Newspapers / The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, … / Sept. 4, 1986, edition 1 / Page 2
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Counties Should Pay Teachers Too! Thirdly, Commissioner Walton's assumption that if the counties were relieved of the responsibility of pay the salary supplements, the state would be pressured to pay adequate com petitive salaries on a state-wide basis. The fact is, there is no guarantee that the state legisla ture would do this in a timely manner, if at all. That is, any hesitation on the part of the state to pick up the salary supplement difference would result in an immediate loss of some of our better teachers and administra tors to other states. We don't believe the state would act quick ly with the result being a gap in competitive efforts to attract good teachers that might take a decade to off-set. The hard reality is that what is considered adequate and com petitive salaries for teachers and administrators varies in part because of many non economic factors. Therefore, no matter how planned, there will be differences in salary needs throughout North Carolina. Mr. Walton should know this and should recognize that his judgment in this issue show little respect for our local educators and the taxpayers, too. Beef Up Elementary Ed. William B^nett, U.S. Educa tion Secretary released this week the first national report on the state of America's ele mentary schools in 33 years. The report, called “First Lessons” calls for more rigorous elemen-. tary school curriculums and less traditional ways of selecting school principals. The report centers on two vital questions: “What should children know by the time they finish eighth grade?” and “How can they learn it?** Among the reports conclu sions it is pointed out that social studies curriculums emphasizes social living and social science at the expense of geography, hist ory and civics. Sad to say there is hard evidence to support these conclusions of the report. At the National Governor's Conference held in Hilton Head Island, S. C. late last month it was pointed out that American students have little knowledge of the world they live. The nation's governors were told by the President of the National Geographic Society that"American students have a shocking lack of basic geograph ic knowledge of the world and even the United States.** It was pointed out that in one test, 20 percent of elementary school students asked to locate the United States on a map placed it in Brazil. Only ten years after ther Vietnam War, 95 percent of one incoming freshman class could not locate Vietnam on a locate Vietnam on a map. The National Geographic Soci ety is working with educators in six states to return geography to the classroom, but we have to wonder how it ever left. This reminds us too that we school administrators, teachers and parents alike, need to heed the warning in the “First lesson” report. Crackdown On Drugs We were pleased to learn of the survey which concluded that two-thirds of Americans say that they would be willing to pay higher taxes to finance anti-drug efforts _ln.„ Addi tion, three fourths of full-time workers ex pressed a willingness to take valid drug test, SaSH Published Every Thursday by The Charlotte Feet PaMtshlag Company. lac. Main Office: 1991S. Camden Road [ Charlotte, N.C, *203 Second Class Postage -P.*# e* Charlotte k -i-'. Member. Natleaal -_ MiUer Sort Are Republicans Serious About The BlackVote? A newspaper editorial editor asked me to tell why Mack Republicans do not seek elected office. I replied that one reason os that the Goldwater president ial campaign was perceived as antiblack and It left a racist taint on the Republican Party in that it made Mack RepuMIcan cand idates become sacrificial lambs. An eerie sensation nauseated my stomach from the slight redlsh ness In this chap’s face because I , realized that 1 was saying that the black leadership had handed America’s racist minority a major anti-civil liberty victory by aiding and abetting political segregation. The latest nationwide estimate for black Republicans running In lfMMl. a mere 7# people, helps to substantiate my political segre gation theory. This low number suggests that the Republican Party is currently In a quandry over whether to seriously Invest I in capturing black votes. Does this Imply that the Republican strategists will be labelled "short-sighted” because they premised their 1M6 campaign plans with writing1 off the Mack vote? The Japanese have demon strated well how to use long-term , planning aa a weapon to exploit America’s penchant for short term gratification. The Republi can Party can emulate the Japa nese marketing success story by underglrdlng their political plans for the Mack vote with some key advertising research findings; namely, people are high concerned by the quality of one’s message If the subject Is deemed relevant, and one must simply present their message a number of times If it has low relevancy. Much of the current material coming out of the RepuMican Party must he classified as having little relevancy to Macks, so their strategists will have to pursue a constant bombard ment strategy to get their story beard in the black community. The target market of the Mack press (black churches, pro- V fessionals, and so on) seems to be the same group that the Republicans are attempting to reach. Perhaps the RepuMican Party already recognizes that Black newspapers are excellent vehicles for them to get their message to approximately 15 million Macks every week. The Republican Party might also enhance Its chances of getting a fair hearing by offering the mainstream media a few newsworthy issues relevant to the black community. President Ronald Reagan should set the tone by discharging Clarence • Pendleton. Chairman of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, because his foolhardy leadership has contributed to a rise in overt American racism. The Republican leadership should bring forth black Repub lican leaders who are visible. Sam Pierce, Secretary of HUD, is one of the best kept secrets In Washington. term I •»* 'V*'» v> i j.• -yaWrf*• 'RAPS HAS BECOME A BUCK ON** ablach Detroit POUCEHAN recently stated. HESAU)HQHE24 HOgRPERVOOBHr ******** mctbvSere SOHEBeiHEKAPVV* Pressing Problems In The Block Communtty^ As I See It . Reformed Tax Bill-More Political Than Practical By Gerald O. Johnson Congress is still patting it self on the back for complet ing the most sweeping tax legislation package in S de cades. The bill will probably passed into law in September of *86. As the smoke begins to clear from this tax overhaul, I’m afraid we are going to find that the bill was more political than practical. The full impact of the Tax Reve nue Cede of 1986 will not be known for years to come. However, some immediate consequences can already be determined?^ The overhaul is really a shift of the tax burden from the poor to the rich. It lays a heavier tax burden on busi nesses. It goes after invest ors. It makes a feeble attempt at leaving the middle class tax payer un scathed. At first glance this type of philosophical ap proach to tax overhaul seems commendable. But the con sequences can be devasting. One subtle point that seems ttrescape everybody Is the difference between tax rare and tax liability. Congress* tax package won widespread approval because of the simplification Gerald in using just a few tax rates. Moreover, they lowered the • rates. But the rates are used ’ to compute your liability based on your tax«$le in come. Your tax liability is what you have to pay the IRS. Under the current tax code, taxable income could be considerably less than actual earnings by utilizing tax deductions and tax credits. Even though the new code has lower rates. H will be much more difficult to have a taxable iincome less than your actual income. This means that a lot pf people will pay more taxes instead of less. If yon itemize on yonr taxes, yon are in for a rude awakening. If you take the standard deduction, then you will probably like the the new tax code. Understand what has happened . The new tax code will eleminate a lot of tax able deductions. The lower rate was a sweetner to allow you to swallow this hitter pin. In future years whoa the tax rates begin to escalate (and yourself. Moreover, those of you who may get au immediate tax break from the new code will have it taken away by local taxes. Under the new Mil Municipal Bonds will not be a tax haven like It has been feanks hold roughly 3S per cent of all Municipal bonds. The new tax code will no longer give Minks favoroMe tax v.treatinent for their Municipal holdings. Hence, a lot of city projects will have to be curtailed or eliminated. Charlotte relies heavily on Mnnicipal bonds to fund major city improvements. Hence, more money will come out of your pockets to fund city projects. If you work for a smoke stack industry (you make things for a living) you should be highly concerned about the impact of this Mil on your job. The capital intensive industries (those Utaj spend a lot of money on machinery and holdings) will lose a lot of the tax benefits they received. To make op’for the the higher tax liaMlltles, these Maat^. ries will have to adjust their production In s«ne' manner. Cutbacks is the most often used remedy. The poor people who directly 'benefit the meet from the tax package coo Id turn oot to be the biggest losers. Low income honslng should become even scarcer. The current tax cede gave Incentives for Investing In low Income real estate. For that matter It gave Inccntlv es for Investing In real estate period. With these Incentives. removed Investors win seek other forms of Investments. Local Governments wtH have to come to the rescue for providing even mere low Income honslng. This Is had The bottom line of the *M Tax Code Is to help the consumer and hurt the Investor. Since there are more consumers (voters) than there are Investors, this S«C Tax IHH «. Pag* «A
The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
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Sept. 4, 1986, edition 1
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