Ethiopa. You have a program to raise the level of agricultural accomplishment in Ethiopa.

How many Ethiopian students are in Oklahoma State at this time? Mr. Low. I believe the number is 180 at this time. Those are people who have come up through the school that we have established in Ethiopia.

I wanted to mention Ethiopia, but I was afraid, as you say, it was bragging too much on my own institution. They have done a wonderful work there.

The students are just beginning now really to come out of the college and come over to us. And we are trying to, as much as we can, train these native people to go back, because they are the ones who can teach their people the best.

We have found so much over there that even though we planted a row of crops here that was beside theirs, and we used improved seed and fertilizer and so on, and ours grew three times as much as theirs, they were inclined to say: "My father still does it this way, and so I don't want to change." But when their native students go back, they have so much more influence in getting proper practices accepted. So we are very much interested in that program.

Senator YARBOROUGH. And Oklahoma State has a branch college in Ethiopia to train Ethiopians?

Mr. Low. It is an Ethiopian college financed with money provided both from the technical assistance program, and by Ethiopia itself, and merely operated by us for them, and we hope until the time when they can get sufficient personnel to direct it themselves.

Senator YARBOROUGH. And it is this kind of study of the agricultural economy of Ethiopia and their training-I am using your college as an illustration in similar institutions-which increases the library needs in the colleges of America that are undertaking to lift the level of living of people in the underdeveloped countries?

Mr. Low. That is correct.

And, again, we are trying to bring library resources, particularly technical resources, to them, and I am very grateful to the Rockefeller Foundation for having given us $50,000 recently to buy books for our Ethiopian library. We are encouraged by the interest in our activities from many sources.

Senator YARBOROUGH. Thank you.

I have no further questions.

Senator MORSE. Thank you very much, Senator Yarborough.
Senator Case?

Senator CASE. No questions.

Senator MORSE. Thank you very much for your testimony. It has been very helpful, indeed.

Mr. Low. Thank you.

Senator MORSE. The next witness is Dr. Otto F. Kraushaar, president of Goucher College.

Will the staff notify Dr. Kraushaar his statement will be made part of the record, and he will have the privilege of filing a supplemental

statement.

Senator MORSE. Our next witness will be Dr. Peter Schoemann, chairman of the education committee, American Federation of LaborCongress of Industrial Organizations.

You may proceed in your own way.

Let the record show his associate, Mr. Andrew Biemiller, legislative counsel for the AFL-CIO, is present.

STATEMENT OF PETER T. SCHOEMANN, CHAIRMAN OF THE EDUCATION COMMITTEE, AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR AND CONGRESS OF INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATIONS

Mr. SCHOEMANN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

My name is Peter T. Schoemann. I am vice president of the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations. I am also chairman of the committee on education of the AFL-CIO. In this capacity, I am appearing today in behalf of that organization.

May I also add that I am general president of the United Association of the Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing & Pipefitting Industry. For many years I was also president of the Building & Construction Trades Council of Milwaukee, Wis., and I had the honor and privilege of being elected by the people of that city, on several occasions, as a member of the board of education. I served as a member of that school board for more than 20 years, until as late as 1952, and for two terms I was president of the board. I am adding these facts on my background and experience to indicate that I have had practical knowledge and training in the urgent problems our school systems have been trying to meet since World War II.

We in the AFL-CIO are particularly happy that you are considering extension and amendment of the National Defense Education Act of 1958. We appreciate the opportunity to testify in general support of the extension.

When this act was passed late in the summer of 1958 it was in the post-sputnik era. At last, America had realized that we were doing too little. The proof of the Soviet lead, with their sputnik, probably shocked America and the whole of the free world. We realized that the slave world had not only ended our atomic energy monopoly some years earlier, but had now actually surpassed us in some vital aspects of scientific achievement.

In 1958, we began to realize that the failure to strengthen the quality of our education had cost us dearly. In the National Defense Education Act we set about correcting these weaknesses.

Frankly, I regret that the measure of our educational quality must be the scientific advances of the Communists. We ought not simply to compete with a reactionary tyranny. We, as free people, should be moving ahead on these social fronts even if the Communists were not in the picture. The harsh fact is, however, they are very much in the picture. They are active in Asia, Europe, Africa, Latin America, and even the Caribbean. As they led us into space with vehicles in

1957, they continue to lead us in placing a man in orbital flight in 1961. We are faced by a Communist threat which brings fanatical zeal and effective energy together with a preponderance of population and orthodox armaments and a showing of technical-scientific superiority. In this situation we would be derelict if we provided ourselves and our children with any but the strongest countermeasures. One of these is education.

The Congress has before it excellent bills to provide aid to the States for teachers' salary improvement and classroom construction, with other bills to assist construction of college academic facilities and, so very important, to provide a wide program of federally financed scholarships. We have testified in support of these. They are all important.

The established program of the National Defense Education Act, however, offers an ongoing vehicle for strengthening the quality of our elementary and secondary education in the shortest possible time. Accordingly, we urge its extension.

I should like to comment briefly on the substantive titles.

TITLE III

S. 1726 provides that the title II program of loans to students in institutions of higher learning be made permanent and that sufficient funds be authorized to provide the loans required. The history of this provision proves the value of this program since it was widely used. Since it was such a direct help to so many young people, it should be continued. The proposal to extend the forgiveness of the loans to those who become teachers in public elementary and secondary schools logically ought, as in S. 1726, to be extended to those who teach in our colleges and universities. Perhaps, as the "Report of the Consultants to the Secretary on the National Defense Education Act" urges, the bill should extend forgiveness to all school teachers. With this additional suggestion and one other we agree with the proposed amendments to title II.

Our one additional suggestion is the elimination of the special consideration which the institutions must now give to loan applicants who show special aptitude in exact sciences or modern foreign languages. To simply add English as a presumably important subject misses the point. It is a mistake for a program of such Federal aid to limit the subject areas of study by recipients, in effect, by favoring some over others.

The administration bill on Federal scholarships takes the better view and allows each to study what he will without discrimination. That principle should now be extended to the National Defense Education Act both here and in related titles.

TITLE III

Title III has contributed importantly to strengthening science, mathematics, and modern foreign language instruction. The extension and improvement as provided in S. 1726, is highly desirable. In addition the committee might like to direct its attention to other subject areas which require similar reinforcement.

TITLE IV

Providing more college and university teachers is one of America's central problems and challenges. Title IV which extends grants for graduate study in education has already made an important contribution in this direction but much more remains to be done. Accordingly, we favor the expansion and the permanent establishment of this program on a simplified administrative basis, as provided in S. 1726.

TITLE V

Central to improving our educational system is guidance and direction of our young people. They must be given expert, scientifically based counsel throughout their schooling period. We must do far more to improve guidance and counseling not merely for those who may pursue academic disciplines but for those following vocational training programs and also for those who may not readily fit either broad category and who may require special and tailored occupational training. We are, accordingly, happy to note the proposed expansion of title V to include provision for work in the seventh and eighth grades. This is a field which demands continuing study and improvement.

TITLE VI

The continuance of the language development program of title VI is most helpful and we endorse particularly the addition of provision for study by our teachers in lands where the modern foreign language they are studying is, in fact, used. This is a much-needed improve

ment.

TITLE VII

By the nature of the educational process the individual teachers will always remain the chief ingredient in bringing understanding to the students. No use of television or other audiovisual device will even partially replace the care, concern, warmth, and attention of the classroom teacher. Nevertheless, the scientific advances in communications media offer great promise of help to the teacher. Accordingly, research and experimentation in these fields should continue.

TITLE VIII

The proposal for simple extension of title VIII, the area vocational education program, is seriously objectionable. We take strong exception to the extension on the present basis.

In his letter to President Kennedy, dated April 21, 1961 (at pp. 6346-6347, Congressional Record, Senate, Apr. 27, 1961) Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare Ribicoff asks that amendments to this title be deferred until the report of the Presidential Vocational Education Review Committee it at hand. This position differs from that expressed by the President, who on October 24, 1960, wrote:

I favor the repeal of the Bush amendment so that funds for "area vocational education programs" may be used for all phases of vocational education. We urge amendment of S. 1726 to accomplish the President's

purpose.

The establishment of a representative national committee to review our whole vocational education effort with a view toward strengthening and changing it as found necessary is most worthy and it is a step we have urged for some years. It, of course, makes sense to simply continue our basic vocational education legislation, the SmithHughes and George-Barden Acts pending that review.

Title VIII, however, does not have the time-tested validity which entitles it to the same treatment, but, on the contrary, should be reviewed and amended now as the President suggests.

Briefly, the statutory problem is as follows:

The statement of findings and purpose of the title sets the goal of improved training opportunity, on an area basis, for defenserelated occupations of "technicians" and skilled workers. However, the Bush amendment restricts the program and the title's benefits, unnaturally we think, to "highly skilled technicians." The restrictive language of section 303 (a) (3) of the present law should be eliminated.

We suggest that the title be amended.

It is therefore proposed that section 303 (a) (3) be amended by striking the words "highly skilled" before the word "technicians" and inserting after such word "or skilled workers," and by inserting after the word "scientific" the words "or technical," and removing the period after the word "defense" and adding the words "or economic well-being." So that this section, as so amended, would read as follows:

SEC. 303 (a) (3). That funds appropriated under section 301 of this title shall be used exclusively for the training of individuals designed to fit them for useful employment as technicians or skilled workers in recognized occupations requiring scientific or technical knowledge, as determined by the State board for such State, in fields necessary for national defense or economic well-being.

Might I at this time, Mr. Chairman, make this statement, off of my prepared one.

I would like to incorporate in the record in connection with the subject of vocational education that many unions in cooperation with their employers are investing considerable sums of money to set up and improve training programs to teach the skills that are needed in this modern industrial age. Finding established school facilities inadequate to do the job which needs to be done, we have undertaken, my organization, to supply equipment, to establish schools, to make up deficiencies in the salaries of vocational teachers, and in some cases where necessary even to construct and equip our own schools.

One example is the international training fund of my organization, set up by our own international union, which is the United Association, together with a group of employers who perform construction jobs on a nationwide basis.

This jointly administered trust fund has contributed over $2.6 million to joint training committees in various localities to assist local programs in various needs. Of this total over $1,200,000 has been expended on capital equipment, tools and supplies, which were furnished to public schools already established.

Additional sums have been used to supplement teachers' pay, so that these teachers might receive the same income from instructing our apprentices and journeymen as they would receive working full time on the job.