Thursday, JO; nuary 13, 1972
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Page Seven
School funding controversy coming to a heady"EA°T"ESPE
TRUM OF LOVE
By LINDA DREEBEN
In recent weeks, developments
on both the state and national
levels have again raised the is-
sue of funding public schools
through property taxes. It
now appears the controversial
question is headed for ultimate
resolution by the United States
Supreme Court.
Late last month, a three-
judge federal panel ruled the
Texas public school financing
system was unconstitutional be-
cause of unequal expenditures
between different school d i s-
tricts. The panel ordered t h e
Texas legislature to devise an
alternate to the present proper-
ty tax that will meet the equal
protection provision of the
Fourteenth amendment.
Because a direct appeal to the
Supreme Court is permitted
from such a panel, the Texas
ruling appears to have set the
stage for a federal ruling.
*C.C. Little, former
'U' president, dies
'Clarence Cook Little, former
University president and a pioneer
in cancer research died in late
December at the age of 83.
President of the University from
1925 to 1929, Little also headed the
University of Maine for three
,*ars. He died at his home in Bar
Harbor, Maine.
Little's revolutionary ideas about
undergraduate education made
him a controversial figure. Soon
after he became University presi-
dent, he proposed to divide under-
graduate education in half. This
4s to be done by assigning all
students to a "University Col-
lege," much like a junior college,
for their first two ryears of study.
The best of those students would
then be selected to continue
working toward a bachelor's de-
gee.
The plan met with resistance by
the faculty and, to some extent,
the Regents. After being studied
and discussed for several years,
however, most of Little's propos-
als for a University College were
implemented during the term of
is successor, Alexander Ruthven.
Little also inspired comment
with his contention that women
were ]earning little at the Uni-
versity to help them become good
wives and mothers. He maintained
that women were offered onlyE
t:7chnical and educational courses
, nch would help them In pro-
'N ssional or business careers.
Meanwhile, the State Supreme
Court agreed last week to take
jurisdiction over a circuit court
suit filed by Gov. William Mil-
liken and Atty. Gen. Frank Kel-
ley challenging the constitu-
tionality of financing s c h o o I s
with local property taxes.
Milliken and Kelley origin-
ally filed the case in Ingham
County Circuit Court in Octob-
er, but asked the Supreme Court
to bypass the lower court and
handle the case directly b e -
cause of its potential impact on
the state.
At issue in the state case as,
well as nationally is the dis-
parity in the value of taxable
property among the different
state school districts. Those
who oppose the present meth-
od of financing contend it tends
to penalize students living in
areas with little taxable proper-
ty and industry to support
schools.
The challenge to property tax
funding for public schools has
gained national momentum
since a precedent-setting Cali-
fornia Supreme Court decision
last September ruled that state's
system of financing public
schools with local property tax-
es was unconstitutional.
The ruling was made on a
class action suit which charged
that the differences in the
quality of poor and wealthy
communities resulted in "sub-
stantial disparities in the qual-
ity of educational opportunities
in different school systems" and
made a child's education a
function of the wealth of h i s
parents and neighbors.
Sincethat ruling, courts in
Minnesota and Texas have
handed down similar decisions,
and suits have been -filed in at
least 20 states.
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According to Sen. Gilbert
Burseley (R-Ann Arbor) prac-
tically all of the determining
factors and the inequities in
per-pupil expenditures in t h e
California decision are paralel-
led in Michigan.
"In light of the strong sim-
ilarities, there can be li t t 1e
doubt that the logic of the Cali-
fornia decision, if applied to
Michigan, would necessitate a
drastic restructuring of o u r
school financing system," he
stated.
Legislators in almost every
state have begun to deal with
a multitude of problems which
would arise should property tax
funding be declared unconstitu-
tional.
State legislators would have to
devise a more equitable financ-
ing plan than the present com-
bination of local taxes, equali-
zation, per pupil aid and state
funds in most states. This is
seen as imperative in Michi-
gan, which placed 41st in a re-
cent ranking of the 50 states
according to the degree of
"equity" (or equality of com-
bined state-local funding dis-
tribution.'
Milliken has preposed t h a t
the state eliminate property
taxes for school funding and re-
-- --------
HAI RCUTS
and
THINGS
Michigan Union
place the lost revenue with a
boost in the state income tax.
Another plan calls for t h e
state to take over all property
taxation and distribute money
to cities in direct proportion to
enrollment. Variations of this
plan would make provisions for
schools with special needs, in-
cluding schools with many
poorer handicapped students, or
urban schools where basic ex-
penses are normally higher.
Another source of revenue
may come from the federal gov-
ernment in the form of the val-
ue-added tax (VAT), collected
from manufacturers and mer-
chants on the value added to a
product at each stage of its
processing and distribution. It is
reported that President Nixon
plans to push for' passage of
this tax, and that he would
turn over the proceeds - an
estimated $20 billion - to state
and local governments to help
run the nation's schools.
Whatever method legislatures
adopt, they will still have to
find a formula for distributing
and allocating the funds.
One criticism leveled at the
institution of centralized finan-
cing system is that it will di-
minish local control of t h e
schools.
However, a statement issuedj
by Kelley and Milliken w h e n
then filed the, suit said that it
is fashioned "to bring fairness
to the financing of schools with-
out altering in any way our tra-
ditional system of local control."
Another concern expressed by
some educators is that instead
of raising the quality of the
educational systems, a central-
ized system will lead to general
mediocrity.
- - - - r - - - - - -I
"I love you."
There is a much greater motivation than simply my
spoken words. For me to love, is to commit myself, freely
and without reservation. I am sincerely interested in your
happiness and wellbeing. Whatever your needs are, I will try
to fulfill them and will bend in my values depending on
the importance of your need. If you are lonely and need
me, I will' be there. If in that loneliness you need to talk, I
will listen. If you need to listen, I will talk. If you need the
strength of human touch, I will touch you. If you need to
be held, I will hold you. I will lie naked in body with you
if that be your need. If you need fulfillment of the flesh, I
will give you that also, but only through my. love.
I will try to be constant with you so that you will
understand the core of my personality and from that under-
standing you can gain strength and security that I am acting
as me. I may faulter with my moods. I may project, at times,
a strangeness that is alien to you which may bewilder or
frighten you. There will be times when you question my
motives. But because, people are never constant and are as
changeable as the seaxons, I will try to build up within
you a faith in my fundamental attitude and show you that
my inconsistency is only for the moment and not a lasting
part of me. I will show you love now.. Each and every
day, for each day is a lifetime. Every day we live, we learn
more how to love. I will not defer my love nor neglect it,
for if I wait until tomorrow, tomorrow never comes. It is
like a cloud in the sky, passing by. They always do, you
know!
plus 3 more beautfiul paragraphs after above
BIG 341" long, 11?" wide. SPECTRUMOF LOVE POSTER
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C. C. LITTLE, in 1928, when
he was President.
In recent years, Little was bestr
known for his work as scientific
director of the Council for To-
bacco Research, an organization
sponsored by the tobacco indus-
try. Little insisted that so far no
firm laboratory evidence associat-
ing cigarettes with lung cancer
and heart disease has been devel-
oped.
Little was born in Brookline,r
Mass.. on Oct. 6, 1888. He was a
great-great-grandson of Paul Re-
vere. He earned undergraduate!
and graduate degrees at Harvard
College, and studied medicine at
the Harvard Medical School.
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