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

sional techniques involved in purposeful interaction with the adults
of a subcultural group. The handful of professions which have
such techniques would include Point 4 type program fieldworkers,
rural demonstrators, field sociologists, action anthropologists, group
social workers, and labor educators. Through the efforts of such
a professional, it is possible to change the relationship of the home
environment to school problems, so that, where previously there
was a vacuum, there is developed a positive support for schoolchildren
and a push toward more serious academic application.
At the close of the school year 1960-61 the Ken Gar Committee and
the volunteer tutors arranged an honors program. The pupils (selected
by their public schools) who had the highest scholastic achievement and
those who had made the greatest progress during the year received
prizes. The volunteer tutors gave citations of merit to children who
had made the greatest effort. Each child received a book, appropriate
to his age and interest, from the League of Women Voters. The 200
assembled Ken Gar citizens and guests were addressed by Frank Reeves,
then President Kennedy's Special Assistant for Civil Rights and
Minority Groups. The program was the climax of the year's effort to
help a small community achieve higher educational goals for its
children.
Transitional control
As part of a gradual desegregation plan, Montgomery County, Md.,
limited the number of Negroes in each school to one-third of the total
enrollment and reduced the teacher-pupil ratio from the standard i to
30, to a sliding scale of from i to 23 to 28, depending upon local
conditions. 28
Such a plan would be difficult to carry out except in a system where
new schools could be or were being built—otherwise there would not be
enough flexibility to achieve the desired result. The superintendent of
schools of Montgomery County, testified that he believed smaller classes
taught by well-trained teachers was the key to educational progress. 2 *
He also observed that research by his staff indicated that "when the
number of Negro students exceeded one-third . . . there is a greater
increase in proportion problems"; and that "the acceptance [of desegregation]
on the part of the white population . . . was less enthusiastic
when there was a higher ratio. 25
Career clubs
A private, nonprofit corporation in Phoenix, Arizona, called Careers
Unlimited, has a program for economically and culturally deprived students—particularly
Mexican-Americans and Negroes along with some
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