Letter Requesting a Study on the Federal Relationship to State and Local Education.

My dear Dr. Reeves:

I have been giving thought to the general system of the relationship of the Federal Government to education. Many bills are now pending in Congress all of which seek to a greater or less degree to aid the Federal Government in future extensive programs costing very large sums of money.

Inasmuch as the Committee of which you are Chairman, appointed last Fall to study vocational training, is also charged with considering the relation of such training to general education, it occurs to me that you already have considerable information at hand.

I am, therefore, asking your Committee to give more extended consideration to the whole subject of Federal relationship to state and local conduct of education and to let me have a report. I appreciate that this will take more time than that allotted to your Committee.

May I suggest to you that in the conduct of this study, your Committee should consider among other things the definite danger that an entering wedge of Federal expenditure in any system of taxing to states or localities might easily expand in a very short time to the point where the Treasury would be gravely embarrassed and financial burdens now resting on the states and localities would tend to be cast on the Federal Government.

Very sincerely yours,

Dr. Floyd W. Reeves,

Chairman, President's Committee on Vocational Education,

Washington, D.C.