A political war is in the making in Maryland, where the legislature has killed several of Gov. William Donald Schaefer’s pet projects.
Among the casualties is Mr. Schaefer’s plan to create a statewide residential high school for mathematics and science (see News in Brief). According to a report in The Washington Post, retaliation is in the works, and one of the targets the Governor is eyeing is $5 million in aid to the Prince George’s County public schools for its magnet-school program.
The reason? The suburban Washington county happens to be the home of Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., whom Mr. Schaefer blames for his legislative setbacks.
“I propose and he disposes,” the Governor told the Post.
He added that a recent telephone conversation between the two of them did nothing to smooth their differences.
“He said, ‘I like you like a father,”’ the Governor remarked. “I said, ‘Do you hate your father that much?”’
Gov. Robert D. Orr has accused the Indiana State Teachers Association of browbeating lawmakers into endorsing a bill that would cut the number of instructional days required in the state’s schools.
A bill approved by the House last month would permit schools to count two days of parent-teacher conferences toward the state’s 180-day school calendar.
Expanding the school year from 175 to 180 days was a primary feature of the school-reform bill pressed for by the Governor and approved by the legislature last year.
Mr. Orr likened the union’s leaders to “Chinese warlords” in a recent interview. “Kids are being cheated by two days of instruction and taxpayers are being cheated by paying for something that they’re not getting.”
Education-minded Mississippians entitled to a state income-tax refund this year are being presented with a special way to show their support for the schools.
A new line has been added to the 1987 tax form asking citizens if they want to donate all or part of their refund to the state’s new Educational Trust Fund.
The fund, which now has a balance of $20 million, was created by lawmakers last year to help supplement general state aid to schools.
As an additional incentive, taxpayers can claim a credit on their forms if they choose to donate their refunds.--tm
