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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (June 20, 1989)
i fhe Battalion BTATE & LOCAL 3 Ifuesday, June 20,1989 ritics: Education bill’s funding ‘not nearly enough’ L. iette ;zo on Page Editor AUSTIN (AP) — The $450 million :hool finance bill signed into law is not early enough to achieve equity among stu- ents in rich and poor districts and leaves ie Texas Supreme Court as the “only jope,” the president of Equity Center said ponday. Sid Pruitt, also superintendent of the Al- arado school district, near Fort Worth, Joted that the finance bill provides “equity Ifunds” of $200 million in 1989-90 and $250 Pillion in 1990-91. Those sums, Pruitt told a news confer- nce, “are only two small drops in a $14 bil- ; lion bucket. In fact. . . those drops are not even enough to keep up with the rate of evaporation.” T he Equity Center, which was formed to represent students in property-poor school districts, claims a pivotal role in the lawsuit — Edgewood vs. Kirby — which led to a ruling that Texas’ school finance system is unconstitutional. That ruling was later overturned by the 3rd Court of Appeals in Austin, and is now on appeal to the state Supreme Court. “The school finance system in place in 1985-86 was found to be under funded and highly inequitable by both the trial court and the 3rd Court of Appeals. Thev onlv differed on the question of whether the in adequate, inequitable system was also un constitutional,” Pruitt said. Since 1985-86, he said, inflation and the expense of meeting changes required by the Legislature have increased educational costs by at least 13 percent, while the state’s contribution has increased by less than 1 percent. Pruitt said by 1990-91 the cost of an ad equate public education system will have grown to $13 billion to $14 billion, or 22 percent over 1985-86 financing, with the state’s share increasing by less than 6 per cent. He said u now seems clearer tnan ever before that our only hope for the foresee able future lies in the Supreme Court.” Jimmy Vasquez of the Edgewood school district, the San Antonio system that is the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit, said, “The time is now to move swiftly to remedy the situa tion through our Supreme Court.” Richard Kirkpatrick of Copperas Cove, chairman of a group of 55 districts that in tervened in the lawsuit, said, “The legis lation just passed does not represent but a very small step toward equity, if you can term it that. Actually, it can best be termed as a down payment on inflation that’s oc curred since the last passed in June 1984.” school finance bill Kirkpatrick said a proposed 7-cent per package cigarette tax hike would have made available an additional $450 million for public education, but Gov. Bill Clem ents’ threatened veto of any new tax “hams trung the Legislature in attempting to deal with this problem.” He said a $1.2 billion appropriation for the biennium “would have been a good down payment” on public education but the Legislature chose $450 million. people at M : that the won ence to on-a nd may be in sight for measles epidemic Jut officials say nation’s worst outbreak not completely over yet t attempting!: I this change, ^ HOUSTON (AP) — The end may in sight for the nation’s worst osles outbreak, but health offi- lals who have monitored the epide- ome timetogrjliuc that resulted in nine deaths and a hall, thoujt 1,763 recorded cases since Novem- 1, narrow rsay it hasn’t disappeared yet. ig but live i I T ^ e s P rea< ^ of the disease in ” , • louston and Harris County forced jecause 1 pratt | e hospitalization of 2 66 people, nd am neverlB ea i c i n g j n February when more nk that, regariRan 100 new cases were reported it, the place nfech week. t you make ii 1° the most recent weekly report dorm lovelvi'i^ 6356 ^ Friday, the total dwindled k still mine»| ius,f ‘ vecases - me to call it a ought up to fit I hope this is the end. We’ve seen enough measles to last us for years.” — Wes Hodgson, Texas Dept, of Health epidemiologist “I hope this is the end," said Wes Hodgson, epidemiologist for the Texas Department of Health. “We’ve seen enough measles to last us for years.” Since the incubation period be tween infection and the discovery of symptoms is usually 10 to 14 days, a measles outbreak is considered over when no new cases are reported for two weeks, Hodgson said. Among the cases reported since the outbreak began, 1,260 were in Houston and 503 occurred outside ART Vader fights proposed rail line DALLAS (AP) — He has emerged as DART’s most ible nemesis, and he’s out to save the neighborhood. Clad in an imposing black mask and costume, the 44- ne v ' u ' u year-old East Dallas resident approached the micro- dormire,i | one j n Jhg near standing-room-only crowd at a public ig to say is Hi ; it’s so famil il. The word oot what 1 doinm' word dormitor /erybody leanng. Tm DART Vader,” he said. “I’m your worst night- fere.” Though he looks more like a character out of the jovie “Star Wars,” Don Heit is protesting a proposed : a dormitor)- ja ns j t ii ne by Dallas Area Rapid Transit authority. 1 it that way! jnd while hundreds of area residents have joined the itter of opin® )ass transit debate the past several years, Heit has cf the differffi :i P ler § e cl in just two months as one of DAR I’s most vo- g ahouseo:i| critics ' , • USC pin the past, Heit has steered away from civic involve ment, aside from his work with the Boy Scouts and the Forest Hills Homeowners Association. “I worked for 25 years to build a home and a life for my family,” Heit said. “I shut my mouth and got along with my life. And here these bunch of yo-yos want to take it away on a whim. I got upset.” In early April, DART announced it was considering using the Santa Fe railway corridor, which runs behind Heit’s house, as a light-rail link from downtown Dallas to nearby Garland. From Heit’s perspective, DART might as well have declared war. A former Vietnam combat photographer and now a free-lance photographer, Heit and his wife, Dee, chose their East Dallas neighborhood 18 years ago when they moved from Los Angeles “because it reminded us of Santa Barbara, with all the pecan trees,” he said. the city but within Harris County. Los Angeles has recorded the sec ond-largest outbreak, with 1,410 cases since August 1987. The Texas Department of Health has recorded 3,135 cases statewide since Novem ber, Hodgson said. Measles cases have been reported in 94 counties, with Lubbock Coun ty’s 322 cases second to Harris. Hi dalgo County has had 211 cases, and Dallas County has recorded 110. The previous high case count for measles in this decade was 198l, when 851 cases were reported in Texas. Dr. Keith Ramsey, assistant pro fessor of internal medicine and mi crobiology at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, said the combination of inadequate vac cines dispensed before 19/9 and an influx of unimmunized immigrants created “a time bomb waiting to go off.” “The problem with measles is that you need about 95 percent of the people immune to it to really stop it, . . . it’s so communicable,” said Ramsey. The federal Centers for Disease Control spent $458,590 in 1988 to purchase the measles vaccine for the Houston health department. So far this year, the health department has spent $844,590 on the vaccine. Clements likely to widen special session agenda AUSTIN (AP) — Three weeks after ending their 1989 regular session, the state’s part-time law makers are headed back to the Capitol for a special session on workers’ compensation reform that opens Tuesday afternoon. The special session was called by Gov. Bill Clements even before the regular session ended on May 29. The reason: legislators found themselves unable to agree on a workers’ comp bill despite 18 months of study and 140 days of lawmaking. The system for paying benefits for workers who suffer injuries or See related story/Page 4 death on the job is under attack from all quarters. Labor says it pays too little in benefits. Business says it costs too much. Gov. Clements says those high costs are driving new indus try — and new jobs — away from Texas. Clements sets the agenda for any special session by limiting the subjects which can be considered. For this 30-day gathering, which convenes at 2 p.m., he says workers’ comp is the first order of business. “We’re going to focus on that, first,” Clements said in an inter view. “1 think they can move ex peditiously.” Typically, however, special ses sion wheeling and dealing finds the agenda opened to a wide range of topics — and this one appears no different. Lawmakers have been bom barding the governor with re quests for agenda items. And Clements himself has suggested some possible topics. When he vetoed the Texas Aeronautics Commission budget on Friday night, the governor re newed his call for a unified state Department of Transportation to take over that commission’s du ties and others. Lawmakers will get another chance to create that department, he said in his budget proclama tion, “after workers’ compensa tion issues are addressed, (and) provided sufficient time is avail able.” A couple of other major topics look like good bets for inclusion on the special session agenda, sooner or later. One of those is legislation to tighten campaign finance laws. Imposing limits on how much money Texans can give political candidates, strengthening report ing requirements and other changes were a top priority of the outgoing secretary of state, Jack Rains, who resigned last week. nior jounwJiSp e editor forf tic ud An Invitation to Luxury... The Jewelry Express Card TKe Jewelry Express Card... Sheer Brilliance! 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