1961 US Commission on Civil Rights Report Book 2 - University of ...

same students had made the previous year in the all-Negro high
school. Actually, about 44 percent was below what we considered
standard grades for their ability.
When this report was made to the board of education, the board
felt that we should provide tutors for the Negro students. To do
this would have been giving special privileges to one group. It
was recommended by the administration that we offer free tutoring
at nights on a permissive basis for all high school students. As a
result, more white students reported for extra help than did Negro
students, on a percentage basis; however, we do feel that this step
aided the transition because the grades started pulling up
immediately.
At the <strong>Commission</strong>'s California hearings, the executive director of
the Community Relations Conference of Southern California reported
that 16 —
The conference is presently offering a tutoring service through the
schools and with the approval of the Los Angeles School Board to
students who are having difficulty adjusting to the standards of
the local system (because of the inadequacy of the instruction in
their former residence). The board of education has designated
four schools as pilot projects. The tutors are retired teachers who
are giving their time without charge.
A later witness for the same organization said, however, that the tutoring
"is on a very limited scale because we find it very difficult to get teachers
who are willing to volunteer their time. . . ." 1T
The superintendent of schools of Arlington, Va., testifying at Gatlinburg
on the scholastic difficulties of Negro students admitted to formerly
white junior and senior high schools, said: 18
It is my understanding that the first Negro children who were admitted
to Stratford Junior High School had received some tutoring
help from persons not connected with the school system. It has also
been reported that Negro students in our senior high school have
received the same type of tutoring assistance. In spite of all this,
however, I am not able to report these students are doing well
within their classes. All senior high school students are working
considerably below the average of other students in that school.
Perhaps the most extensive and well-organized private effort to raise
the achievement levels of Negro pupils enrolled in a formerly white
school was discussed at the Williamsburg conference. This project,
sponsored by the nonprofit Home Study Program, Inc., serves about 100
120