It is commonly believed that the Negro has had and is now getting much more than his share of the public school fund. It is said that the Negro is getting nearly half the money, while he is paying only a very small percentage of the taxes. Thus, the following is the estimate of Mr. J. Y. Joyner, Superintendent of Public Instruction of North Carolina: “Upon the most liberal estimate, it seems that in 1908 the Negroes received for the maintenance of their public schools in North Carolina about twice as much as they paid directly or indirectly for this purpose. I think that this is about in accordance with the experience and observation of those familiar with the administration of the public schools in North Carolina. My own opinion is that the white people pay, directly or indirectly, for the education of the Negro more rather than less than one dollar for every dollar that the Negro pays, directly or indirectly for that purpose.” Mr. J. D. Eggleston, Jr., Superintendent of Public Instruction of Virginia, estimates that the public school fund for Negroes in that State is $500,000, of which the Negro pays $87,000, or less than one-fifth.[[494]]
There have been fitful efforts from time to time to divide the public school fund in proportion to the amount of taxes paid by each race. The most recent and thorough-going effort[[495]] to have the school fund so apportioned was made by Ex-Governor James K. Vardaman, of Mississippi. But his effort, like that of those before him, came to naught. The white taxpayers of the South have not shown any very evident desire to withdraw their financial aid from the colored public schools. But there has been enough legislation on different phases of the question of the apportionment of the school money to deserve attention.
In Alabama,[[496]] in 1896, all poll tax money paid by colored persons went to the support of colored schools, and all that paid by white persons, to the support of white schools. The present Code apparently does not require this separation of taxes; but in the provisions for special tax districts[[497]] for school purposes, the law provides that the amount paid by whites and blacks shall be kept separate, presumably meaning that the funds arising from special taxation shall be apportioned according to the amount paid by each race. Though Delaware usually makes an annual appropriation for colored schools, nevertheless in 1875,[[498]] and again in 1887,[[499]] it provided for a tax of thirty cents on the hundred dollars upon the property of colored persons for the maintenance of colored schools.
The legislation of Kentucky with regard to the raising and apportionment of its public school fund has been unique. In 1866,[[500]] all capitation taxes paid by Negroes and, in addition, a tax of two dollars per capita upon Negroes went toward the support of their paupers and the education of their children. In 1869,[[501]] a vote was taken upon the propriety of levying a tax of fifteen cents on the hundred dollars upon the property of white persons for the support of white schools exclusively. In 1873,[[502]] a property tax of twenty cents on the hundred dollars and a poll tax of one dollar were levied upon Negroes of McCracken County for the maintenance of their schools. The same method of taxation was adopted for Bowling Green[[503]] and Catlettsburg[[504]] and Garrard County.[[505]] As to the last-mentioned place, there was a provision that in the county white and colored school-houses must be not less than a half mile apart, and in towns not less than eight hundred feet. In Bracken County[[506]] a special tax of twenty-five cents on the hundred dollars was levied upon the property of whites for their schools, not applying to Negroes at all. The constitutionality[[507]] of this law was upheld by the Supreme Court of Kentucky on the ground that whatever benefits the Negro is entitled to under the school system he receives as a citizen of Kentucky, not as a citizen of the United States.
In 1874, the same State[[508]] provided for a uniform system of schools for Negroes. The sources of the revenue for the schools were (1) a tax of twenty cents on the hundred dollars upon the property of Negroes, (2) their poll taxes, (3) their dog taxes, (4) taxes on deeds, suits and licenses collected from colored persons, (5) fines, penalties, and forfeitures collected from them, (6) sums received from Congress, provided the apportionment to each colored child did not exceed that to each white child, and (7) gifts, donations, and grants. Colored school-houses must not be erected within one mile of a white school-house in the country and six hundred feet in towns. In 1880, Owensboro[[509]] was authorized to levy a tax of thirty cents on the hundred dollars and two dollars on the poll upon Negroes for colored schools, provided the Negroes voted to tax themselves for this purpose. This law was held[[510]] unconstitutional by the Federal district court in 1883, the court saying: “If taxes can be distributed according to color or race classification, no good reason why a division might not be made according to the amount paid by each taxpayer, and thus limit the benefits and distribute the protection of the laws by a classification based upon the wealth of the taxpayer. Such distribution would entirely ignore the spirit of our republican institutions and would not be the equal protection of the laws as understood by the people of the State at the time of the adoption of this (the Fourteenth) amendment.” The laws of Kentucky of 1874 were held[[511]] unconstitutional in 1885. In 1886, Elkton[[512]] was authorized to levy a tax of two dollars on the poll and ninety-five cents on the hundred dollars upon Negroes if they voted thus to tax themselves. Apparently the last act of legislation[[513]] with regard to the school fund in Kentucky was in 1904, when provision was made for a system of graded schools in cities of the fourth class, but the property or polls of one race were not to be taxed for the support of the schools of the other. A recent Kentucky case has held[[514]] that, after the regular public school fund of the State has been apportioned among the districts in proportion to the number of children regardless of race, then it is not improper for a district to supplement that fund by a tax on the property of white persons for the further support of white schools and upon the property of Negroes for their schools. Thus, it appears that Kentucky is honeycombed with the special tax districts wherein each race supports its own schools. Whether this arrangement is constitutional or not is still in doubt, as no square decision on the point has yet been rendered by the Supreme Court of the United States.
For some years North Carolina has been exercising the principle of local, special taxation to supplement the general public school fund. In several instances, about 1886, the communities levied the tax only upon the whites for the benefit of white schools, but this was held[[515]] unconstitutional by the State Supreme Court, and the attempt to thus distinguish between the races does not appear to have been made since. The courts of Kentucky and North Carolina are in conflict, due to the differences in the constitutions of those States, on the question of special taxation by each race for its own schools. The local tax districts in North Carolina have recently been increasing at the rate of about two a day, but the tax is levied upon colored persons as well as white, and all the schools share the benefits.
The Constitution of Texas[[516]] of 1866 provided that all taxes collected from Negroes should go to maintain their public schools, and that it should be the duty of the legislature to encourage schools among these people. This provision, however, does not appear in the later Constitution of Texas.
Thus, one sees that, here and there, particularly in Kentucky, there are precedents for a division of the school fund in proportion to the taxes paid by each race, but there has not been any general movement in this direction. One is justified in concluding that, although the Southern States stand steadfastly for race separation in both public and private schools, they do not desire a division of the public school funds except in proportion to the number of children of school age. It is true that there have been some local legislative acts looking in that direction, and a few sporadic political movements to the same effect; nevertheless, the fact that the local legislation has not become general since the Negro has been practically eliminated from politics and that the political movements have met with such scanty popular support show that the people are satisfied with the present arrangement as to the division of the school fund.
NOTES
[335]. Laws of Ky., 1904, pp. 181–82.