• Are you battling with your
child over food?

• Is your child sneaking food?

Axing Vouchers

The Jewish community may be
divided on the question of school
vouchers, but the Jewish delegation in
Congress apparently isn't. Last week, the
entire Jewish delegation in the House
voted to ax a voucher plan added to a
major education bill.
At the same time, the House scaled
back an amendment to another educa-
tion bill to give more federal money to
states in the form of "block grants,"
which would give statehouses more
control over how the money is spent —
and more latitude for experimenting
with various forms of parochial school
assistance.
The voucher plan, sponsored by
Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas),
would have provided $100 million for
vouchers that could be used for private
or parochial schools by students cur-
rently enrolled in failing public schools.
The proposal, an amendment to a
bill renewing Title 1, the federal remedi-
al education law, would have required
governors to declare their worst schools
"academic disasters."
The Senate has not yet considered
the massive education bill.
A second and more limited plan to
help parents with kids in parochial
schools, offered by Rep. Thomas E.
Petri (R-Wis.), was defeated by a bier
margin.
The Orthodox Union actively sup-
ported the vouchers proposal. Agudath
Israel of America, another Orthodox
group, supported the concept but wor-
ried that the voucher language could
jeopardize the entire Title 1 program
that has been important for Jewish
schools.
"There was no chance of (the vouch-
er amendment) passing, and a tremen-
dous amount is at stake with Title 1,"
said Abba Cohen, Agudah's Washington
representative."
But Reva Price, Washington director
for the Jewish Council for Public
Affairs, said the vote was "a big win for
pro-public education forces. House
members failed to buy into the argu-
ment that vouchers are solutions to all
the problems of our schools," she said.

Shoval Heading Home

David Ivri, Israel's incoming ambassador
to the United States, will replace
Zalman Shoval, a holdover from
Binyamin Netanyahu's government.
Shoval, who previously served as Yitzhak
Shamir's U.S. ambassador during the
late 1980s and early 1990s, continues to
earn good marks for his performance.
The long-time Likud party member and

former Knesset member is expected to
return to private business in Israel.

Sheinbein Uproar

The strange case of Samuel Sheinbein,
the Maryland teenager who fled to Israel
to escape prosecution in a grisly murder
case in suburban Washington, conclud-
ed last week when an Israeli court sen-
tenced the former Jewish day school stu-
dent to 24 years in jail.
That means he could be out on
parole after serving 16 years. While
lenient by U.S. standards, it was the
stiffest sentence ever for a juvenile in an
Israeli court.
That infuriated the Maryland
prosecutor who would have tried
Sheinbein if Israel had complied
with requests for his extradition.
"Sheinbein did get a long sentence,
if you look at the case through the
lens of the Israeli system," said
Montgomery County States
Attorney Douglas Gansler. "But we
should view it through the lens of
the American system, since it was an
American crime."
. Gansler insisted that Israeli prosecu-
tors did not consult with his department
or view all the evidence they had accu-
mulated in the case; instead, they relied
on Sheinbein's confession to his father
and brother.
"The confession was based on an
absurd claim of self-defense, which has
absolutely no proof," he said. As a result,
he said, "the record now is factually
wrong.
Gansler, a member of a suburban
Washington synagogue, said the long
legal battle with Israel has not under-
mined his commitment to the Jewish
state.
"I love Israel and have the utmost
respect for it's laws, people and govern-
ment," he said. "It was the court system
that wrongly interpreting Israeli law."

• Is your child gaining too
much weight?

• Do weight problems
run in your family?

CCWM

For more information about
classes and locations, call:

Center
for Childhood
Weight Management

(248) 661-6625

Associated Endocrinologists, P.C.

Michael Garcia, M.D.
Michael M. Kaplan, M.D.
Donald A. Meier, M.D.
Charles I. Taylor, M.D.

are pleased to announce the association of

— Gary W. Edelson, M.D.

Dr. Edelson is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Wayne State University
School of Medicine and the Chief of Endocrinology at Sinai-Grace Hospital.
He is on staff at William Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak. Dr. Edelson has a
special interest in lipid disorders, diabetes and osteoporosis.

LET

Father Charged

Montgomery County States Attorney
Douglas Gansler expressed outrage that
the father of Samuel Sheinbein's is living
and working in Israel.
Sol Sheinbein, an attorney, faces
charges in Maryland for helping his son
escape the murder rap. He is now living
in Israel and earning a living as Israeli
representative for American corpora-
tions.
"He is a fugitive from justice," said
Gansler. "It's absolutely wrong that he is
using his American law license to work
in Israel." Gansler said he is exploring
possible proceedings to disbar Sol
Sheinbein.

Let the
professional
staff of
The (enter for
Childhood Weight
Management help you

Associated Endocrinologists, P.C.
Beaumont Medical Building
6900 Orchard Lake Road, Suite 203
West Bloomfield, MI 48322
248.855.5620

Joy

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(248) 356-6000

10/29
1999

Detroit Jew's N

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