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Clipping from Ft. Lauderdale News and Sun Sentinel, Sunday, April 9, 1961

6th Grade Debates U.S. Aid To Schools -- The Ayes Have It

By JEAN ALLEN (Staff Writer)

Sixth Grader Don Faris was pleased to get a personal letter from Florida Governor Farris Bryant Friday morning - but he wasn't too happy about it at the particular moment it arrived.  In fact, he wouldn't even read it to his classmates.
Don was head of the affirmative team in a Stephen Foster Elementary School sixth grade debate on federal aid to education.  He wrote to the governor hoping to bolster his side's case. "Bring the letter over as soon as it comes" he told the school secretary.  She did - and Bryant's letter, which started out "Dear Don", arrived right in the middle of the debate.  Don opened it.  Dead silence followed. The governor opposes federal aid to education.
In the end, Don's affirmative team won the debate handily.  The class voted 18 to 3 to give the win to the side which advocated federal aid.  The 10 debaters did not vote and neither did moderator Phillip Lowe.
Fighting a losing battle were Mike Tuttle, and his negative team, who probably wished they had the letter form Governor Bryant.

DEBATING HABIT

Debating is a habit with Wilson Dietrich's class: in previous debates in English class they have decided by majority vote that: They don't want longer school hours or compulsory summer school; they would like an air conditioned school; they don't believe students should buy their own textbooks and they believe Russian schools are better than ours.
But the federal aid debate was the most formal and carefully prepared of them all. "I named the teams and told them to get the material wherever they could - they were on their own" teacher Dietrich said.
To get opinions and facts, they talked with school board chairman Virginia Young, a news reporter, neighbors, teachers and wrote letters to Bryant and President Kennedy.  The President's reply didn't arrive in time for the debate.  Don Farris' winning team included John Binder, Sherry Kaufman, Roger Wiles and Celia Hogan.

THE LOSERS

The losers included Mike Tuttle, Janice Holland, Steve Merisotis, Leila Kane and Pam Brooks.  When the governor's letter arrived, Don said only" In case you are wondering, this letter is from Farris Bryant, but I won't go into it."  Bryant explained his opposition and stated "Control must, for freedom's sake, be left at home."  The anti federal aid team said the same thing - that aid to schools would lead to controls and red tape, and besides, they added, Broward County is doing fine without it.  "If  we need something bad enough, we get it" Mike said. "Federal aid didn't pay for our new school (now under construction)."
But the Pro's won.  Celia Hogan summed up her side's argument pretty well when she pointed out our scholastic race with Russia and said "The states cannot or will not pay it, therefore the federal government must."