University of Virginia Library

Tuition Grants Abolished,
Declared Discriminatory

A special three-judge federal
district court abolished Virginia's
tuition-grant program Tuesday, on
the grounds that it permitted the
continuance of a segregated school
system. The ban will take effect
June 30.

The court ruled that the tuition
grants were unconstitutional, because
they permit the continuance
of a segregated public school
system by financing enrollment in
segregated private schools. The
decision of the court had several
consequences.

Virginia school officials would
cease paying tuition grants after
June 30, but continue those grants
before that date.

A plea from the NAACP urging
that local and state officials reimburse
the public treasury for tuition
grants issued to 10 private schools
starting in the 1965-66 year was
denied. This refusal was explained
by the fact that the disbursements
were made by public officials acting
in good faith.

The portion of the tuition-grant
program that provides funds for the
benefit of retarded, defective, or
"otherwise unfortunate children"
was not disturbed. The court added
that "our restrictions upon the
state and its officers will include
only grants and scholarships for the
education of children eligible and
qualified to attend the public
schools." This would allow continued
grants to special schools for
the handicapped.

The opinion was written by
Judge Albert V. Bryan of the U.S.
4th Circuit court of Appeals and
endorsed by Judge John D. Butzner
Jr. and Judge Walter E. Hoffman.
The decision was not a surprise, as
the tuition grant programs in both
Louisiana and South Carolina have
already been abolished, constituting
a precedent. The U.S.Supreme
Court had endorsed these earlier
rulings, and an appeal of the
Virginia case would have to be
made directly to the Supreme
Court.

The decision to abolish the
tuition grants stemmed from a
request made last July by the
NAACP, in which they asked the
court to re-examine its opinion of
March, 1965. In that decision the
same three Judges ruled that the
tuition-grant program was not unconstitutional
at its face for allegedly
fostering racial discrimination.

The NAACP had then complained
that the program encouraged
racial discrimination by
permitting parents to enroll their
children at public expense in
private schools that did not admit
Negroes.

The court agreed with the
NAACP and said "Indisputably, the
state supplies the money; it comes
from the public treasury; it goes to
individual residents who may expend
it for a segregated classroom."

The court also refused to consider
any compromise of the existing
grant plan, such as a closer watch
on how the money was spent. This
compromise, they felt, would call
for "reckoning with many variables"
and be "too complex to be
practicable."

To explain the continuation of
the grants for the remainder of the
school year, the court said "Pupils
matriculated, and their parents
assumed financial burdens, on the
understanding that these moneys
would be available". They added
"Destruction of this status in the
middle of the term is not justified.