Every Sunday, "Back in the Day" looks at an article that ran on this date in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. The items are verbatim, so don’t blame us today for yesteryear’s bad grammar.

Rep. Patsy T. Mink today charged that many educators are "too timid" in their use of federal funds.

She was speaking at the opening of three one-week conferences on changes in education sponsored by the U.S. Office of Education and Kettering Foundation at Kamehameha Schools.

In the two years experience with the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, Mrs. Mink said, "we learned many educators are too timid in their use of federal funds."

She said Congress can only provide the funds — tools or mechanics — for changes but could not reach the individual classroom.

She called on educators to supply the innovations or the changes, saying, "We must overcome the prevalent notion ‘what was good enough for me is good enough for my kids.’"

Referring to federal efforts in education, Mrs. Mink said, "There are many who argue that Congress has moved too quickly — my contention is that we have not done enough."

She said educators must strive constantly to improve quality, but also must find a balance between equalizing education opportunity for all and … improving quality.

A side effect of the seminars at Kamehameha Schools is two investigations, one by the U.S. Office of Education and the other by a congressional subcommittee.

The U.S. Office of Education Friday reported it is investigation to determine if Kamehameha Schools are violating the Civil Rights Act by barring students of non-Hawaiian descent and its policy of hiring only protestant teachers.

Earlier last week the inter-governmental relations subcommittee of the House Committee on Government Operations announced an investigation of the use of $143,000 in federal funds to help finance the seminarss.