European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 30, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Pago 10 columns the stars and stripes sunday september 30, 1990david Brode raise taxes Cut spending which is Best three of them in forces shaping the politics of the 1990s a aversion to taxes distrust of government officials and concern for our children a future a came into focus As the rivals for the Illinois governorship faced off at a luncheon meeting of businessmen. Democratic attorney general Neil Martian and Republican Secretary of state Jim Midgar debated an Issue that has come to dominate their closely contested Campaign a the financing of Public education. Lartigan is against extending the two year 20 percent surtax on income that state legislators passed in 1989 to Aid the schools. I in told the businessmen that his opponent s Only answer to education and everything else is to raise taxes again. Instead he said he would find savings elsewhere to replace the surtax Money for education then earmark a rising share of new revenues for the schools Edgar replied a a it a easy to talk about cutting waste before he election. But that Type of do Magog cry is going to ruin education in Illinois and in a not Goin to be part of it. Let s have the courage to say we Aren l going to be Able to Cut your  i he Illinois debate mirrors the controversy that has stalemated the budget Summit in Washington. Parallels can be found in most of the other 35 gubernatorial Battles around the country. Nowhere in America it seems docs anyone really know How to finance government services when people Are deeply sceptical about the Way the politicians spend Money. I he old twist in Illinois is that it is Democrat Lartigan who is making what he Calls a the conservative argument that he can pay for what the voters want a better schools a by  out what Ronald Reagan used to Call a waste fraud and  and it is Republican Midgar a protege of retiring gop gov. James r. I Hompson who is emulating Walter Mondale a tactic of saying taxes can to be avoided. Illinois is typical of Many Stales. Even As Federal income tax rates were lowered in the 1980s, Illinois taxes were boosted repeatedly but the state still struggles to maintain its Public services. Lartigan likes to Point out that Thompson raised taxes 25 times in his record 14-year tenure often citing school needs As the reason. Yet increases in state spending for schools lagged Well behind the increases in revenues those higher taxes generated and the states share of Overall education financing declined from 48 percent to 38 percent. He Calls it a a con game a but docs not Point out that the democratic controlled legislature shared responsibility for the decisions. Edgar who knows Public disillusionment with 1 Hompson s record is a threat to his chances in november is trying to shift the Issue from past tax increases to the credibility of har Ligand a Promise that he can finance school improvements without the surtax. And Many observers share Edgar a scepticism about Hartigan a ability Cut $573 million Iron non cd cation programs eliminate 2,500 Middle management jobs Ana slash administrative costs by 10 percent thus saving enough Money to replace the $383 million that would be lost in surtax revenues. Hartigan a decision puts him at Odds with Chic Gojohn Young mayor Richard m. Daley and with key leaders of the minority Community. James Compton head of the Chicago Urban league and chairman of the City school Board says retaining the surtax is a absolutely essential for the Public schools throughout the  but Edgar has his own coalition problems. An underfunded anti tax Republican won 33 percent of the gop primary vote against him. In the a Collar counties around Chicago where the protest vote was highest some Republican committeemen believe that Edgar is cutting his own Throat. Edgar is not oblivious to the danger even though he claims his private polls show Hartigan a surge has ended and that Edgar remains in front. The Day before the Hartigan news conference Edgar toured suburban areas arguing that scrapping the surtax would inevitably damage the schools and boost property taxes. His Media consultant Don Sipple had an and ready to go on the air on the night of Hartigan a conference underscoring that same Point. It played adjacent to to news programs some of which took a notably sceptical View of the Hartigan plan. Channel 2 in Chicago for example used the phrase a having it both ways both in audio and on the screen to describe Hartigan a plan to Cut taxes yet provide More Money for schools. That kind of commentary is vital to the Basic gop strategy of shifting the Issue from taxes to personal a a. Character Issue a Edgar has said is Hartigan s biggest  in a role reversal As striking As their positioning on taxes Edgar seeks to focus on Hartigan the Public suspicion of politicians that has been fed by the actions of some of his own allies. A the cynicism in Illinois is More pronounced a Sipple said a because Thompson twice did what president Bush has now done a reversed a Campaign Promise not to raise taxes. But Hartigan a advisers Are firmly convinced that the real Issue in Illinois is not character but taxes. Pollster Mike Mckeon said a i told Hartigan a year ago that taxes would be the key issues and that education a is no to even on the  a Chicago Tribune poll taken late in August reported that 60 percent of All voters and 66 percent of the crucial ticket splitters said they favor continuation of the surtax if it is used for education. But Mckeon dismisses that As the moralistic answer people think they Are supposed to give. Hartigan said he did no to need polls to know he was on Van a it s a of this Issue. A everywhere in be been a he said a you have told me you re working two three jobs and you re still barely making it. And these Guys still want to raise taxes Are they crazy a Edgar insists that he is not crazy. A i know its a risk a he said but i want to be governor so i can govern a not to preside Over  the voters have five weeks to decide who is playing the con games and whose policies spell chaos. C Washington Post writers group bilingual education much misunderstood Waco 1 exas a most everyone who Ever planned a vacation in n foreign land has picked up a Small Book of phrases a traveler would need to get by. As simple As it sounds learning those phrases it is no piece of pastel. That a cake in Spanish. But lets say you re not a world traveler. Lets say you be barely been around the Block a you re a 6-year-old who Speaks no English. You Are being dropped at the Doorstep of american culture and arc about to be graded on what you know. You can t read Mother Goose much less a phrase Book. I Low do you survive that is the problem faced by millions of non English speaking american youngsters every year As they approach school. They not Only need to learn English and math they need to learn the culture. They need to learn everything. It was a problem faced More than three decades ago when hispanic leaders in 7� formed a the Little school of the in 1956 the late Felix Tijerina was elected Texas director of the league of United latin american citizens. After studies showed that the inability to speak English retarded a child a education from one to three years he launched 10 Pilot projects of pre school training for children in and around the Houston area who spoke no English. He called the concept a the Little school of the 400�?� after 400 words that he and educational experts Felt were Basic to the English language. The object was for the preschoolers to master those words Many of which were combined in key English phrases. And so several Hundred children were challenged to master the building blocks of our culture such phrases As a a what a your name a a How do you say a a a where is the place a and the All important a say it  the children Learned the phrase a i like to speak English Quot they also Learned. A a like to speak Spanish  opponents of bilingual education in this country often assert that hispanics Are promoting their own language at the expense of English. They should read about the a school of the 400�?� and the perseverance of latino leaders to make sure that All Spanish speaking children could speak  so called father of bilingual education the late Edmund e. Mireles spearheaded a pre school for non English speaking preschoolers in Corpus Christi. A thousands of our children have been retained again and again on account of the language Handicap and through no fault of their own been discouraged in their school Progress a said Mireless just As the a Little school of the 400�?� planted key words and phrases that grew into literacy and achievement so did it Plant the seeds that germinated into one  a successful pros is t Ulac program proved so successful that in 1959 the Texas legis lature funded a program of pre school i Striction for Spanish speaking Studer throughout the state. And the Success that idea helped spawn a Federal program head Start a now in its 25th year. Bilingual education is a much m understood concept. It is not about Sustai Uig two competing languages but to about providing a Bridge Between the to it allows children without English pro Cliency to learn Basic concepts in their n Tive tongues while learning English. The so called Emersion method a a Psi Here child nothing but English spoken these Halls a leaves some children Yea behind in acquiring the concepts. Litt wonder Why so Many drop out. The ultimate goal of bilingual Educ Tion is English education. Before preaching to hispanics Abo to need to learn English think of to school of the 400.�?� they planted it v All Harvest its fruit. Herald Youna is de Ltd rat Pulgo editor of the Waco Tribur