[From the Tampa Tribune, Feb. 28, 1972, submitted by George H. Stewart, Comdr., U.S. Navy (Retired)] MESSAGE TO COURT: STOP THE BUSES How do you stop Federal judges from using school buses not as transport vehicles but as racial homogenizers? One way, apparently sanctioned by the Constitution, is to take away the judge's power to issue such an order. This is the remedy surprisingly approved last week by the Senate of the United States, 43 to 40. It is not final. Another vote must be taken Wednesday, and the return of Senators who were away campaigning for the Presidency could switch the result. But, this Friday vote was the lightning flash which warns of a storm. The issue of racial busing has moved like a thunderhead out of the South and into other regions. Any proposal to deprive the Federal courts of jurisdiction on a pending issue will trouble a lover of the law. What precedent will be set for political interference with judicial process? How far might Congress go in curbing the courts in a time of high emotion? Some Senators who believe busing to achieve "racial balance" is wrong in principle have doubts about the wisdom of attempting to strip the courts of jurisdiction by Congressional act. But when the roll was called in the Senate, it wasn't only Southern voices which answered "yea". There was James Buckley of New York, there was William Proxmire of Wisconsin, there was Margaret Chase Smith of Maine, and Norris Cotton of New Hampshire, and Wallace Bennett of Utah, both Carl Curtis and Roman Hruska of Nebraska, and Colorado's Gordon Allott and Peter Dominick, among others-and of course Robert P. Griffin of Michigan, the sponsor. All these in a Senate which is more liberal than the House on civil rights measures and has consistently rejected proposals to move school buses beyond the reach of Federal judges. Earlier in the week the Senate easily passed a so-called compromise measure forbidding Federal authorities to require busing which would risk a child's health or take him to a school inferior to that in his own neighborhood. The purpose of this bill, spliced together by Democratic leader Mike Mansfield and Republican leader Hugh Scott, was to divert support from stronger measures, especially a Constitutional amendment. One proponent of a strong anti-busing measure, Senator Sam Ervin of North Carolina, called the Mansfield-Scott bill "legislative gobbledegook designed to conceal from the public that it does nothing whatsoever". We're inclined to think Senator Ervin's analysis is right. The measure does not specifically deny jurisdiction to Federal courts. And it would be difficult to prove that a child's health or educational opportunity was being impaired by busing. Judicial autocrats capable of such decrees as that commanding Richmond, Va. and two suburban counties to combine their schools for "racial balance" would scorn the Mansfield-Scott restraint. There is a question whether the Supreme Court would uphold the jurisdiction denial in busing cases voted by the Senate. Even though the Constitution gives Congress the right to say what jurisdiction Federal courts may exercise, opponents of the Griffin bill argue that school integration cases come under the 14th Amendment, therefore involve civil rights which cannot be removed from the court's protection. Under this theory only a Constitutional amendment can stop the buses. Perhaps so. But there is another way much faster than the amendment process and more certain than a Congressional act. That is a retreat by the Supreme Court from earlier decisions giving lower courts almost unlimited authority to scramble schools and children. The Supreme Court has two new and more conservative Justices. It also has ears to hear and eyes to see the spreading national resentment against racial busing. When 43 Senators vote to deny Federal courts judisdiction in what is considered a civil rights area, it is surely time for the Justices to reflect on what they have wrought. That reflection ought to bring them to the sound principle of requiring nondiscrimination in schools but not forced homogenization-and recalling the wayward buses without an act of Congress. ப Busing In Louisiana Since the massive desegregation orders of the 1969-70 school year, which saw more desegregation take place than in any other period of Louisiana history, busing has received heavy and apparently for Louisiana, undue attention. For the most part, school systems throughout the south, already leading the country in the amount of desegregation, opened the 1971-72 school year with a minimum of disruption. Louisiana was no exception. Five of her 66 systems opened the school year under new or amended court orders which called for addition al busing-Jefferson, Rapides, Lincoln, Lafayette and Grant. Of the five, only Jefferson was directly affected by the Swann Decision. Briefs have been filed with the U. S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals which could affect five other parishes but as of this date no ruling has been rendered. U. S. District Court Judge Herbert Christenberry ordered a plan for Jefferson which provided that 3,000 children (90 per cent of whom are black) be transported by bus for the first time. Jefferson, under Swann, provides bus rides of from 7 to 14 miles, modest when compared to other more rural Louisiana parishes. Parish officials report that the system is running very smoothly and that despite upheavals prior to the opening of school there have been no incidents because of busing. Parents in the parish indicate that their initial concern was the ultimate destination of the child, not the trip itself. Comments made by parents with children enrolled in parish schools point out that after two months under the new plan, both white and black parents, are satisfied that their children are getting a good education. A few parents have said that they feel the whole issue of busing in Jefferson had "become a political football." In Grant, which has received almost as much publicity in past months as Jefferson, officials say that although parents and children are experiencing some inconvenience under the new plan, efforts are continuing to make it work as smoothly as possible for everyone. Because the plan was developed in such an inordinately short period of time, officials note that it has flaws, such as long meandering routes. They are confident they can be ironed out in time. Rapides, under new orders which required changes in patterns, not in the number of students transported or miles traveled one-way daily, became 8 per cent more desegre gated. Under the new plan more whites are attending black schools. One official noted that things appear to be calming down but added that comments from parents are bitter and emotional regarding busing. The Rapides plan affected only junior high and high school students. Lafayette sources indicate that most of the initial conflict has subsided. Problems came from pairing two Lafayette city schools. Prior to this, only schools out of the city had been paired. A large percentage of Lafayette Parish students are bused and always have been. The new order brings 15 to 20 per cent of the black students into former all-white schools. Officials feel that current problems surrounding the busing issue no longer exist. Lincoln Parish claims that most of the revisions to their transportation plan were just that. One official stated that the issue has proven to be a "tempest in a teapot." He noted that the parish did some revising and reshuffling but was transporting essentially the same number of students the same distance. Busing became an emotion-laden issue last spring following the significant Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education decision in which the Supreme Court ruled that busing was an acceptable tool to use in desegregating schools. In rendering the decision, Chief Justice Burger wrote: "The scope of permissible transportation of students as an implement of a remedial decree has never been defined by this Court and by the very nature of the problem it cannot be defined with precision. No rigid guidelines as to student transportation can be given for application to the infinite variety of problems presented in thousands of situations. Bus transportation has been an integral part of the public education system for years, and was perhaps the single most important factor in the transition from the one-room schoolhouse to the consolidated school. Eighteen million of the nation's public school children, approximately 39 per cent, were transported to their schools by bus in 1969-70 in all parts of the country." Although the ruling was directed at a southern school system, the knee-jerk reaction it elicited was clearly centered outside of the south. 2 Northern communities, unaccustomed to being singled out by desegregation orders, adopted busing as a cause celebre. Scant attention was given the South as buses were burned, and schools boycotted in areas which had traditionally pointed accusing fingers at southern schools. Perhaps the reason busing in Louisiana hasn't reached the emotional climax experienced in some parts of the country is because it has historically been an integral part of Louisiana education. The percentage of total enrollment bused to school has always been high. In 1949 Louisiana was transporting 42.6 per cent of its schoolchildren from home to school and back again via the cumbersome yellow vehicles. In predominately rural parishes with barely a hint of the industry that was one day destined to line the banks of the Mississippi River, the yellow school bus was one way of insuring that everyone had the benefit of an education. By 1953-54 the per cent bused had jumped to 49.1 and those who lived too far off the meandering bus routes either walked or hitched a ride with someone headed in the general direction of the schoolhouse. Some students were fortunate enough to ride with parents or have access to public transportation. The furor over busing experienced today might be considered mild, compared with the one that would have erupted in those days if the state had curtailed free school buses. Just ten years ago when the state had experienced little in the way of desegregation, 51.2 per cent of the total public school enrollment was riding buses. Last year that figure had slowly but steadily risen to 58.2 per cent, well above the national average of nearly 40 per cent. (It is interesting to note that nearly 40 per cent of the nation's elementary school children are bused to school for reasons that have nothing to do with desegregation.) A recent survey of the 66 Louisiana systems indicates that this year's figure will not change noticeably. A study of transportation in state systems over a 4-year period beginning in 1966 showed that a higher percentage of white students has always been bused than blacks, though the gap has been closing in recent years. The percentage of white students bused rose 1.5 percentage points over the 4-year period while transportation of black students increased by 5.4 percentage points as the following table shows. One of the indicators used to measure the amount of transportation taking place within the state are miles traveled one-way daily. A major fear expressed by parents during all discussions related to busing is that children will be forced to ride excessively long routes. The staff of the Information Center on School Desegregation (ICSD) conducted a survey among the state's school superintendents to obtain an up-to-date picture of the busing issue in each of the systems. Responses were obtained from all of the 66 systems. The survey found that although some routes within state systems are long, most have been so since before desegregation and affect students from isolated rural pockets. Systems that have experienced problems with routes as a result of desegregation expressed the feeling that routes will return closer to normal lengths when adjustments are made as the school year progresses. Apparently the exact opposite of what was feared by busing opponents occurred as far as increases in mileage were concerned. Since 1966 the statewide total of miles traveled one-way daily has actually decreased. The ICSD survey found that no substantial changes in miles traveled one-way daily are expected to be recorded for 1971-72. |