| Summary |
At the turn of the decade American education can reflect on many innovations and numerous conflicts. A number of changes have taken place in school curricula, such as nongraded instruction, team teaching, and modern mathematics. School construction has undergone extensive innovations as exemplified by modular construction, collapsible walls, and inner courts. The past decade has also reflected a closer look at the education of the retarded child, as well as the gifted. The need for vocational training was also realized, and bricklaying, auto mechanics and carpentry became commonplace within the school curriculum. Computerized instruction has also appeared on the educational scene, aiding in the need for more individualized instruction. Educational media has become synonymous with good classroom instruction. Federal legislation and programs have provided many new educational opportunities for the people, with direct aid to low income areas and programs of adult education. The last ten years have certainly yielded many important changes in education. The last decade has also been a time of unusual conflicts and disorders, which often have been readily evident in some area of education. The Viet Nam War has produced its home battlefields between the hawks and doves, and many of these battlefields are college campuses. The conflict, has not only been a battle of words, but open conflict between various opinionated groups. The names of men such as Timothy Leary and Dr. Benjamin Spock have become synonymous with open opposition to the governmental stand on the war In Viet Nam. Education has also become the battleground for the struggle for equal opportunity for all men. Racial issues have been discussed openly -with few satisfying answers and many riots and civil disturbances being the results. Individuals are exploiting the "free society" of America by protesting whenever things do not go their way and covering for thievery by creating riots in the streets. Strikes, boycotts, and civil disturbances are evidenced in every city and state of this nation. The end result lies in the hope for tomorrow and a new and better day. The big question in the minds of educators is whether our educational systems will perish or survive. The idea of obtaining a good education and working one's way up in society has become secondary to many individuals. They live in a world dominated by the thoughts and trends advocated by men like Marshall McLuhan, but they use tactics that remind one of Hitler and his crushing manuvers. Once the message is conveyed that brain will prevail over brawn, education can again hope to survive. Since the Supreme Court decision of May, 1954, in which it was clearly stated that "separate but equal facilities are unconstitutional," the educational institutions have suffered. |
| Summary |
More than a decade later the Congress of the United States passed the Civil Rights Act of 1965, which made the concept of equal opportunity for all men the law of the land. The most immediate impact was seen in the public schools. For many years the schools had operated with separate, but equal facilities for white and Negro children. This concept was no longer acceptable, and integration became a household word, both praised and cursed. The process of integration was gradual, with many school districts achieving only token integration by the turn of the decade. Many old schools were abandoned and new ones constructed. Team teaching became very prominent in many parts of the country as districts were forced to integrate their staffs, as well as the pupil population. The transition that was taking place did not occur without its problems. The Ku Klux Klan was revived in some areas of the Deep South to allow some white Southerners to voice their violent opposition to integration. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (N.A.A.C.P.), the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (S.C.L.C.), and Black Power groups became a source of power and security for the Negro population. Such names as Robert Jones, Martin Luther King, and Ralph David Abernathy were voiced by the citizenry whenever the topic of integration was discussed. North Carolina, as well as many other Southern states, moved slowly but steadily toward the integration of its schools. In some areas the transition was easily made with few problems, but in some of the Eastern counties, where the population percentages favored the Negro race, problems did occur. When the Negroes felt that they were not being treated fairly in the integration process, they retaliated with riots, demonstrations, and school boycotts. This study takes a look at one of these Eastern counties, their efforts toward integration, the boycott that ensued, and activities relating to an anxious year. The whole concept of school boycotts and militancy among students will be considered briefly to establish the trend that set the stage for the school boycott in Hyde County. North Carolina's school laws dealing with compulsory attendance will be studied in their relationship to the incidents in Hyde County. The objective of this study is to establish the fact that the Negro children and parents in Hyde County violated the school compulsory attendance laws of North Carolina. The study will further show that the parents were not indicted at any time in accordance with the state laws and that the laws were not enforced. The roles of the local school officials and the state school officials in the boycott will be discussed in terms of their involvement and actions. In many instances where facts were unavailable, the author has relied on opinions expressed by those who were in contact with the existing situation. |
| General note | A Field Study Presented to The Faculty of the School of Education East Carolina University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Six Year Program for Administrators. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references (leaves 67-73). |
