EDUCATION BILL.

THURSDAY, JULY 10, 1919.

SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND LABOR,

AND HOUSE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION,

Washington, D. C.

The Committee on Education and Labor of the United States Senate and the Committee on Education of the House of Representatives met, pursuant to the call of the chairman of the Committee on Education and Labor of the United States Senate, at 10 o'clock a. m., in room 201, Senate Office Building.

Present: Senators Kenyon, Phipps, Wolcott, and Smith; Representatives Fess, Towner, Dallinger, Donovan, Bankhead, Blanton, and Reed.

Also present: Hugh S. Magill, representing National Education Association, Washington, D. C.; Henry Sterling, legislative representative of the American Federation of Labor, Washington, D. C. The joint committee then proceeded to consider bills (H. R. 7 and S. 1017) to create a department of education, to authorize appropriations for the conduct of said department, to authorize the appropriation of money to encourage the States in the promotion and support of education, and for other purposes.

Chairman KENYON. Gentlemen, this is a joint meeting of the Senate and House Committees on Education to consider what is known as the Smith-Towner bill, and I think that it will be very agreeable to all of us if Congressman Fess, chairman of the House Committee on Education, should preside. This is a joint hearing of the committees, and if there is no objection, Congressman Fess, the chairman of the Committee of Education of the House, will take the chair.

(There was no objection, and Congressman Simeon D. Fess thereafter acted as chairman.)

The CHAIRMAN. It was my desire to have Senator Kenyon preside at these hearings, but inasmuch as it seems to be the sense of the committees that I should preside I shall take pleasure in doing so.

In view of the fact that quite a number of persons desire to be heard on this bill, I think it would be well that the time of the people should be limited. Some of them have come long distances and desire to get away, and it would be well if we can agree upon a time limit which shall be consumed by each speaker, so as to avoid any inconvenience on the part of those who have transportation already secured and who must leave. We will decide upon that later on. I think it would be in order, since the author of the bill is here, to call upon him first. We will therefore hear from Judge Towner.

Mr. DONOVAN. I wish to state, Mr. Chairman, that I did not get notice of this meeting until this morning, and I know of several parties who are greatly interested in the hearing and who have asked me to notify them when the hearings come up, but I have not had an opportunity to notify them. This will not be the only hearing, will it?

The CHAIRMAN. Oh, no. The bill may here be printed in the record.

(The bill is here printed in the record in full, as follows:)

A BILL To create a department of education, to authorize appropriations for the conduct of said department, to authorize the appropriation of money to encourage the States in the promotion and support of education, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That there is hereby created an executive department in the Government to be called the department of education, with a secretary of education, who shall be the head thereof, to be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and who shall receive a salary of $12,000 per annum, and whose tenure of office shall be the same as that of the heads of other executive departments; and section one hundred and fifty-eight of the Revised Statutes is hereby amended to include such department, and the provisions of title 4 of the Revised Statutes, including all amendments thereto, are hereby made applicable to said department. The secretary of education shall cause a seal of office to be made for such department of such device as the President shall approve, and judicial notice shall be taken of said seal,

SEC. 2. That there shall be in said department an assistant secretary of education to be appointed by the President, who shall receive a salary of $5,000 per annum. He shall perform such duties as may be prescribed by the secretary or required by law. There shall also be one chief clerk and a disbursing clerk and such chiefs of bureaus and clerical assistants as may from time to time be authorized by Congress.

SEC. 3. That there is hereby transferred to the department of education the bureau of education, and the President is authorized and empowered in his discretion to transfer to the department of education such offices, bureaus, divisions, boards or branches of the Government, connected with or attached to any of the executive departments or organized independently of any department, as in his judgment should be controlled by, or the functions of which should be exercised by, the department of education, and all such offices, bureaus, divisions, boards or branches of the Government so transferred by the President or by act of Congress, shall thereafter be administered by the department of education, as hereinafter provided.

All officers, clerks, and employees employed in or by any office, bureau, division, board, or branch of the Government, transferred in accordance with the provisions of this act to the department of education, shall each and all be transferred to said department of education at their existing grades and salaries, except where otherwise provided in this act; and the office records and papers on file and pertaining exclusively to the business of any such office, bureau, division, board, or branch of the Government so transferred, together with the furniture and equipment thereof, shall be transferred to said department.

SEC. 4. That the secretary of education shall have charge, in the buildings or premises occupied by or assigned to the department of education, of the library, furniture, fixtures, records, and other property used therein or pertaining thereto, and may expend for rental of appropriate quarters for the accommodation of the department of education within the District of Columbia, and for the library, furniture, equipment, and all other incidental expenses, such sums as Congress may provide from time to time.

All power and authority conferred by law upon or exercised by the head of any executive department or by any administrative board over any officer, office, bureau, division, board, or branch of the Government, transferred in accordance with the provisions of this act to the department of education, and any and all business arising therefrom or pertaining thereto, and all duties performed in connection therewith, shall, after such transfer, be vested in and exercised by the secretary of education.

All laws prescribing the work and defining the duties and powers of the several offices, bureaus, divisions, boards, or branches of the Government, transferred in accordance with the provisions of this act to the department of education, shall, in so far as the same are not in conflict with the provisions of this act, remain in full force and effect and be executed by the secretary of education, to whom is hereby granted definite authority to reorganize the work of any and all of the said offices, bureaus, divisions, boards, or branches of the Government so transferred, in such way as will in his judgment best accomplish the purposes of this act.

SEC. 5. That it shall be the duty of the department of education, to conduct studies and investigations in the field of education and to report thereon. Research shall be undertaken in (a) illiteracy; (b) immigrant education; (c) public-school education, and especially rural education; (d) physical education, including health education, recreation and sanitation; (e) preparation and supply of competent teachers for the public schools; and (f) in such other fields as, in the judgment of the secretary of education, may require attention and study.

In order to carry out the provisions of this section the secretary of education is authorized, in the same manner as provided for appointments in other departments, to make appointments, or recommendations of appointments, of educational attachés to foreign embassies, and of such investigators and representatives as may be needed, subject to the appropriations that have been made or may hereafter be made to any office, bureau, division, board, or branch of the Government, transferred in accordance with the provisions of this act to the department of education; and where appropriations have not been made therefor the appropriation provided in section six of this act shall be available. SEC. 6. That for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1921, and annually thereafter, the sum of $500,000 is hereby authorized to be appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to the department of education, for the purpose of paying salaries and conducting investigations and paying all incidental and traveling expenses and rent where necessary, and for the purpose of enabling the department of education to carry out the provisions of this act. And all appropriations which have been made and which may hereafter be made to any office, bureau, division, board or branch of the Government, transferred in accordance with the provisions of this act to the department of education, are hereby continued in full force and effect, and shall be administered by the secretary of education in such manner as is prescribed by law.

SEC. 7. That in order to encourage the States in the promotion and support of education, there is hereby authorized to be appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1921, and annually thereafter, $100,000,000, to be apportioned, disbursed, and expended as hereinafter provided.

SEC. 8. That in order to encourage the States to remove illiteracy, threefortieths of the sum authorized to be appropriated by section 7 of this act shall be used for the instruction of illiterates ten years of age and over. Such instruction shall deal with the common-school branches and the duties of citizenship, and when advisable shall prepare for some definite occupation. Said sum shall be apportioned to the States in the proportions which their respective illiterate populations of ten years of age and over, not including foreign-born illiterates, bear to such total illiterate population of the United States, not including outlying possessions, according to the last preceding census of the United States.

SEC. 9. That in order to encourage the States in the Americanization of immigrants, three-fortieths of the sum authorized to be appropriated by section 7 of this act shall be used to teach immigrants ten years of age and over to speak and read the English language and to understand and appreciate the spirit and purpose of the American Government and the duties of citizenship in a free country. The said sum shall be apportioned to the States in the proportions which their respective foreign-born populations bear to the total foreignborn population of the United States, not including outlying possessions, according to the last preceding census of the United States.

SEC. 10. That in order to encourage the States to equalize educational opportunities, five-tenths of the sum authorized to be appropriated by section 7 of this act shall be used in public elementary and secondary schools for the partial payment of teachers' salaries, for providing better instruction and extending school terms, especially in rural schools and schools in sparsely settled localities, and otherwise providing equally good educational opportunities for

the children in the several States, and for the extension and adaptation of public libraries for educational purposes. The said sum shall be apportioned to the States, one-half in the proportions which the number of children between the ages of six and twenty-one of the respective States bear to the total number of such children in the United States, and one-half in the proportions which the number of public-school teachers employed in teaching positions in the respective States bear to the total number of public-school teachers so employed in the United States, not including outlying possessions, said apportionment to be based upon statistics collected annually by the department of education.

Provided, however, That in order to share in the apportionment provided by this section a State shall establish and maintain the following requirements unless prevented by constitutional limitations, in which case these requirements shall be approximated as nearly as constitutional provisions will permit: (a) a legal school term of at least twenty-four weeks in each year for the benefit of all children of school age in such State; (b) a compulsory school attendance law requiring all children between the ages of seven and fourteen to attend some school for at least twenty-four weeks in each year: (c) a law requiring that the English language shall be the basic language of instruction in the common-school branches in all schools, public and private.

SEC. 11. That in order to encourage the States in the promotion of physical education, two-tenths of the sum authorized to be appropriated by section 7 of this act shall be used for physical education and instruction in the principles of health and sanitation, and for providing school nurses, school dental clinics, and otherwise promoting physical and mental welfare. The said sum shall be apportioned to the States in the proportions which their respective populations bear to the total population of the United States, not including oulying possessions, according to the last preceding census of the United States.

SEC. 12. That in order to encourage the States in the preparation of teachers for public-school service, particularly in rural schools, three-twentieths of the sum authorized to be appropriated by section 7 of this act shall be used to provide and extend facilities for the improvement of teachers already in service and for the more adequate preparation of prospective teachers, and to provide an increased number of trained and competent teachers by encouraging, through the establishment of scholarships and otherwise, a greater number of talented young people to make adequate preparation for public-school service. The said sum shall be approtioned to the States in the proportions which the number of public-school teachers employed in teaching positions in the respective States bear to the total number of public-school teachers so employed in the United States, not including outlying possessions, said apportionments to be based on statisics colleced annually by the department of education.

SEC. 13. That in order to secure the benefits of the appropriation authorized in section 7, and of any of the apportionments made in sections 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12 of this act, a State shall by legislative enactment accept the provisions of this act and provide for the distribution of such funds as may be apportioned to said State, and shall designate the State's chief educational authority, whether a State superintendent of public instruction, a commissioner of edu'cation, a State board of education, or other legally constituted chief educational authority, to represent said State in the administration of this act, and such authority so designated shall be recognized by the secretary of education : Provided, That in any State in which the legislature does not meet in 1920, the governor of said State, in so far as he may have authority so to do, may take such action, temporarily, as is herein provided to be taken by legislative enactment in order to secure the benefits of this act, and such action by the governor shall be recognized by the secretary of education for the purposes of this act, when reported by the chief educational authority designated to represent said State, until the legislature of said State shall have met in due course and been in session sixty days.

In any State accepting the provisions of this act, the State treasurer shall be designated and appointed as custodian of all funds received by said State as apportionments under the provisions of this act, to receive and provide for the proper custody and disbursement of the same, such disbursements to be made in accordance with the legal provisions of said State, on warrants duly drawn by the State's chief educational authority designated to represent said State in the administration of this act.

A State may accept the provisions of any one or more of the respecive apportionments authorized in sections 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12 of this act, and may