From the Nov. 11, 1996 Daily Report Card:
-> *4   ANOTHER OPTION:  GA. VOTERS SAY SCHOOLS CAN USE SALES TAX
->    Ga. citizens voted in favor of Amendment 2, which would
-> allow school boards to seek voter approval for a 1% sales tax to
-> build new schools or pay off debt (White, ATLANTA JOURNAL-
-> CONSTITUTION, 11/6).  The vote in favor of amending the state
-> constitution would give school boards the option to use sales
-> taxes, not just property taxes, to fund school construction,
-> writes the paper.
->    "A lot of people understand that we need an alternative
-> source of revenue for education, and particularly for school
-> construction, " said Cobb County PTA leader Cathy Henson.  "If
-> you hear one common complaint from parents it's about classes
-> being overcrowded, and there's no way to reduce class size if you
-> don't have classrooms to put those classes in."
->    According to the paper, the amendment was supported by both
-> "die-hard" Democrats and "die-hard" Republicans.
->    Many restrictions apply to the use of the sales tax for
-> school construction.  From the paper:  "Before a countywide 1
-> percent tax could be enacted, the school board would have to
-> specify which projects it would fund and how much money it planed to
-> raise."  The next step:  voters must approve the tax.  And the tax
-> would last only five years or until the "designated amount of money
-> was raised, whichever came first," writes the paper.
->    Restrictions also apply to the type of project covered by
-> the funds.  The paper reports that only school construction,
-> renovation, technology or the retirement of past debts for those
-> capital costs are allowed to be covered by sales tax revenue.
->
-> *5   THE PRESSURE IS ON:  CLEVELAND WINS SCHOOL LEVY
->    Cleveland voters last week approved the 13.5-mill school
-> levy "by a margin that even the campaign's wildest optimists
-> could not have hoped for" -- 54-46 percent margin, reports the
-> Cleveland PLAIN DEALER (Oritz, Stephens and Lane, 11/7).
->    "The majority of people who voted for [the levy] said,
-> 'We're going to give you a chance,'" said levy campaign manager
-> Arnold Pinkney.  "We can't fail them this time.  The changes in test
-> scores have to occur immediately.  Safety in the schools has to
-> occur.  There has to be instant progress."
->    Cleveland Mayor Michael White agreed.  "We don't have any
-> excuse now.  We've got to do exactly what we promised without any
-> excuse whatsoever."
->    The paper concedes that the going may be tougher than
-> Pinkney and White think.  The levy is expected to raise about
-> $100M in an 18-month period beginning in January.  About two-
-> thirds of the funds are targeted for education, including full=- day
-> kindergarten, textbooks and security guards.  The remaining funds
-> will be directed to the system's general expenses and to
-> help reduce the district's "mounting debt load," writes the
-> paper.
->    However, only a few of the programs will begin immediately
-> since the money will not be collected until January.  Most of the
-> programs will be phased in during the 1997-1998 school year,
-> notes the paper.  It is possible that soon the district again
-> will be short of cash and forced to seek another levy, according to
-> some officials.
->    School officials also project that the levy will cost the
-> owner of an average Cleveland home slightly more than $200
-> annually.  A citizens advisory panel, appointed by White and
-> School Superintendent Richard Boyd, and a financial oversight
-> commission will oversee the spending of the levy proceeds,
-> reports the paper.  The financial commission will have the final say
-> on all district spending.
->    State Auditor Jim Petro declared the district, which has
-> been taken over by the state, to be in fiscal crisis.  Levy funds
-> will help the district restructure its $152M debt, "now due over two
-> years, into a more manageable 10-year payment," explained
-> Gilman King, the district's chief administrative officer.  The
-> passage of the levy also will enable the district to borrow
-> money.
->    Rep. William Batchelder (R), deputy to the House speaker,
-> said the Republican-ruled Legislature will be more willing to
-> help Cleveland schools since the residents so strongly supported the
-> levy.  "Clearly there's going to be a good feeling about the district
-> that flat-out had not been there before," he said.
-> Batchelder added that the Legislature could help by sending
-> Cleveland more operating money and capital-improvement funds.
->    However, Batchelder was clear that the levy vote "will not
-> affect the Mike White situation. . . .  We want to put that
-> district back in local hands as soon as possible."  White is
-> interested in having the schools placed under his wing, similar to
-> Chicago Mayor Richard Daley's situation.
->    White conceded that although the school district now has the
-> money, there are "a lot of problems, a lot of things broken in
-> the Cleveland public school system that money can't fix."
-> However, he added that he is confident the schools will get the job
-> done.
--- PCBoard (R) v15.3/M 10
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