HOUSE RESOLUTION 16 Resolution requesting the expansion of Federal programs to meet the effects of the natural disaster on the State school system Be it resolved by the house of representatives: Whereas the earthquake disaster has had a grave impact on the public education program and system of the State through the destruction of school facilities and the loss of revenues vital to the existence of education; and Whereas the Federal support for the State's education program emanating from Public Laws 815 and 874 for matching money for school buildings and facilities and for grants to schools affected by Federal activities in the area could be expanded to meet the unprecedented situation facing the school systems in Alaska; and Whereas U.S. Senator Wayne Morse has introduced S. 2725 to amend Public Law 815 to release funds to replace the schools lost or ravaged in Alaska; and Whereas the magnitude of the disaster in Alaska strongly suggests the need for making Public Law 874 funds available on the basis of total enrollment at the discretion of the President and for a period of need to be determined by the President: Be it Resolved, That the President and the Congress are most earnestly and urgently requested to give early and favorable attention to S. 2725 and to make Public Law 874 funds available to Alaska on the basis of total school enrollment in order that the public education program of the State of Alaska may be sustained during the period in which the State is striving to rebuild its economy and overcome the disastrous effects of the earthquake on its economy and vital programs; and be it further Resolved, That copies of this resolution be sent to the Honorable Lyndon B. Johnson, President of the United States; the Honorable Carl Hayden, President pro tempore of the Senate; the Honorable John W. McCormack, Speaker of the House of Representatives; the Honorable Anthony J. Celebrezze, Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare; the Honorable Wayne Morse, U.S. Senator; and the members of the Alaska delegation in Congress. Passed by the house April 12, 1964. Senator From the State of Oregon, New Senate Office Building, MY DEAR SENATOR MORSE: We are sending you a copy of a leaflet that has been prepared by us for general distribution at the National Education Association Representative Assembly at Seattle later this month. We are hoping that we can aid in garnering widespread individual and collective support from teachers and educators across the Nation. The enclosed leaflet and other material will be distributed in Seattle prior to the presentation of a resolution on the floor of the assembly calling for NEA support. Senator Morse, know that we in Alaska are most appreciative of all of your efforts in behalf of education, and particularly, we are grateful for your efforts in this most recent instance. With friends like you "in the garrison," certainly the future for public education in this Nation is much brighter. Sincerely yours, HAZE J. BERGERON, Executive Secretary. IT HAPPENED IN ALASKA-BUT IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU FEDERAL AID TO SCHOOLS IN DISASTER STRUCK AREAS Mr. MORSE. Mr. President, I know you share with me the heartfelt sympathy that all Americans extended immediately to our brothers in Alaska and on the sea-ravaged portions of the west coast as a result of the earthquake and the tidal wave which followed. I shall, of course, support every effort to provide financial assistance to the State of Alaska and the affected communities. This terrible news caused me to think, however, that perhaps we should explore the utility of an automatic standby authority which would release Federal funds for the replacement of schools damaged by such acts of God. Three to four schools a week in this country, I am advised, burn or are destroyed. Flood, windstorm, tornadoes and hurricanes all take their toll of our schools, and as importantly, the local tax base which supports the school. The replacement of these schools in a great many cases, where tragedy has also wiped from the tax rolls the land values in the community, poses a terribly difficult financial problems to the affected local communities. I send to the desk for appropriate reference a bill designed to meet these contingencies which we all hope will never strike our own home States. It is a standby authority bill which, if enacted, would go far in restoring the damage to the school plant, thus permitting an early resumption of the school operations. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that there be printed at this point in my remarks the text of the bill together with a short section-by-section analysis of the major provisions. There being no objection, the bill and section-by-section analysis was ordered to be printed in the Record. "SENATOR MORSE PROPOSES FEDERAL AID TO SCHOOLS IN DISASTER "Senator Wayne Morse, Democrat, of Oregon, chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Education, on April 9 proposed major disaster amendments to Public Laws 815 and 874. Senator Morse pointed out that 'as a result of the [Alaskan] earthquake and tidal wave, perhaps we should explore the utility of an automatic standby authority which would release Federal funds for the replacement of schools damaged by such acts of God.' "The new Morse bill, S. 2725, would amend Public Law 815 to permit the Commissioner to make school construction and rehabilitation grants to a local public educational agency located in whole or in part in an area which, in the determination of the President, has suffered a major disaster. The grants would be in such amounts as the Commissioner determines to be in the public interest, but they could not exceed the difference between the amounts reasonably available to the local educational agency from other sources and the cost of restoring or replacing the public school facilities destroyed or damaged as a result of the disaster. Assurances would be required that the appropriate State and local governments would also make reasonable expenditures for these purposes. Appropriations would be authorized in such amounts as would be necessary to carry out this provision, and pending such appropriations the Commissioner could use funds appropriated for other sections of Public Law 815. "S. 2725 would also amend Public Law 874 to permit the Commissioner to make grants for current operating expenses to a local public educational agency located in whole or in part in an area which, in the determination of the President, has suffered a major disaster. The grants, which could be made for the 5-fiscal-year period beginning with the fiscal year in which the disaster occurred, could not exceed the difference between the amounts reasonably available to the local educational agency from other sources and the cost of providing a level of education equivalent to that maintained in the agency's schools during the last full fiscal year prior to the disaster. Amounts provided during the last 3 years of the 5-fiscal-year period could not exceed 75, 60, and 25 percent, respectively, of the amount provided during the first fiscal year following the disaster. In addi tion, the Commissioner could provide funds to replace temporarily facilities destroyed as a result of the disaster. Assurance would be required that the appropriate State and local governments would also make reasonable expenditures for these purposes. Appropriations authorized in such amount as would be necessary to carry out this provision, and pending such appropriations the Commissioner could use funds appropriated for other sections of Public Law 874.” If enacted by Congress, S. 2725 would become broad permanent general legislation that would benefit all areas of our Nation faced with disaster. Write to your congressional delegation. Offer your support for S. 2725. Mr. MORSE. Mr. President, I assure those who have written me on this subject that it is my earnest hope that this needed standby legislation can receive congressional approval in this session of the Congress. EXTENSION OF PUBLIC LAWS 815 AND 874 Mr. President, although the bills I have previously discussed do not in themselves contain provisions which would extend the life of Public Laws 815 and 874 which, unless they are further extended, are scheduled to expire on June 30, 1965, I feel that it would be most helpful to the members of my subcommittee, if at the time of our July hearings, witnesses would address themselves to the question of the further extension of the basic statutes, in addition to providing the subcommittee with their comments upon the proposed amendments. I mention this point, Mr. President, because as a realist I feel that the Congress will be faced with this question sooner or later, and that perhaps the most propitious time to resolve the question would be in connection with the hearings on S. 2725 and S. 2528. I do not mean to imply that the extension should necessarily be incorporated as an amendment to either of the bills, it could very well be handled as a separate clean bill, but I think, as I have indicated, it would be unrealistic not to take this opportunity to come to grips with the question of the number of years we can now extend these statutes prior to further review. Extension heretofore, has been of 1 or 2 years duration. It is my judgment that we should explore more fully the advisability of at least a 3-year extension, because I feel that school superintendents in the affected areas need a certain amount of lead time in planning their budgets and operations. Senators are keenly aware, I am sure, of the manifold difficulties which were created last year, when for some 6 months there was no authority for expenditure of funds for the temporary provisions of the impacted areas laws. It is a problem to be sure, which varies from school district to school district and it is at its most acute in those school districts which derive 20 percent or more of their operating budget from Public Law 874. There are some 289 such school districts in the United States which are set forth in the table I now ask unanimous consent to have reprinted in the Congressional Record, together with a statement prepared by Mr. Oscar V. Rose, superintendent of the Midwest City, Okla., schools under date of June 13, 1964, which sets forth the need and urgency of legislative action in this field. (There being no objection, the statement was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows:) JUNE 13, 1964. The attached data is to point up the unusual problem which will result to certain school districts being assisted under Public Law 874 should this legislation not be extended during the present session of Congress. Certainly this problem will be of greater concern the longer any assistance is postponed prior to the present expiration date of June 30, 1965. It is not intended to evaluate or discount the problem which would maintain in all of the more than 4,000 schools assisted under this program, but it is believed that in general the financial problem becomes more acute as the ratio of Federal funds to total budget increases. While this data concerns only those schools receiving above 20 percent of their budget from Public Law 874, it is not suggested that there is any magic in this percentage. However, it does create a division point above which we believe serious difficulty would be encountered in attempting to maintain a full term of school with the loss of Federal funds now being received. Perhaps many schools would find the same problem who receive less than 20 percent, but this study is designed only to point out the most serious cases. Some of the facts disclosed by this tabulated data are: 1. A total of 289 of the 4,182 school districts receiving aid under Public Law 874 in fiscal 1963 received 20 percent of their budget funds from this source. 2. This represented 6.9 percent of the total applicants. 3. These 289 schools received 23.3 percent of the entitlements of all 4,182 schools. 4. Whereas the 4,182 schools received only 5.2 percent of their budgets from Public Law 874 the 289 applicants received an aggregate of 37 percent of their annual budget funds from this source. (This serves to point out the acute problem faced by these schools in comparison to that faced by all applicants schools.) These 289 schools will be forced to contract for teachers early in 1965 and reasonably soon after the next session of Congress convenes and with this shortage of funds a normal school program simply cannot be planned unless the administrators and boards of education involved are willing to place themselves in the illegal position of contracting expenditures for which there is no legal assurance that funds will be available. In view of the experience of the past year when legislation was not extended until just prior to the Christmas vacation and funds were not appropriated until early in the following session, it is believed that school officials will not wish to experience the same uncertainty again. This could result in a breakdown in school planning early next year and still prior to any reasonable expectation of this legislation being extended during that session. Delay such as that experienced last year and the delay which will result if action is not taken to extend this legislation during the current session will not serve to reduce Federal expenditures. It can have but one effect and that is damage to the educational program for millions of American children. Prepared by: OSCAR V. ROSE, Superintendent, Midwest City Schools. |