2—The Daily Collegian Wednesday, Nov. 15, 1995 School choice to be reintroduced in Pa. Congress By JIM KINNEY Collegian Staff Writer The state legislature will consid er sometime this week a reworked version of Gov. Tom Ridge's educa tional reform package still con taining the controversial school choice program. School choice would provide state funds to families who send their children to private and parochial schools, Ridge said at a fund-raising dinner for U.S. Rep. Bill Clinger, R-Warren, on Friday. In the new incarnation of the bill, Ridge said, the grants will only be available in certain areas and will expire after five years. "We've reduced it so that it is not a program that goes on forever," he said. The first incarnation of the legis lation failed two months ago. Since that time many groups have given Big Ten schools react to Penn State's rally against hate crimes By JENNIFER REITZ Collegian Staff Writer With about 2,000 people in atten dance, Friday's rally in opposition to the recent surge of hate crimes in the community, students contra dicted their reputation for apathy. But students and faculty at other Big Ten schools say their campus es have a big tendency to ignore intolerance and other problems and proceed with the daily grind. Ursula Freimarck, co-chair woman of the Women's Interna tional League for Freedom at the University of Michigan, said it is hard to recall the last student protest at the Ann Arbor campus. the governor suggestions about the bill. "Over the past two months we've been talking with teachers, talking with school boards," he said. "I think there's a lot of momentum." Ridge said some former oppo nents of the bill have given the new version support. "The School Boards Association, I believe, is going to support it now," he said. "They're not excited about opportunity grants, but they understand that 90 percent of the education deals with fundamental reform of public schools." The Pennsylvania School Boards Association has changed its posi tion on the reform package in spite of the grants, said Tom Gentzel, executive director. The addition of provisions to recertify teachers every five years and to give more power to local school boards swayed the association's opinion. "We used to have lots of protests, but now it's kind of hard to get peo ple rounded up," she said. A 150-person strong Neo-Nazi group comes to campus once a year in the spring, Freimarck said, but out of about 35,000 students, only a handful arrive to demonstrate their discontent. Students are usually sent the message that hate groups gain sat isfaction from an audience and if you ignore them, they will go away, she said. "I'd like to see more student action," she said. "I think (stu dents) are very apathetic." In Madison at the University of Wisconsin, things are not that C.H.A.R.M. would like to thank the following restaurants for donating a percentage of their profits today to NATIONAL HOMELESSNESS AWARENESS WEEK: The Deli, Ferrara's of Little Italy, The Gingerbread Man, Mario and Luigi's, and Stoney's Posthouse Tavern. ci , s. C>° / ''' Ms d \ Monday thru Thursday =t===lM=M "We believe that in this version the vouchers are a very small part of it," he said. Still, some local legislators, even within the Republican Party, have reservations about the proposal. State Sen. J. Doyle Corman, R- Centre, said he supports the gover nor's efforts to reform education, but he does not support the tuition voucher program. "I don't think that vouchers is the only solution to the educational problem," he said. "He and I differ a little on that." Some legislators fear the grants will prove to be unconstitutional. State Rep. Lynn Herman, R-Cen tre, said he believes the state con stitution forbids the grants to pri vate schools. "I have always felt that the pro gram that the governor initially brought forward to the general assembly required an amendment "We used to have lots of protests, but now it's kind of hard to get people rounded up." much different, said Erik Jensen a But even those displays of dis member of the Graduate Lesbian, content consist of only a few peo- Gay and Bisexual Student Group. ple standing along the fringes of "People don't really care about the crowd, he added. things that much," he said. Jensen said the administration at Jensen said only counterprotests, Wisconsin is a "good watch dog" such as students who demonstrate against hate crimes and intoler ance. against National Coming Out Day . amount to anything Ursula Freimarck University of Michigan Women's International League for Freedom co-chairwoman to the constitution," he said Another concern among many legislators is the plan's effect on the commonwealth's finances. But Ridge said the money is sim ply going where the taxpayers want it to go. "We operate under the premise that this is not government money; it's taxpayers money following tax payers into private schools," he said. "My position has been that the price tag of this program is unaf fordable to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania." For rural legislators, the concern was the benefit to their districts. Cameron Texter, an aide to state Rep. Ruth Rudy, D-Centre, said Rudy did not vote for the program because it did not help her district. "She voted against the plan part ly because it will not benefit schools in Centre and Mifflin coun ties," he said. As for incidents similar to those L=l ALL VOLLEYBALL CLUB Open Gym For Competitive Male & Female Players Thursday, November 16th At Gym 2 In The I.M. Building !From 9:oopm-11:00torn If unable to attend or for more info. contact Kevin at 867-3881 WhaVs the best place to work next summer? You'll find out tomorrow if you read the insert in the paper. Pull it out and you'll be on your way to earning a lot more cash than you'd get from a fast-food joint next summer. But if you can't bear to give up those free fries at the end of a long workday, just drop the insert into the nearest recycling bin. Or, give it to a friend--you might be remembered when payday rolls around. 4EYRecycle tl6) newspapers and inserts. While many legislators still have concerns about the plan, some edu cators feel the reforms will dam age public education. The Pennsylvania State Educa tion Association has been one of the most vocal critics of the gover nor's entire reform package, but especially tuition grants. Lucy Harlow, a communications specialist with the PSEA, said rural school districts do not benefit from the plan. "I think that's one more problem that the rural school districts that are excluded will have to pay for," she said. But educators in private and parochial schools support the pro gram while many are doubtful of it's impact. Sister Charmaine Grilliot, educa tion director for the Altoona-John stown Diocese said the bill will help families who struggle to pay Penn State students have seen recently, Jensen said they are not a big problem at Wisconsin. "(Hate crimes) aren't a topic of conversation. It's not a concern that's been voiced," he said "Peo ple are concerned, but there hasn't been anything in Madison to pro voke more concern." An occasion: I action does spark enough concern to unify students in protest at Penn State. A demon stration in 1988 included the takeover of the Telecommunica tions Building when students staked claim on the building to protest the lack of funding for the HUB/Paul Robeson expansion pro ject. PENN STATE Gov. Tom Ridge state legislature will consider his reworked education reform package tuition while at the same time pay ing school taxes. "I basically support the concept," she said. "It's been a long time coming." That same year, a group of facul ty, staff and students at the Uni versity of Indiana formed a Racial Incidents Team to combat intoler ance on campus, said Bill Shipton of Residence Life there. The team is still active in assist ing victims of intolerance, as is another team formed to fight dis crimination against the gay, les bian and bisexual community, but Shipton said he would like to see less apathy and more motivation to make real and positive changes. "The hunch is that most students are apathetic unless it happens to them or someone close to them," he said. "But we need to continue to be proactive." dn;Collegian
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