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.
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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.
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