European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - June 5, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 10 columns the stars and stripes thursday june 5, 1936 James Reston Protection game requires weak Case Strong voice Protection is the mind in Wash inv Tun i Csc a tvs but ii takes Lyle uiju.1 to Mirl Oul Hub is protecting whom and Franl . Vim have Iti Lake the issues line in a Lime the in he House of Kep re Sunui Ives. Pro Duce goods in he cd Ripesi Libor markets abroad and sell hem in the richest markets everywhere while demanding thai for eign competitors be eel voluntary quota1 in inc United slates meaning i Valun Ury Iju Otas president Reagan is trying to protect big Busin. Big Labair and himself by arguing thai " he so called omnibus Trade Bill is really an ominous Ami Trade Bill that could Send our Economy into the steepest nose iliac since the great depression. And thro millions of americans Oul of tills did not however prevent him from liking protectionist measures against Ca Nadian Wood products or protect him from Canada s retaliation in kind. Any number of people can play the Protection game on any subject. All you need is a weak Case and a Strong voice. In the foreign policy Field for example the Hawks in the Pentagon have been trying to Primo i the president from a Comadora peace in Nicaragua while the state department has been trying to protect him from the Hawks. No need for Protection the White House says no difference Tio problem Tiik came is a Lite More complicated in the Case of nuclear Arras control be cause As it s played nut the players seem confused about whether they re trying to protect the country from the russians or from one a no her. During the presidential Campaign of 1980, Reagan thought he was protecting himself against president Carter who Hud signed the second strategic arms limitation treaty with he russians Reagan protected his right Dank by announcing that he treaty was fatally this reassured the Hawks but infuriated James k1lpatr1ck the doves but once he was in the while House. Reagan said he d abide by the treaty anyway if the russians behaved. This infuriated the Hawks and immobilized the doves thus keeping both sides off balance on the first Lime around this strategy mystified officials in Washington Anil in the Allied capitals and now he has done it again. The president announced the other Day that to protect tie United slates he would no longer be bound by the terms of the ii treaty. But he did t exactly bang the door he left it open just a crack. He indicated thai he would scrap a couple of old submarines and stay within the treaty limits Over the summer but by the end of the year would feel free to deploy a noise missiles on bombers even if his exceeded the limits. Of course if Moscow changes is policy he might think it a if Over. This course requires the Mastery of protective official gobbledygook one administration official said the idea was to build in As much Automa Sicily As but while nobody knew what this meant there is always the possibility that it did t mean anything and might be changed nest week or next month. Secretary of stale George Shully explained the Salt in switch by saying inc president was merely shifting gears which could mean anything from going into High or into reverse. Meanwhile there was a lol of talk about what or who was obsolete and who cow be done to protect the nation from politicians and policies that Are out of Dale. Even the educators weren t Happy about he Oul Loyk for the coming Genera lion. We arc they insist training our children for n world that is gone or going fast not protect ing them for the world of the Nam Century where they la spend Mast of their lives. Those Young people arc coming into the adult world without a knowledge of the history of inc civilization they came from taught mainly so they can protect themselves but leaving them poorly equipped to do so. In Short everybody seems to be trying to protect the people from the facts and the interesting thine about that is that the people Don t mind. It s enough to make a Man build up As much autumn itchy As possible or even give up the prot Cal Ion game altogether. To Hirw York tin no i Soroke House ought to heed Ruif on voucher arguments big Bill Bennett the Secretary of education made a Strong pitch a few weeks ago for the administration s Bill to provide tuition vouchers for the children of poor families. Parental Choice in education he to a a House comm Isicc is an idea whose time has the proposed legislation is aimed solely at the parents of educationally disadvantaged children Lite poorest of the poor. Mure affluent ratifies can already give their children greater opportunities said Bennett. They can choose their schools by buying a. Home in the neighbourhood of their Choice or by sending their children to a private school. The poor Don t have that kind of Choice. Yet it is their children for whom education May represent the Best Opportunity for Success in later Bennett would redress some of this imbalance by Mak ing available la such parents a voucher of roughly 5600 for each child of school age. The vouchers could be applied toward tuition at a private school or they could be used far specialized instruction at a Public school the Choice would in entirely Wilh the parents. Three objections often Are voiced. Critics charge thai the plan would offer very Little Choice to poor families that it would destroy the Public schools and thai to the extent it benefits religious schools it violates the Cost Tulion. Bennett argues to the contrary. A s600 voucher might not go far toward the 58,000 tuition of an elite boarding school but the median tuition for a private elementary school is s773. Thus a $600 voucher would put inc possibility of private education within reach of Many families near the poverty level. Not All the eligible families would opt for private Edu cation. Bennett believes that Many parents would apply their vouchers to top night Public schools outside their Normal school districts and he denies thai a voucher system would harm any Public school system the cily of Cambridge mass., he Laid the committee established a program by which families could select among Public schools. The program worked so Well that Many families withdrew i hair children . In two years he said the proportion of children attending the City s Public schools Rose from 74 percent to 82 percent. What of the constitutional Issue it is generally anticipated thai thousands of eligible poor families would Doose to Send of Cir children to a roman Catholic Paro Chial school. Bennett did nol address the constitutional question in his testimony hut there is Good reason to believe that at Jease five members of the . Supreme court would find no problem in the plan. In june 19s3, the High court handed Down is opinion in Mueller is. Allen. It voted 5-4 to approve a Minnesota Law that permits Uip Ayers in computing their state income lax to deduct expenses incurred in providing tuition textbooks and transportation for their children. The deduction is neutrally available to every family with children of school age but it especially benefits the parents of about 91,000 children in private schools. An estimated 86,000 of these pupils attend sectarian schools. Speaking through Justice William Rehnquist five members of the court found no violation of the establishment clause of the first amendment. The Pri Mary aim of s a Law was not to Benefit religious instruction but to Benefit parents Justice to liar Good Marshall speaking for the four dissenters con tended thai the system served to Advance religion and hence could not pass constitutional Muster. But on Jan. 26 of this year. Justice Marshall spoke fur a unanimous court in Wal is known As the Witters Case. This involved a Grant of Public funds to a Blind student seeking to become a minister. All nine members of the court agreed that such Grants flow to religious institutions Only As a result of the genuinely Independent and private Choice of Aid recipients. Five justices went out of heir Way to reaffirm the positions they had taken in the Mueller Case. Bennett s Bill appears to qualify under Boisi of these key cases. It would provide the specialized catch up courses so important to the poor and it would promote Competition in education. The Bill has been languishing too Long in committee. It s Lime to get it moving. Id in Kevil Praia Send Cuti
