European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 04, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday. October 4, 1989 the stars and stripes Page 7 Texas must Reform school funding court wants per stud end spending evened ouf Austin. Texas a the Texas supreme court found glaring disparities Between the state s Rich and poor school districts and ruled monday thai funding within the nation s second larg est system is unconstitutional. Spending varies by As much As $17.000 per Pupil per year from Rich to poor districts the court found. A remedy is Long  Justice Oscar Mauzy s opinion said. The legis lature must Lake immediate  the 9-0 ruling could have enormous financial and social implications for the 3.3 million student Texas school system second in size to California s. The court found the Public school finance system violates the 113-Ycar-old constitutional provision for an efficient system of Public schools. It set a May i 1990. Deadline for legislators to find a solution. Stale attorneys had argued that the word efficient was intended to suggest a simple and inexpensive system " but the court said the state s school financing system is neither financially efficient nor efficient in the sense of pro Viding for a general diffusion of knowl Edge statewide. It must be recognized that the Constitution requires an efficient not an economical inexpensive or cheap sys tem Mauzy said. A band Aid will not suffice the sys tem itself must be  the court warned. Nov. Bill Clements said he will Call for a special 30-Day session of the legis lature in the Spring. Nearly $10 billion in slate Money will be made available for Public schools in 1990-91, and almost $12 billion is expected to come from local i iritis. A state District judge in Austin ruled the school funding system was unconstitutional in a Case brought by school districts with Low property values against the state education commissioner and others. That ruling was overturned last december by a 2-1 vote of the Austin based 3rd court of appeals. The lawsuit known As Edgewood is. Kirby was filed in 1984. Public schools arc funded largely through a Combina Tion of local property taxes and slate Aid. The Federal government also contributes. Because of the disparities in District property wealth annual spending per student ranges from $2.112 toll ,333. The High court said without placing an exact Dale for the figures. The Case got its title from the  plaintiff Edgewood Independent school District in san Antonio and  defendant William Kirby education com missioner. Edgewood superintendent James Vas quiz Ted about 1,800 students and teach ers in a Celebration rally monday. Today we can begin to say we re no longer the poorest school District in Texas we re the  Vasquez told cheering students and teachers. We took on the state of Texas and we beat  attending the gathering was Demitri Rodriguez who launched the fight for equal school funding in 1968 when hand other Edgewood parents filed a Law suit that reached the . Supreme court in 1973 but was Defeated. In Dallas education commissioner Kirby said As the  defendant in this Case i have been required to defend the constitutionality of the system. But have always maintained that it is not adequate and have pressed for additional amounts of Money to improve  cartels May be joining forces Dea agent says los anger i s a rival colombian drug cartels May be joining forces to keep distribution lines open Dur ing their government s crackdown a Federal agent investigating a record cocaine seizure in suburban Sylmar. 25miles Northwest of los Angeles said monday. The 20 tons of cocaine seized in the thursday raid included drugs from both the my Dullin and Call cartels. John m. Zienter the drug enforcement administration s special agent for los Angeles said. Seven men were arrested thursday and Friday in los Angeles and Las vegas in connection with the seizure. It very Well could be that based on the pressure in Colombia this is a Way cartels arc trying to get much of the cocaine out of the country and to maintain distribution channels said Zienter who declined to say exactly How much of the cocaine was from the two cartels named for the cities where they Are based. However Dea spokesman Cornelius Dougherty said in Washington that he did not believe it was unusual for the cartels to work together. They re not As competitive As might be the Public perception when it comes to what is the Best most profitable Way to distribute cocaine he said. What works for one will work for the  arrested thursday in los Angeles were James Romero Mctague. 41, of Elpaso and Mauricio Monroy 36, of Mexico City. On Friday authorities arrested Hugo Fernando Castillon 32. Of Sherman Oaks and Miguel Garcia Chavez 34, of Panorama City. The four men arrested in los Angeles appeared be fore a municipal court judge who agreed to postpone their arraignments on various drug charges until oct. 6. The men were ordered to remain in jail without bail. Authorities said they plan to eventually consolidate the cases in a Federal action. One of the men arrested in Las vegas Carlos Tapia Ponce was described by authorities As a former Cus Toms inspector for the mexican government who be came a major drug smuggling player. Tapia Ponce 68, was arrested at the Flamingo Hilton hotel in Las vegas along with his son Hector Tapia an Condo 38, and his brother. Hector Eduardo Tapia Ponce 66, the Dea said. Federal officials said monday they did not have enough evidence to charge the brother. Suspects arrested in connection with a record drug seizure stand behind Glass panels during heir appearance in a los Angeles municipal court. From left they Are James Romero Mctague Hugo Fernando Castillon Miguel Garcia Chavez and Mauricio Monroy. At right in front of the Glass panels is court interpreter Corinne Edelson. The father and son appeared before . Magistrate Lawrence Cavitt in Las vegas on monday but re fused to identify themselves on the advice of their defense attorney David Chesnoff. Cavitt set an identity hearing for Friday to be Fol Lowed by a detention hearing where motions for bail will be argued. They Are being held without bail. Chs no Falso requested a preliminary hearing for the two. Which under Law must be held within 10 Days. Tapia Ponce apparently ran the mexican operation. Said special assistant . Attorney Susan Bryant  picks up the Ball once it is in his country and moves it Back into the hands of the colombians in l.a.," she said. The rest of the men work for him. Anybody who gets that close to that much narcotics is an extremely trusted part of the  drug agents in California meanwhile have begun destroying the 20 tons of cocaine said Zienter. He said $10 million also seized in the raid had been deposited in a downtown los Angeles Bank. Pef food maker wants to help clean up . Streets by Jerry Schwartz new York a Ralston Purina is attacking the dog food Market from the other end. In a full Page and in monday s new York times the St. Louis based purveyor of Puppy Chow claimed that if More dogs in new York ate Purina i pro it would seem like there were less dogs in new  under that headline there is a Large picture of a disgusted businessman standing on one foot while examining the Bottom of his left shoe. He is not looking for gum on his Heel. I pro s High digestibility Means smaller firmer stools the and advises. The More nutrients a dog digests the less passes through his system and onto our  this is not what a times Reader expects with breakfast. A Call to Ralston Purina was referred to company spokesman Patrick Farrell he said he needed to do some research before he could talk about the and. Ill get All the scoop and the dirt on it and i la Call you right Back he said. When he called Back he w As a font of dog food information. When you Well not you but when your dog cats his system absorbs the nutrients and the rest passes through. I Don t know of any polite Way to Dis cuss  Normal dog foods have a digestibility rating of 70 percent meaning 70 percent is absorbed and the rest passes through. I pro s rating is 82 percent so less is coming out the other end Farrell said. Ralston Purina did no extensive Field testing on new York streets be fore plunging ahead with its and Campaign which consists of the and in the times and upcoming placards on Tele phone kiosks around the  itself is not a new product the company has been Selling it for More than a  Don t think for a moment that we have the solution to the oops stepped in it problem in new York the and says. But perhaps we can Helpa Little by making the pickups a Little quicker and easier for dog own ers. And even when the scofflaws won t pick up the mess won t be quite As  said new York is the Only City slated for the and Campaign. Very few cities have that same Urban life style he said