Speech #870246658

Mr. Speaker. for many years there has been a growing concern in our Nation concerning the lack of educational opportunities for the children of agricultural migrant workers. It has long been the accepted and traditional philosophy in American education that every child shall have an equal opportunity for education commensurate with his interests and abilities. The concept of this great American dream. which is the inherent right and hope of every child. should not be denied to thousands of migratory children. And yet. studies have shown that the school achievement of these children is usually below the fourth grade level. Reports from several States indicated that more than half of the migrant children are retarded 1 to 4 years. While there has been increased publicity. an awakened interest. and commendable efforts made for the improvement of educational opportunities for the disadvantaged children of migrant agricultural workers in our Nation. much still remains to be done. It is difficult for us who are interested in all the children in our Nation to realize that a particular group of American children are still being denied the opportunity to receive the bare minimum of education necessary to participate effectively in our society today. Migrant children enter school late. their attendance is poor. their progress is slow. they drop out early. consequently. their rate of illiteracy is high. The 1960 census reports indicated that approximately 8 percent of our population age 25 or over are defined as functionally illiterate. that is. they have received less than a fifthgrade education. The agricultural migrants make up a significant part of this pool of illiterates. Many of the unemployed migrants are moving into the slums of our large cities where they are swelling the relief and welfare rolls. Because of lack of education. they are unprepared for urban jobs. They are part of this group which Dr. James B. Conant described as "social dynamite." Most migrant children are retarded in school because of migrancy itself and all its related socioeconomic disadvantagespoverty. ill health. inadequate housing. lack of proper food and clothing. lack of attitude and education of parents. lack of health and welfare services. and insufficient funds of some school districts to provide school facilities for migrant children. Studies have shown that many of these migrant children leave their homebase States in the South in April and do not attend school during the time they are on the trip north. or until they arrive back at the home base in late October. It is estimated that migrant workers are concentrated in 31 States which employ 4.000 or more domestic migrants each year. School authorities are often perplexed by seasonal impacts of large groups of migratory children who enter their school districts late. and who should be enrolled in their schools. With overstrained school budgets it has been difficult to provide classrooms. teachers. desks. and other instructional materials. Because the number of migrant children who enter their communities varies from year to year. it is difficult for school officials to anticipate the additional burden that will be placed on their school budgets. Lack of financial support to enable school districts to provide for migrant children often makes them an unacceptable burden. The community is not always ready to accept these children and to assume the cost of increased school facilities for migrants who may only be in the community for a short period of time. In a recent survey made by the U.S. Office of Education of seven States concerning the State programs for the education of migrant children. it was reported that in some States 50 percent of the migrant children who lived in the State during the time school was in session were not enrolled in school. One of the recommended solutions to improve the educational program for migrant children is to organize small classes at the beginning of the school year so that the children can be integrated in the regular school program when they arrive. This. however. becomes a financial burden on the school districts. When migrant children do not bring records from previous schools attended. it becomes a problem for the teacher to determine the level of academic achievement of each child and the grade in which he should be placed. It is recommended that there be interschool and interstate agreements on the necessary information to be supplied and on the methods of sending school transfer records from school to school. There is a need for further research and planning in many areas of education for migrant children including the development of interschool and interstate agreements. improved curriculums to meet the needs of these children. development of short units of study. aptitude. achievement. and intelligence tests for Spanishspeaking children. and other similar studies. While several States have made excellent progress in their educational programs for migratory children. it is impossible for a few States to solve this problem alone. These children must have an opportunity for education in each community and State they enter or they become retarded. confused. and frustrated.