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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 31, 1963)
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31. 1963 .MLDKOKD MAIL 1K1BLNE, MEDKOKD. OREGON Mew Yorkers Reject School Budget for Third Time By FREDERICK H. TREESH United Press International COPIAGUE, N.V. (UPD- Si lently, without fanfare or appar ent leadership, the residents of this moderate - income residen tial community on Long Island's south shore have revolted against rising school taxes. la effect, they said "no" when the local board of educa tion called on them to ante up a few more dollars per house hold to meet the rising costs of operating an up-to-date school system. On Oct. 1, voters re jected for the third time the school board's proposed budget which would have hiked taxes 79 cents per $100 of assessed valuation over last year's rate of $8.57. The rejection of the proposed $4,187,000 budget, which school superintendent Dr. Jerome Bot- j winick declared was a rock-bottom, no-fat estimate, caused j the 5,400-student school system to begin the year on an "aus terity" program. Under state rules, austerity means elimination ot interscho lastic athletics and hot lunches j in school cafeterias, parents are i assessed rentals for books and cnargea ior wornuuima, paci and supplies, school bus service is curtailed, use of school facili ties by Scouts, service clubs or other civic interests is disal lowed and adult education pro grams are prohibited. Vote Once More With the school system about to enter its third month under austerity, the district's voters will be given a fourth and pre sumably last opportunity to reconsider. The board of educa tion voted last week to submit a revised budget to another vote on Nov. 13. The new budg et will call for a tax increase of 23 cents per $100 less than the previous estimate, the sav ing resulting from reduced ex penditures during the austerity period. The budeet crisis in Copiague apparently is symptomatic of increased taxpayer dissatisfac tion with soaring school costs across the nation. Although di rect voting on school budgets is peculiar to New York State, the National Education Association reports an apparent national trend toward rougher sledding for proposed bond issues to fi nance school capital improve ments. Where a few years ago 85 to 90 per cent of the bond issues submitted to voters were ap proved, the nationwide percent age now has declined to about 65 per cent, an NEA spokesman said. Detroltcrs Rebel In a major city example of tax resistance, Detroit voters last April turned down a bond tax proposal the school district advanced. After the defeat, the school administration announced it would go on half-day sessions in the first, fourth and seventh grades, but It rescinded the plan after a lawsuit. Instead a second vote is scheduled for next month on a lower millagc proposal. Copiague, like thousands of other communities on Lone! Is land and elsewhere in the na tion, for years has been caught in the squeeze between the need for expanding and improving its school facilities and steadily rising costs. The result has been tax increases modest but frequent. Seven times in the last 11 years the voters have turned down a school budget, some years more than once. But al ways before the new school term opened, or within a few weeks after opening day, a new and larger budget was okayed and normal school services, ex tra curricular activities and the athletic program were con tinued. This year, however, a record number of voters turned out for the third vote Oct. 1 and reject' ed the budget, 1,556-1,245. Public Misinformed After the voting, School Board President James O'Reilly was dismayed. "The public must be misin formed they'd like to have education for less cost, but, clearly, we can't accomplish this," he said. School administrators who have worked hard to trim non essentials from the budget and promote its passage confess they don't know where the taxi resistance is centered. There is no organization opposing t h e budget and no individual speak ing out against it or distributing ! anti-budget propaganda. Observers describe the situa-1 lion generally as a taxpayer re- i volt and suggest that the core . of resistance may be among older persons, many with low and fixed income, who no longer have children in the school sys tem. Copiague, a community of slightly more than 14,000 per sons, is 40 miles cast of New York. The work force is em ployed primarily in business and light industry on Long Island. Most of the homes are modest one-or two-story shingle dwell ings, the median price $13,700. School administrators say the typical school tax bill of around $200 a year is substantially less than many Long Island commu nities, especially the closcr-to-Ncw York commuter suburbs dominated by executives and professional men. But Copia gue's median income of $6,400 is substantially less too. Educators Disturbed The administration and board of education find the situation "challenging," to say the least, and are disturbed about trim ming away some of the extras which an austerity budget re quires. 1 his being a relatively ; modest income community, school officials feel a special burden for raising the horizons I of students especially encour aging them to continue educa- lion oeyona me nign scnooi. As an example of what can be done, an aggressive counsel ling program resulted in the percentage of 1963 graduates go ing on to college jumping to 48 from 28 per cent the year be fore. And drop-outs in the senior year declined to 6, compared to 46 the year before. Going under austerity meant cutting expenditures by $144,000 from the proposed budget ve toed by the voters. Elimination of tne athletic program, for ex ample, may cost a number of promising athletes college schol arships. Parents have to shell out $12 to $15 a year per stu dent for books and supplies and many students previously en titled to school bus service now must get to classes by other means. The school administra tion also fears a severe loss in spirit, morale and efficiency among students and teachers, which might be reflected in a higher dropout rate. Even with the budget dilemma unresolved, the board of educa tion has another money prob lem in the offing. The District's high school, though relatively new, already is overpopulated by 400 students and the student body is expected to expand by 200 students a year in the future. The board feels it must, in the months ahead, go to the elector ate again and ask for authoriza tion to spend $4.7 million for a new high school to be financed by a bond issue and another tax increase. The cash crisis here is a vivid example that the post-war popu lation boom and corresponding . will continue to hit Americans demands on public education where it hurts in the wallet. NEW FALL FAMOUS BRANDS SWEATERS & SKIRTS VALUES TO $16.98 $T99 NOW 2 FOR $15.75 Hanrl Knit Itjlijri ImrtortH Mohair Cardioans and Pull &k overs in this group. V 112 EAST MAIN 5 Wis " KS'Si.t --.-r . - V 1 A' w , ' I,'". a SAVE ON FURNITURE THIS WEEK-END! Whooping Cranes Arrive at Refuge WASHINGTON (UPD - The first contingent of the world's last wild flock of Whooping Cranes has arrived at wintering grounds at the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge on the Texas Gulf coast, the Interior De-1 partment reported Wednesday. It said four of the big white birds were sighted Tuesday from an observation tower on the 47,261 acre refuge. There were 32 Whooners counted at Aransas last fall. Only 28 were counted last spring as they started their 2,500-milc return trip to Canada for sum mer nesting. Georgia Pacific Records High Safes PORTLAND (UPD -Georgia Pacific Corp. said today sales earnings and cash flow for the first nine months of 1963 were the highest in its history. Net earnings were $20,575,000 compared with $18,785,000 for the same period last year. Cash flow was $44,130,000 compared With $40,900,000. Sales were $336 million compared with $276 mil lion. The firm said on a per com mon share basis, profit for the first nine months of 1963 was no compared with $1.92. Worth Of TOYS With Purchase Of Any Bedroom or Living Room Set! BEDROOM FURNITURE 2 PC. SUITE-Mode 6 drawer dresse plateglass mirror. Matching chest, $34.44 odern walnut fjT r. Panel bed, IvJ )88 AT Tlx Reg. $151.95 3 PC. 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