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PROVIDING EDUCATION AND TRAINING FOR MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES ON THEIR SEPARATION FROM ACTIVE SERVICE

MAY 4, 1944.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed

Mr. BARDEN, from the Committee on Education, submitted the following

REPORT

[To accompany H. R. 38461

The Committee on Education, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 3486) to provide for the education and training of members of the armed forces and the merchant marine after their separation from service, and for other purposes, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with amendments and recommend that the bill, as amended, do pass.

The amendments are as follows:

The first committee amendment strikes all of the bill after the enacting clause and inserts in lieu thereof a substitute which appears in the reported bill in italic type.

The other committee amendment amends the title of the bill so as to read:

A bill to provide for the education and training of members of the armed forces after their separation from service, and for other purposes.

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The subject matter covered in H. R. 3846 has been under discussion and consideration by the Committee on Education since 1942. this early date, the Committee on Education was considering a rehabilitation program for soldiers and civilians, and at that time it was deemed advisable not to attempt to consolidate the program as provided for in H. R. 3846 with the vocational program of the physically handicapped then under consideration.

The committee was well aware of the fact that the President of the United States had on November 13, 1942, on signing the bill calling for the induction by selective service of young men 18 and 19 years old, appointed a committee of educators under the auspices of the War and Navy Departments to study the problem of education of our service men and women after the war, said committee being

known and designated as "The Armed Forces Committee on PostWar Educational Opportunities for Service Personnel." The objective of the committee was to enable those young people whose education had been interrupted to resume their schooling and to provide an opportunity for the education and technical training of young men and women of ability after their discharge from the armed service.

The committee referred to sent to the President its report, and on October 27, 1943, the President of the United States transmitted said report to the House of Representatives, together with his message covering the subject; which report, together with the President's message, was referred to the Committee on Education for consideration, study, and action

One of the basic recommendations made by the committee and concurred in by the President was as follows:

While the Federal Government should provide the necessary funds and should have the responsibility of seeing that they are spent providently and under generally accepted standards, the control of the educational processes and the certification of trainees and students should reside in the States and localities

In line with the foregoing statement of principle, the President's committee included in its report definite recommendations with respect to administration of the program for ex-service men and women. These recommendations included the following statement:

"Administrative arrangements. In considering administrative arrangements for the program it proposes, your committee has had as its primary objective the provision of arrangements which will have the program carried out with an absolute minimum of administrative overhead. In addition, it has been governed by the conviction, that in the post-war processes of education for ex-servicemen the traditional State and local control of education should be fully respected, and that the Federal Government should not inject itself into these processes beyond the degree necessary to assure that the funds it may make available are providently spent. The committee has always borne in mind, moreover, the fact that the educational institutions themselves, in the final analysis, must be responsible for the most important part of the program--the actual guidance and teaching of former service men and women."

The Armed Forces Committee on Post-war Educational Opportunities for Service Personnel further recommended as follows:

Individual educational institutions should provide the educational guidance needed by their students, pass upon students' qualifications for admission, carry on the educational program which ex-service personnel need, and report to the State authorities on each individual's progress.

The Committee on Education, realizing the tremendous importance of this program, began consideration of the specific bill, H. R. 3846, in December 1943 and from that date until May 3, 1944, the date on which the bill was approved by the Committee on Education without a dissenting vote and ordered reported, has held hearings both open and executive.

The committee obtained and had before it opinions, recommendations, proposals, and suggestions from virtually every educational organization in the United States, as well as many of the individual colleges, State school superintendents and commissioners, veterans' organizations, college presidents, and others too numerous to mention. After this extensive and detailed consideration, the committee has agreed upon and recommended the adoption of the provisions of H. R. 3846, as amended, as providing the necessary provisions to accomplish the objectives desired and sought. The main objectives

are, first, to provide reasonable education and training for the discharged members of our armed forces; and, second, to safeguard every right and privilege heretofore exercised by the several States in the conduct and operation of their schools and educational institutions; and, third, to preserve the historical prerogative of educational institutions to determine the admission, continuance and qualification of their students.

The main issue before the Congress and the people of the United States in the consideration of this bill is the vital question of States' rights.

Historically the people of the United States have insisted that the control of their educational systems, from the elementary school through the college, should remain in local hands. The deep-seated fear that free public education might be placed under Federal bureaucratic control thereby losing the sensitive responsibility which alone permits a maximum expression of the free will of our people, is a real and urgent danger.

The Committee on Education, in considering this bill and recognizing the soundness of the position taken by the President and the Armed Forces Committee on Post-War Educational Opportunities for Service Personnel to preserve the fundamental rights of the citizens of each of our respective States have framed this legislation so as to avoid a concentration of Federal power. This legislation has recognized the legitimate interests of the Veterans' Administration in a matter so vital to the veterans However, it equally recognizes the true interests of the veterans as citizens of our several States and preserves the integrity of their local educational institutions.

The committee concluded, after exhaustive study, that matters so vital to the veterans, as the decisions as to where and how they should continue their education, should likewise be left with the educational agencies experienced in planning such programs, namely, the local educational institutions. The average veteran is more interested in the "little red schoolhouse" than in a more powerful Veterans' Administration.

For the foregoing reasons, the Education Committee felt reluctantly impelled to report out a bill basically at variance with legislation recently passed by the Senate.

A review of this bill (H. R. 3846) will indicate the care with which the committee has sought to achieve the foregoing principles.

ANALYSIS OF BILL

The bill as reported out has (1) the title amended to read "A bill for the education and training of members of the armed forces after their separation from service, and for other purposes", and (2) all matter after the enacting clause stricken out, and in lieu thereof an amendment which would add a new part VIII to Veterans Regulations 1 (a).

The purpose of the legislative approach of amending Veterans Regulations 1 (a) is to make applicable to the legislation a considerable number of facilitating and safeguarding provisions which would otherwise have to be specifically set out or incorporated by reference. The new part would be placed after part VII which provides education and training of disabled veterans.

H. Repts., 78-2, vol. 3- -23

This new part VIII would consist of 12 sections, the first of which is the short title by which the new part may be cited. The general subject matter of each of the other sections is indicated by the section headings which are: "Definitions"; "War Service Education and Training Agency"; "Advisory Council on War Service Education and Training"; "Eligibility for Education and Training"; "Payments to War-Service Persons and Approved Educational or Training Institutions"; "State Plans"; "Payments to States for Administrative Expenses"; "Counseling Services"; "Limitations on Federal Authority": and "Reports to Congress."

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DEFINITIONS

Section 2 defines terms used in the legislation. The most important of these are the definitions of "war-service person," "State," and "approved educational or training institution.

"WAR-SERVICE PERSON"

The definition of "war-service person" is important because a veteran meeting this definition would be entitled to the education and training benefits provided by the bill. Veterans not meeting the definition would not be eligible. To come within this definition, a veteran must have been an officer or enlisted man or woman in the military or naval service of the United States at some time after September 17, 1940, and before the termination of hostilities of the present war, and such active service must have been terminated under conditions which were not dishonorable. In addition, the veteran must have met one of the following conditions: (a) His service in the above period must have been at least 6 months in duration, or (b) some part of his service must have been sea duty, or (c) he must have been discharged or relieved from active service because of an actual serviceincurred injury or disability.

"STATE"

The definition of "State" is important because the bill provides that the institutions where educatio.. and training may be secured are those located in a State and approved by the State board of education. State is defined to include the several States, the District of Columbia, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands The definition also includes the Philippine Islands, but makes clear that this inclusion is not to be construed to require that education and training will be provided there before termination of Japanese occupancy and restoration of orderly government. The definition of course does not deprive a veteran of entitlement to education and training because he does not live within a State. In fact, section 5 specifically authorizes any war service person to select any approved educational or training institution, regardless of his place of residence or the location of such institution.

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APPROVED EDUCATIONAL OR TRAINING INSTITUTION"

The definition of "Approved Educational or Training Institution" is important because such institutions, and only such institutions, would be utilized in providing education and training under the

legislation. The definition provides that these be approved by State department of education, thus leaving this important function to experienced State educational authorities. The definition also makes clear that both public and private institutions may be approved; that these will include educational levels all the way from elementary schools furnishing education to adults to universities, and that courses at vocational, scientific, and business schools will all be available to the veteran. The definition also specifically includes business and other establishments providing apprentice or other training on the job under the supervision of approved colleges or universities, or State departments of education, or other State or Federal agencies authorized by law to supervise apprentice training.

WAR-SERVICE EDUCATION AND TRAINING AGENCY

Section 3 would establish a War-Service Education and Training Agency in the Veterans' Administration, headed by a Director appointed by the President. The section provides that the Director shall pass on State plans and requires that he approve any plan meeting the provisions of section 8. The section also provides, for the guidance of war-service persons who may desire training, that the Director shall make public, from time to time, information as to the need for trained personnel in various fields, and shall take other necessary vocational and educational guidance measures. In view of functions placed in schools and State boards of education, the duties. of the Director are not extensive but to integrate the program. It would be the Director's duty to formulate general policies and procedures, and, with the approval of the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs, to promulgate necessary rules and regulations. The section provides that these duties shall be performed with the assistance of the Advisory Council, which would be established by section 4.

ADVISORY COUNCIL ON WAR-SERVICE EDUCATION AND TRAINING

Section 4 would establish a council of 14 members, to advise with the Director on all matters affecting the education and training program. The members would be appointed by the President. Seven of such members would represent respectively the War and Navy Departments, the Selective Service System, the United States Office of Education, the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation, and the Bureaus. of Placement and of Training of the War Manpower Commission. Of the other 7 members, at least 4 would be recognized leaders in the field of education. The 7 would be selected as nearly as possible on a regional basis. They would be compensated at the rate of $15 per diem while actually engaged upon the business of the council, and their travel and subsistence expense would be paid.

ELIGIBILITY FOR EDUCATION AND TRAINING

Section 5 provides that war-service persons are eligible for whatever course they desire to pursue, and at whatever approved institution they may select, subject only to the limitation that the selected institution is not obligated in any way by the proposed legislation to accept them or to enroll them in the course they select. The section makes it clear that approval for education and training shall in no

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