Banner Graphic, Volume 12, Number 39, Greencastle, Putnam County, 22 October 1981 — Page 3

School IlinchCS" Participation dropping in wake of federal subsidy cuts

ByROBERTPEAR c 1981 N.Y. Times News Serv ice WASHINGTON Siud°nts in many states are choosing not to buy school lunches at the increased prices made necessary by a redaction in federal subsidies. State officials estimated Tuesday that participation in the national school lunch program had dropped by 15 to 30 percent, meaning that at least 3 million youngsters were no longer buying full, nutritionally balanced meals at school. In addition, more than 400 of the 94,000 schools that participated in the program have completely withdrawn. Federal officials predicted last March that few if any schools would withdraw. School lunches were in the “social safety net of programs" that President Reagan said would be "exempt from any cuts" affecting needy families. The budget director, David A. Stockman, and Agriculture Department officials said the program was wasteful because it provided subsidies to many children from middle- and upper-income families. Reduction of those subsidies has made it difficult or impossible for some school cafeterias to meet their operating costs, local officials said. The number of students buying school lunches is down by 15 to 20 percent in Connecticut, 20 to 30 percent in New Jersey, 30 to 35 percent in California, 20 percent in Wisconsin. 22 percent in Idaho and 15 percent in Florida, according to food service officials in each of those states. Richard O. Reed, the school food director for New York state, said the number of students buying school lunches was down from last year, but he did not know by how much. Participation in lunch and breakfast programs were already low at many schools in New York City. At some, principals did not encourage students to take advantage of the programs. Some students preferred to skip lunch so they could go home

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Taxes will be paid

Jay County group relents on non-payment stance

- PORTLAND, Ind. (AP) Jay County’s tax protest movement, the Farmers and Businessmen Tax Adjustment Association, has had a change of heart about paying November property taxes. The group originally suggested nonpayment of the taxes but said Tuesday it believes the taxes should be paid to avoid a confrontation that could lead state lawmakers to overhaul the state tax structure. Earlier, the group complained of what it considered an unfair burden of taxes paid by Indiana farmers and other landowners. It threatened Organizing a personal property tax revolt to protest that burden. Lon Racster, attorney for the organization, said Tuesday support the group has received caused it to believe withholding the taxes would be premature. Racster said concerned farmers and businessmen met with 17 legislators who acknowledged the plight of those affected by land taxes. He said some of the legislators agreed Indiana’s tax structure should be overhauled. The group’s efforts also were acknowledged by Gov. Robert D.Orr, he said. ’ ,l We’d like to see what happens in the legislature before ,we start advocating withholding taxes.”

He said the group brought up the possibility of stopping payments as a protest option if more conventional methods did not work. “Our initial goal was to create a situation where property tax was not the source of least resistance for future funds through taxes,” Racster said.

Chicago schools target drugs, alcohol

(c) 1981 Chicago Sun-Times CHICAGO—A two-pronged crackdown on the distribution and use of drugs and alcohol in the city’s public schools was announced Tuesday by Police Supt. Richard J. Brzeczek. “We are going to get tough with kids and adults who get involved in the sale and distribution of drugs and alcohol” in the schools, Brzeczek told a press conference at police headquarters. The

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early. Also, cafeteria employees said subsidized meals sometimes carried the stigma of being a welfare program. In some places, students were already avoiding school lunches because they disliked the food. Richard E. Lyng, deputy secretary of agriculture, said Monday in an interivew that any drop in participation was probably due to the fact that “students did not like the taste of the lunch.” Congress, which sets the charge for a reduced price lunch, raised the fee this year to 40 cents, or double the amount charged in the last school year. Local school authorities establish the charge for a “full price” lunch, but are required to operate on a non-profit basis. Ann R. Tolman, director of child nutrition programs in Connecticut, said that the average charge for an elementary school lunch had risen to 75 cents from 60 cents, while the average for seconday schools, formerly 70 cents, was now 85 to 90 cents. Gene White, child nutrition director in California, said the average charge for a full-price high school lunch had risen by 26 cents, to SI.OB. In New York, the average charge for full price lunches has risen 10 or 20 cents and now averages 75 to 80 cents, state officials said. In the past participation in the school lunch program usually dropped by one percent for each penny added on to the price of a meal. Reports from school lunch directors this year indicate that that relationship still holds. But G. William Hoagland, head of the food and nutrition service in the Agriculture Department, said local authorities were raising the charge for a full-price lunch much more than the 11 cents they had lost in federal subsidy for the meal. “We expected the price to go up by 10 or 15 cents,” Hoagland said. “In some places, it has gone up 50cents a meal.”

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“I think we’ve changed that. I think legislators and the executive branch believe the property tax is no longer the point of least resistance.” Some farmers claim tax bills have increased 300 percent since property was reassessed two years ago. And they say farmers are paying 57 percent of

crackdown, he said, would start in “the inner city, the core and its perimeter,” although, he added, “I don’t think there is a neighborhood in this city that is not affected by the drug problem.” Brzeczek said he would more than double the 77-member unit assigned to patrolling the public schools and the effort would include an intensified education program as well as stepped-up arrests.

the property taxes in Jay County. The tax reform lobby began in June when 35 farmers met to discuss grievances. In July, 300 people met at the Jay County fairgrounds with state legislators. Racster said the group plans to continue lobbying

He said that in addition to the traditional get-tough “enforcement” approach, officers would try a more “parental” tack. District commanders and detectives from the youth, gang crimes suppression and narcotics fields, he said, will speak to school assemblies to advise young people about how to handle peer pressure and warn them of the dangers of drug abuse and the consequences of being arrested, he said.

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The poorest children are still eligible for free lunches. State and local officials said the decline in partiepation had been most noticeable among youngsters who must pay for their school meals that is, children from low- and middle-income families. The decrease was not anticipated in the public statements of administration officials. Stockman, testifying before the House Committee on Education and Labor on April 29, said: “All of these dire predictions are based on an assumption. I don’t believe those assumptions have been verified. It seems to me middle- and upperincome students will stay in the program and that their families will be willing to put in 30 cents more a meal because it is still a good deal. “If there is a major retention of participation, which we believe there will be, there will be no changes in the unit costs for running these programs, and the kind of dropout, the kind of attrition that has been predicted, in my judgment, won’t happen.” The administration sought unsuccessfully to eliminate the subsidy on meals served to “non-needy” youngsters. Congress, however, agreed to reduce the subsidy, and administration officials said they would probably seek further reductions later this year. When children drop out of the school lunch program, they have several alternatives. They can bring lunches from home. They can go off campus to buy food. They can skip lunch. Or they can buy a few items separately, such as soup and a sandwich, with no guarantee that they will receive the recommended allowance of various nutrients included in a full school lunch. The Central Valley School District in Spokane County, Wash., which has 19 schools with a total enrollment of 11,000, has dropped out of the school lunch program. Twenty-two percent of all

$900,000 in stolen goods

Indy police sting nets 210 arrests

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Teams of police rounded up an estimated 210 suspects early today and Tuesday night, climaxing what officials termed the largest police sting operation in Indiana history. Suspects unwittingly sold undercover police $900,000 in stolen goods over eight months, officials said. It was the second sting in the county. While the first concentrated on auto thieves, the latest went after burglars. The loot included everything from aspirins to a marble hot tub, investigators

Coal tax could raise sl4 million

KOKOMO, Ind (AP) - Officials of the Indiana Department of Commerce are considering a severance tax on coal which could produce sl4 million in revenue, Lt. Gov. John Mutz s,iys. Mutz added he would oppose the tax if it produced revenue for the state’s general fund but it “might make some sense’’ if used to finance coal research. Mutz said one reason he might oppose the tax is that it could result in the state’s coal being priced out of the market. He said he also was concerned it would increase electric bills for Hoosiers. Mutz was interviewed Monday by the Kokomo Tribune before attending a local chamber of commerce dinner. Indiana already imposes a severance tax on petroleum products, based on .5 percent of the value of production. Commerce Department figures show the tax raised about $1.6 million last year. A severance tax is placed on a natural resource when it is extracted or severed from the ground. Kentucky, West Virginia, Tennessee, Montana, North Dakota and Alabama are among states that levy a severance tax on coal. Taxes range from 20 to 80 cents a ton. In Kentucky, a tax is levied based on 4Vi percent of the value of the coal with a minimum tax of 50 cents per ton. The amount raised in Indiana would depend on the tax rate levied. If Indiana adopted the same figure as Kentucky, the state could raise about sl4 million a year. Mutz said utilities would pass the tax on to customers. Hugh A. Barker, chairman of

said. Most of the defendants face multiple theft charges, police reported. Prosecutor Stephen Goldsmith said, “After the last time, we sat down and asked ourselves what is the biggest problem we have that we could have some effect on through a sting. The answer was burglaries.” Police rented a storefront at 3811 East Michigan St, called it “Woody’s Knothole,” and spread the word it was a good place to fence stolen goods

Public Service Indiana, said recently he opposed a severance tax because it “in effect is a tax on consumers. It is a source of revenue, but it would be put back on the consumer through their bills.”

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October 21,1981, The Putnam County Banner-Graphic

lunches there used to be served free or at reduced prices. Shirley N. Larson, the food service director, said the schools were now serving lunch items a la carte. Elementary school pupils get a “mini lunch” instead of the regular school lunch. This means that a child gets 10 deep-fried potato balls with his hamburger instead of the six he used to get. He receives 8 or 9 french fries instead of 12. And he does not receive the salad that was served routinely in the past, she said. The American School Food Service Association, an organization of school lunch directors and child nutritionists, found in a survey of its members that more than 400 schools had withdrawn from the lunch program. In each state checked by a reporter for The New York Times, the actual number of schools pulling out of the program was higher than reported last month to the association. Marshall L. Matz, a lawyer for the association, said that in the majority of school districts, fewer than a third of the students were eligible for free or reduced-price lunches. “School districts cannot afford to provide those lunches,” he said, “unless the federal government provides some degree of general assistance in addition to the special subsidy for poor children.” On Sept. 4, the Agriculture Department proposed to reduce the amount of food that would have to be served in school lunch portions. Three weeks later, after much criticism, Reagan with} drew the proposal. The school lunch program was established by Congress in 1946 as “a measure of national security” after the discovery of poor nutrition among potential recruits during World War II The program is meant to “safeguard the health and well-being of the nation’s children” and to stabilize the economy through government purchase of surplus agricultural commodities.

When the “customers" came, hidden cameras recorded the transactions. Goldsmith noted government money for sting operations has evaporated in the last year so he had to find “creative” financing. One source, the Insurance Crime Provention Institute, aided because some of the thefts involved fraud. The prosecutor said some thieves were candid in explaining to the undercover police that real owners of some items hired them to steal so the

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owner could collect insurance. Money also was raised “from me strongly encouraging owners (of cars recovered in the first sting) and insurance companies to pay us back our buy money,” Goldsmith said. The first sting was run by the prosecuw ” with detectives from city, county and state police. This time stak oolice were excluded. “We decide it was our problem so we shouiu ones dealing with it without draining state resources,' 1 Goldsmith said.

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