6 MONTH CD MULLER from page 30 and culture is a large part of that. You cannot teach about Judaism in - Western civilization without an hon- est and thorough discussion of the Holocaust. Q2 The people of the state of Michigan, on two separate occasions, have made it clear that they oppose this approach. People are frustrated with the pace of educa- tional reform and advancement and this seems like an easy way to jump- start reform, cloaked in a veil of increased parental control and free- dom of choice. But in reality, like the HMOs in medicine, I fear that vouchers will not live up to this real- ity. The freedom of choice will only truly exist for a limited few. Reform will be mired in the morass of shrinking funds as a fixed amount is spread over more venues. Private schools will not appreciate the increased intrusion that public monies will bring so the monies can be accounted for. Do private schools really want to be included in the current mode of testing, for this only will be fair to the public schools? The staff at Birmingham Public Schools has shown themselves to be on the cutting edge of many reforms but vouchers may stifle those efforts as it shunts time and resources down avenues that will have questionable results. from page 30 is committed to teach, there just isn't enough time to expand on the topic. RINSCHLER Yes, I oppose the voucher pro- Q2 posal. This proposal, if approved, will delete language from our constitution, which would allow public tax dollars to be spent on reli- gious and private institutions. In those states in which the voucher system presently exists, there is no proof that they improve student per- formance. Vouchers will create a new bureaucracy and likely lead to tax increases and draining dollars from public education. Private and religious schools will not have to provide information on how they spend your tax dollars, nor do they have to publicly report what they teach, how they teach or how their students perform. The voucher only provides a portion of the tuition to most private and religious schools that have the option to decide which students they want to accept. from page 30 in arguably one of the wealthiest dis- tricts in the state. The district boasts 7,572 students. They attend 14 schools, serving kindergarten through 12th grade, all supported with a budget of almost $148 mil- lion. Educationally, the district's stu- dents have achieved some of the highest MEAP score averages in the state. "In our area, we are often close to the top, if not at the top," said Dr. Sandra Schwartz, the assessment and reading coordinator for the Birmingham Public Schools. At least one candidate cites the high MEAP averages as the reason that more Holocaust education can- not be included in the current cur- riculum. Daniel Share, current school board president, said test- preparation requirements squeeze out extra time for such a pursuit. "Ideally, the Birmingham Public Schools would devote a greater por- tion of the core curriculum to Holocaust studies, but the need to cover the subjects on the MEAP tests limits available class time," he wrote in his response to a Jewish News questionnaire. Geraldine Rinschler, current secre- tary for the Birmingham Board of Education, said the current curricu- lum starts in third grade and infil- trates different subject areas — from a popular literature class at Groves High School to history classes at all grade levels, from cultural-awareness classes to global-issues segments. "Is this extensive enough? No, but in light of the cast material which our district is committed to teach, there just isn't enough time to expand on the topic," she said in her response. School vouchers, a hot issue for years that has been voted down twice in Michigan's general elections, once again is surfacing as a topic of debate in Birmingham. However, all three candidates in the school board elec- tion agree that vouchers would set back public school educatiori. "There is no question that reform and change is necessary to better serve our children," said Peter T Muller, the challenger. "The staff at Birmingham Public Schools has shown themselves to be on the cut- ting edge of many reforms," he said, "but vouchers may stifle those efforts as it shunts time and resources down avenues that have questionable results." ❑ BIRMINGHAM MONEY MARKET WITH RATES THIS BIG WHO NEEDS A GIMMICKY HEADLINE? 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