Jackson Advocate

President Asks Billions For School Needs Seeks To Stop Integration Riders

Washington, Jan. 29 President Eisenhower asked Congress today to vote $2,220,000,000 in federal aid over the next four years to help states overcome a "most critical" shortage of school-rooms.

In a 2,000-word special message to the House and Senate, the chief executive appealed for quick passage of an "emergency" program designed to overcome the nation's present "deficit" of about 159,000 classrooms.

In an effort to head off the fight over school segregation riders which blocked action on a similar school program last year, Mr. Eisenhower appealed to Congress to enact the measure "on its own merits, uncomplicated by provisions dealing with the complex problems of integration."
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1. Federal grants of $325 million annually for the next four years, a total of $1,300,000,000, to help build public schools in "financially needy" school districts. The federal money would be distributed under a complex formula taking into account the number of school-age children in a state and the state's average income per school-age child.

2. During the first year of the program, 1957, the federal aid would have to be matched by outlays from either state or local school district funds. After the first year, the matching funds would have to come solely from state funds—a requirement aimed at states which now make little or no contribution to school budgets.

3. The matching funds would be calculated on a formula based on the state's income. The poorest states would put up 50 cents for each $1 of federal aid, the richest states $2 for each $1 of federal aid.

4. Any state which falls below the national average in the proportion of its income devoted to schools, or in dollars expenditures per pupil, would have its federal aid grant "reduced proportionately."

5. The federal government would spend up to $750 million over the four years to buy bonds issued by local school districts which have been unable to market their bonds commercially at "reasonable" interest rates.

6. Federal advances of $150 million over four years to help state agencies build schools which would be turned over to local school districts on a "lease-purchase" plan. It was estimated that this federal nest-egg would enable such state agencies to float bond issues of their own, bringing in a total of $6 billion.

7. Grants of $20 million over four years to cover the administrative costs of state planning programs.