which in our district ran zero to 29 percent minority as a satisfactory range. Our State legislature passed a bill to limit his authority to force busing on school districts.

We also note that since 1970 our board has been under a harassment suit, filed in Federal court by a small group of adamant people who insist we are segregated, de jure, and must bus students to and fro for equal educational opportunities. Until this year the Federal district court has not felt, from the evidence presented, that said intervention was warranted.

This school year, 1973-74, has seen movement by the board to provide a voluntary integration plan including magnet schools and alternative schools with transportation and transfer to any Rockford school by any student as long as the movement aided in desegregation. We had nearly 800 avail themselves of this plan in 90 days, but the plaintiffs in the desegregation suit attempted to get an injunction to stop our voluntary plan, arguing it ineffective and forced busing

necessary.

The judge did not grant the injunction, but using it as judicial blackmail, ordered our board to come up with a more positive plan or he

would grant the injunction. This would call for forced busing and was to be presented by February 1, 1974.

The board did, via a 4 to 3 vote and much community polarization, on the rationale that this would please the judge, State superintendent, and retain local control of the plan. Meantime the rationale has changed among the Federal judges to now say, "If you have racial isolation in your district and have not taken strong measures to correct it, you are guilty of willful segregation." With this type of reasoning the judge has refused to consider the antibusing parents who have joined the suit on the side of the board and has put down their rationale as irrelevant.

The Federal judge has now allowed the Rockford Educational Association to participate to assist the board, over the board's objection, in planning desegregation. Historically the REA has been probusing all the way as an organization, though all the teacher members don't

agree.

Rockford now stands with a grade exchange plan of forced busing for fall 1974 in which entire grades and teachers will be moved from school to school, integration to take place after they arrive at new school and participate in various activities there. This plan is approved by the State superintendent as a step in the right direction and is still to be ruled on by the Federal judge if acceptable as step 1.

I have with me petitions, all new ones, of 15,000 people against forced busing, only copy of those presented to the Governor of Illinois; as opposed to 400 people given our board by the plaintiff's attorney in their desegregation suit.

I am sure many more people than 15,000 will agree forced busing is not the panacea it is touted to be and will knowingly destroy much of our educational opportunities for the minority and the majority children-aside from much expense and waste of irreplaceable fuel and materials needed to bus children.

Forced busing has many hazards of frustration and the likelihood of increased racial tension and distrust among the community. A disaster, if you please.

We submit: Please retain neighborhood schools with emphasis on open housing so all Americans may choose and attend their neighborhood schools, also encourage voluntary transfer and avoid forced desegregation busing.

Thank you. I will be glad to answer any questions if you have any,

Senator.

Senator ERVIN. I thank you for your statement.

Last year I happened to be in the State of New York and I talked with a superintendent of a school district. He told me that his school board was compelled to spend in excess of $1 million a year merely to bus childern to achieve a racial balance. He said that this was a great tragedy for education in this country. He said that his school board had many needs for teaching equipment and that it would be a great thing if they could spend a part of this $1 million in providing incentives to education by sending teachers to schools for further courses of instruction. He wondered how much more than this $1 million they were wasting merely on busing which could be put to laudable purposes to help our children to achieve superior education and how many more millions are being wasted throughout the United States.

Dr. SCHADE. You are so correct.

Senator ERVIN. Children normally make friends in their neighborhood, don't they?

Dr. SCHADE. Correct.

Senator ERVIN. All too often forced busing separates these children throughout the week and prevents association with their friends.

Dr. SCHADE. Our busing is estimated for this great exchange plan at $800,000 with the inflation by fall and with the difficulty of getting buses, I am sure it will exceed $1 million together with 7- to 21-percent program that would leave no all white schools in any one place or any all black schools; we figured $212 million last spring when this was suggested. This is a fantastic waste of money.

The sad case is that I have had many black parents object to the busing plan. I have had many black children saying no way are you going to bus me. I have had many white children say the same thing. I would have had children arriving at schools frustrated as a discharged battery, and don't have the energy they should have.

I have also made the comment when we can no longer choose our neighborhood schools how long will it be before we cannot choose our neighborhood.

I understand in Oak Park, Ill., they are considering just such a plan where they are suggesting that each block may have 30 percent minority in that block will call for forced change of address. If this is American we have gone the wrong way.

Senator ERVIN. It is just a matter of degree between telling little children they must be bused to an fro merely to overcome racial imbalances and telling their parents where to live.

Dr. SCHADE. Correct.

I visited two of our predominant black schools last Thursday and took my wife along. They were two of the nicest schools in Rockford. I will say the feeling of the students and staff was tremendous, the people working as PTA's help the schools. The discipline was excellent and the one school will lose all their black teachers along with their black students come next fall, will leave them with a completely changed complexion.

Senator ERVIN. This is a tyranny which is practiced on white and black children alike, isn't it?

Dr. SCHADE. It certainly is. We, and I am sure, you, have one great interest, and that is the education, irrespective of race, color, or creed of our American children. We overlook one thing, however, and that is that they have to have a desire to wish to do-motivation is the big word that the educators use, and I am old fashioned enough to believe that before you get motivation you must show a need. In other words, you don't scratch if you don't itch, and you don't go trying to get your food unless you feel you are hungry.

This gets back to our welfare program, and it is a very sensitive subject, but it does tie in with this. People who really are in need and cannot help themselves-bless their hearts if we had to raise taxes, I would be for helping them, so don't misunderstand me-but to those who have worked and secured welfare or perpetuated welfare programs, black and white by the way, and on being urged by an instructor to better their education so they could have a better home, say look, my grandfather didn't work, my father didn't work, you don't think I am going