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un control plan unveiled
'here eIBAUSTIN (AP) — Days after a gunman killed seven
impliesfcpeople and himself at a Fort Worth church, Texas At-
-amar EifMney General John Cornyn unveiled a new program
, said could add prison time in crimes where a
ith's i> ,weapon is used or possessed.
J walkeillUnder the program, local, state and federal prose-
stifiedycutors will coordinate to make cer-
ad flee- tain criminals face the stiffest prison
Mtences possible under state or
a board Serai law, they said.
■In some cases, state law enhances
ad thefePfiplties for gun use. In other cases,
'sex- such-as those involving felons and
-arbycaiSg dealers, a criminal can receive
,32-ca an additional five-year prison sen-
$5 bih tence under federal law for gun use or
■a possession, Ted Delisi, a
Ark , sppkesperson for the attorney general’s office, said.
olpriscHBush said his office is providing a $1.6 million grant
paired ijfor the two-year program, with $1.28 million to pay
/omac fe 1 ' ei ght full-time prosecutors.
ng an rfflThe grant also will fund advertising to make Tex-
BUSH
y-
ans aware of the effort and create a toll-free telephone
hotline for reporting those suspected of illegally using
of possessing guns.
■ “Gun crime means hard time,” Cornyn said.
I He and Bush said they have been discussing the ef
fort for several weeks, patterning it after a successful
program in Richmond, Va.
Bush said “we certainly hope so” when asked if the
new effort might help prevent such tragedies as the
Fort Worth shootings.
“What happened in Fort Worth was obviously a
very sad situation,” Bush said. “Obviously, all of us
in Texas are concerned about these isolated acts of
a crazy person, a^person whose heart is so filled with
hate.
“In this particular case, it’s hard to convince a crazy
man not to act. If it wasn’t a gun, it might have been
a pipe bomb. :.. The-idea is to send a clear message,
and that maybe somebody hears the clear message,
that there will be a consequence, will convince some
body not to carry a gun in the first place,” the gover
nor said.
According to authorities, gunman Larry Gene
Ashbrook, 47, legally purchased at least one and
probably both of his handguns at a flea market shop.
Ashbrook did not have a license to carry concealed
weapons, however.
Bush, a gun rights supporter, signed the 1995 law
that allowed Texans to carry concealed weapons with
a permit.
He said yesterday’s initiative was not designed to off
set any criticism he may get about^un control.
ask force investigates schools
{^Officials looking into possible cheating on state test
?z, It
Mexico
and
Texas t|| AUSTIN (AP) — A task force
found rfarated by the state comptroller
>f mar: will look into reports of school dis-
11 of a tr; Jet 5 cheating on Texas’ statewide
pulled Btident test, inaccurate reporting of
e Ej.-- dropouts and the amount of mon-
■ ■ spent on instruction verses ad-
■inistration.
I "There are districts doing an ex
cellent job teaching our kids and
. Jacking and reporting data,”
‘ Comptroller Keeton Rylander said
V7 . Jesterday in announcing the Pub-
J: lie Education Integrity Task Force.
inJ fThey are to be commended.... But
;ey questions need to be answered,
hat are the underlying pressures
that are creating a climate for
cheating?”
| Headed by Texas A&M Universi
ty System Chancellor Emeritus Bar
ry Thompson, the task force will
^■Jihike recommendations next Au
gust for consideration by the Texas
Legislature in 2001.
warranted by evidence of
Jpfongdoing, findings will be re-
1 ferred to authorities such as district
^(Or U.S. attorneys, Rylander and
ft £ I* task force member Michael Levy
nd. Rylander said she also will
Brk with the TEA on addressing
problems.
Problems with school district
data already are being looked into
by TEA officials and others.
Two school districts got a new,
low ranking in the state’s account
ability system this year because of
significant mistakes in reporting of
students who left school.
The accountability system ranks
schools based on student passing
rates on the Texas Assessment of
Academic Skills, dropout rates and
attendance.
The TEA is investigating 14
other school districts because of a
high number or percentage of stu
dents who were not accounted for
after leaving public school.
In addition, a Tfavis County
grand jury in April handed up 16 in
dictments against the Austin Inde
pendent School District stemming
from alleged manipulation of stu
dent testing data.
AISD spokesperson Andy Welch
said the district is meeting with the
county attorney in the effort to ensure
problems do not happen in the future.
TEA spokesperson Joey Lozano
said the agency also audits schools
on issues, such as students leaving
school, and investigates allegations
of improper expenditure of public
funds. He said the agency will pro
vide information to the task force if
needed.
“The more focus that’s on pub
lic education in this state, the bet
ter it’s going to be,” Rylander
whose office also has authority to
audit school districts,said. The Re
publican officeholder has
promised to be the “education
watchdog” for Texans.
“I am going to continue to dri
ve more of every education dollar
into the classroom,” she said.
School districts report that
about 52 cents of every dollar
spent on education currently go to
instruction, Rylander said, calling
that number unacceptable.
Levy, founder and publisher of
Texas Monthly magazine, said the
task force has been assured by the
comptroller,“that this is not a po
litical agenda, this is about the
school kids of Texas.”
David Dunn, director of govern
mental relations for the Texas As
sociation of School Boards, said
even though his group isn’t includ
ed on the task force, “we’re here to
help them if they want to call on us
to help. We would be happy to
work with them.”
jrderj
.ed
845-g,
it
2001
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