Dwight D. Eisenhower photo

Special Message to the Congress on Federal Aid to Education.

January 28, 1957

To the Congress of the United States:

In several previous messages to the Congress, I have called attention to the status of American education--to accomplishments of the past and to certain problems which deeply involve the national interest and welfare.

Today, more Americans are receiving a higher level of education than ever before. Progress has been made in building more and better schools and in providing more and better teachers. And yet problems in education still persist, and time has more clearly defined their scope and nature.

The educational task in this country is basically a State and local responsibility. Looking ahead, that task is unprecedented in its sheer magnitude. Elementary and secondary schools already are overflowing under the impact of the greatest enrollment increase in our history. The number of pupils in public schools has increased by 5½ million in the past 5 years, and will further increase by about 6 million in the next 5 years.

We have already reached an all-time peak in enrollment in colleges and universities. Yet, in the next 10 to 15 years, the number of young people seeking higher education will double, perhaps even triple.

Increasing enrollments, however, by no means represent the whole problem. Advances in science and technology, the urgency and difficulty of our quest for stable world peace, the increasing complexity of social problems--all these factors compound our educational needs.

One fact is clear. For the States, localities, and public and private educational institutions to provide the teachers and buildings and equipment needed from kindergarten to college, to provide the quality and diversity of training needed for all our young people, will require of them in the next decade the greatest expansion of educational opportunity in our history. It is a challenge they must meet.

State and local responsibility in education nurtures freedom in education, and encourages a rich diversity of initiative and enterprise as well as actions best suited to local conditions. There are, however, certain underlying problems where States and communities-acting independently cannot solve the full problem or solve it rapidly enough, and where Federal assistance is needed. But the Federal role should be merely to facilitate--never to control--education.

TEACHERS

Solutions to all the other problems in education will be empty achievements indeed if good teaching is not available. It is my earnest hope that the States and communities will continue and expand their efforts to strengthen the teaching profession.

Their efforts already have accomplished much. Progress has been made in reducing the teacher shortage. There are encouraging increases in the number of persons training to teach and the proportion of those so trained who enter the profession. Still, this year, thousands of emergency teachers with substandard certificates had to be employed. Far more needs to be done in our various communities to enhance the status of the teacher--in salary, in community esteem and support--and thereby attract more people to the profession and, equally important, retain those who bear so well the trust of instructing our youth.

OFFICE OF EDUCATION

By providing statistics and analyses on trends in education, and by administering other services, the U. S. Office of Education performs a valuable role in helping public and private educational institutions better to perform their tasks.

A significant first step was taken last year toward strengthening the Office of Education. The appropriation for the Office was increased to implement a cooperative research program, and to expand statistical and professional advisory services and studies.

This year I am asking for increases in funds for these activities, because they hold such promise for real progress toward solving some of the basic and long-standing problems in education.

EDUCATION BEYOND THE HIGH SCHOOL

If the States, localities and public and private educational institutions are successfully to meet, in the next decade, the increasing needs for education beyond the high school, their effort must begin now. The Federal Government, however, can take certain appropriate steps to encourage such action.

Already the Congress has enacted legislation for long-term loans by the Housing and Home Finance Agency to help colleges and universities expand their dormitory and other self-liquidating facilities.

Last year I appointed a Committee on Education Beyond the High School, composed of distinguished educational and lay leaders, to study and make recommendations in this field. The Committee's interim report of last November delineates issues that should have the most careful attention.

It pointed out that much more planning is needed at the State level to meet current and future needs in education beyond the high school. The Congress at the past session enacted Public Law 813, which authorized Federal funds to help the States establish State committees on education beyond the high school. The funds, however, were not appropriated. I recommend that the Congress now appropriate the full amount authorized under this legislation.

The State committees can do much to promote discussion, define problems, and develop recommendations. Their recommendations, however, must be supplemented by detailed plans to meet specific needs for expansion of physical facilities, enlargement of faculties, and other adjustments which may provide new or different institutions. Such detailed planning requires the coordinated effort of both public and private education in each State--and time, personnel, and funds.

I recommend that the Congress amend Public Law 813 so as to authorize grants to the States of $2.5 million a year for three years for these purposes.

FEDERAL AID FOR SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION

Of all the problems in education, one is most critical. In 1955, and again last year, I called attention to the critical shortage of classrooms in many communities across the country. The lack of physical facilities is a temporary emergency situation in which Federal assistance is appropriate. Unquestionably, a very considerable portion of the shortage is due to World War II restrictions on all types of civil construction including schools. With Federal help the States and communities can provide the bricks and mortar for school buildings, and there will be no Federal interference with local control of education.

I again urge the Congress to act quickly upon this pressing problem.

Today there are enrolled in our public schools about 2 1/4 million children in excess of the normal capacity of the buildings in use. These children are forced to prepare for the future under the handicap of half-day sessions, makeshift facilities, or grossly overcrowded conditions. Further, many classrooms which may not be overcrowded are too old or otherwise inadequate. They should be promptly replaced.

The need for Federal assistance in eliminating this shortage is not theory, but demonstrated fact. It cannot now be said-realistically-that the States and communities will meet the need. The classroom shortage has been apparent for a number of years, and the States and communities have notably increased their school building efforts. Each year, for several years, they have set a new record in school construction. And yet, in the face of a vast expansion in enrollments each year, many areas are making inadequate progress in reducing the shortage accumulated over many past years. The rate of State and local construction is spotty, with noticeable lags in areas where needs are expanding most rapidly.

I propose, therefore, a comprehensive program of Federal assistance. The program is designed to accomplish in four years what last year's proposal would have done in five, since one year has already been lost. I urge the Congress to authorize:

(1) Federal grants to the States for school construction, at the rate of $325 million a year for four years, a total of $1.3 billion.

(2) The authorization of $750 million over the four-year period for Federal purchase of local school construction bonds when school districts cannot market them at reasonable interest rates. These loan funds would be made available to the States on the basis of school-age population. The State educational agency would determine the priority of local school districts for Federal loans based on their relative need for financial aid in the construction of needed school facilities.

(3) Advances to help provide reserves for bonds issued by State school-financing agencies. This would facilitate the issuance of these bonds to finance schools which would be rented and eventually owned by local school districts.

(4) The expenditure of $20 million in matching grants to States for planning to strengthen State and local school construction programs.

As I indicated in my message on the State of the Union, I hope that this school construction legislation can be enacted on its own merits, uncomplicated by provisions dealing with the complex problems of integration.

BASIC PRINCIPLES

Certain basic principles must govern legislation on Federal grants for school construction, if they are to serve the cause of education most effectively.

First, the program must be recognized as an emergency measure designed to assist and encourage the States and communities in catching up with their needs. Once the accumulated shortage is overcome, if State and local autonomy in education is to be maintained, the States and communities must meet their future needs with their own resources and the Federal grant program must terminate. The States and communities already are building schools at a rate which clearly shows their ability to do this.

Second, Federal aid must not infringe upon the American precept that responsibility for control of education rests with the States and communities. School construction legislation should state this policy in no uncertain terms.

Third, Federal aid should stimulate greater State and local efforts for school construction. Many States now make no contribution to school construction, and in some States which do contribute the amount is relatively small. Further, to increase total funds for school construction, Federal grants should be matched by State-appropriated funds after the first year of the program.

Fourth, the allocation of Federal funds among the States should take into account school-age population, relative financial ability to meet school needs, and the total effort within the States to provide funds for public schools. An allocation system based solely on school-age population would tend to concentrate Federal aid in wealthy States most able to provide for their own needs. An allocation system which provides more assistance to States with the greatest financial need will help reduce the shortage more quickly and more effectively.

Fifth, in distributing grants under this program within each State, priority should be given to local districts with the greatest need for school facilities and the least local financial ability to meet the need.

In a Nation which holds sacred the dignity and worth of the individual, education is first and foremost an instrument for serving the aspirations of each person. It is not only the means for earning a living, but for enlarging life--for maintaining and improving liberty of the mind, for exercising both the rights and obligations of freedom, for understanding the world in which we live.

Collectively, the educational equipment of the whole population contributes to our national character--our freedom as a Nation, our national security, our expanding economy, our cultural attainments, our unremitting efforts for a durable peace.

The policies I have recommended in education are designed to further these ends.

DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER

Dwight D. Eisenhower, Special Message to the Congress on Federal Aid to Education. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/233570

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