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2 make the right
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Newt Gingrich
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“I hope your chil
dren die of cancer."
Hugh Grant
to pestering photog
raphers in Rio.
“When you lead a
revolution, you’ve
got to expect this
kind of hostile atten
tion.”
Newt Gingrich
on the ethics
charges being made
against him.
"To be plopped in
front of a television
instead of being
read to, talked to or
encouraged to inter
act with other hu
man beings is a
huge mistake and
that’s what happens
to a lot of children.”
Madonna—
the television
demagogue herself.
"I'm certainly going
to simplify my life a
little bit.”
Burt Reynolds
on being $11 million
in debt.
“She has a special
lackey who follows 1
after her with an
ashtray. She
smokes everywhere.
At official banquets, j
receptions, at par
ties, at old-people’s
homes and so on.”
Swedish journalist
Hagge Geiger1
on the Danish
Queen, Margre the II.
“These are just real
ly shallow, shallow,
stupid things that
don’t count... it's
about entertaining
people. And at best
educating them.”
Drew Barrymore's
on other j
material successes. ;
"It was due to my
lack of discretion
that this kind of inci- j
dent occurred. I feel
that I must deeply
apologize to the
Japanese people
and government."
Japanese
Ambasador Morlshia
Aoki
on his responsibility ]
in the Peru hostage \
crisis. :
“It’s a fraud.”
O.J. Simpson
on pictures that al- \
legedly show him in \
the same shoes that \
left bloody \
footprints at the j
murder scene. \
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‘Kick’ education funding up a level
■ OUR OPINION: The Legislature
should use funds from a state income
tax kicker for public education
r | ''he 69th Oregon Legislature
deal with many issues, and public
-A- education is at the top of the list.
Most legislators agree schools are in dire
need of help, but exactly what steps
should be taken to improve state
education is far from certain.
Gov. Kitzhaber knows what he wants to
do. In his 1997-99 budget proposal,
announced in December, the Democrat
governor advocated the allocation of a
$383 million tax surplus to schools.
If state lawmakers are at a general
consensus on the future of education, they
vary widely on what should be done with
the surplus — primarily along party lines.
The $383 million derives from the extra
income tax revenue the state received
from citizens this year. By law, it must be
returned to the citizens in the form of a tax
rebate.
Kitzhaber wants to bypass that state law
and give the money to schools. We tend to
agree with him. Opposing legislators,
mostly Republicans, stand by valid
arguments. The citizens are entitled to the
money (about 67 dollars each for citizens
with income under $40,000, $495.62 for
income over $40,000), they say, and
should receive it promptly.
Unfortunately, with the advent of
Measure 47, voters have left the legislature
and the state of education in a bind.
Without the $383 million
“kicker,” public schools —
convenes on Monday ready to
from Portland grade schools to the
University — have a grim future, at best.
No matter how much lip service
lawmakers pay to education, without
drastic measures the overcrowding and
the layoffs and the cutbacks will only get
worse.
The kicker is the only realistic solution
currently being discussed. It can be seen
as a loophole, even cheating, but it’s the
only way to improve the decrepit
conditions that public schools face every
day. Teachers routinely teach classes of 50
or more in the Portland public school
district. Drastic layoffs are commonplace
at grade schools across the state. And at
public colleges, including the University,
tuition has increased by 80 percent since
1990.
Republican legislators would like to
believe that education can be saved
without the kicker. But with an estimated
$1 billion cut in the State General Fund,
the source of funding for higher
education, and a $459 million loss to
schools anticipated this year as a result of
Measure 47, that claim is only wishful
thinking.
Indeed, we wish millions of dollars
weren’t kept from citizens’ pockets either.
But education is an issue that affects all of
us and therefore must be given the
appropriate attention. Citizens and
lawmakers are short-sighted if they don’t
recognize the extreme importance of
educating Oregonians in the right way —
fifi
No matter how much lip service lawmakers
pay to education, without drastic measures
the overcrowding and the layoffs and the
cutbacks will only get worse.... The kicker
is the only realistic solution currently being
discussed. It can be seen as a loophole, even
cheating, but it’s the only way to improve
the decrepit conditions that public schools
face every day.
99
with quality.
The kicker cannot be referred to
education if the legislature does not agree
with Kitzhaber to bypass state law. With
51 Republicans and 39 Democrats in the
House and Senate, a final decision on the
matter is impossible to predict. Some
lawmakers have even called for the issue
to be presented to the voters. But whoever
makes the decision, giving the tax kicker
to schools is the right answer.
This editorial represents the opinion of
the Emerald editorial board.