Date: Mon, 27 Mar 2000 19:56:16 -0600
From: reason@free-market.net ("Jeff Taylor")
Subject: Reason-Express: REx13, v3
To: ReasonExpress@free-market.net (Reason Express List Member)
Welcome to Reason Express, the weekly e-newsletter from Reason magazine.
Reason Express is written by Washington-based journalist Jeff A. Taylor and
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REASON Express
March 27, 2000
Vol. 3 No. 13
1) High Court Nixes Race-Based Pupil Assignments
2) Net Tax Panel Punts to Congress
3) Justice Pokes Its Nose Into Emailgate
4) Quick Hits
- - Lesson Learned - -
The Supreme Court sent a jolt through public school administrators across the
country last week when it refused to hear an appeal in acase that found
race-conscious school assignments unconstitutional.
The parents of a Montgomery County, Maryland, student sued the school district
after their white child was denied a transfer to a math-and-science magnet
school because the school he was attending needed all the white students it
could get. Plus, the school he was trying to transfer to was already plenty
white, according to school officials.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit found that such racial bean
counting violated the boy's ight to equal protection under the laws. The
school district, backed by the National School Boards Association among other
groups, appealed that ruling to the Supreme Court.
Now that the district's appeals have been exhausted, Montgomery County
schools, as well as those with similar policies, have to go back to square one
to design pupil assignment plans which do not rely on race. And there can be
little doubt that whatever route Montgomery County takes, many other districts
will try to follow.
The suburban D.C. district is one of the naton's gold-plated public school
systems, spending over $1.2 billion a year on 135,000 students, half of whom
are white. The district is also 21 percent black, 15 percent Hispanic, and 13
percent Asian.
The great fear of the Montgomery school administrators, like many around the
country, is that pockets of low-scoring minority students will drag down test
scores at selected schools, causing white families to pull out of those
schools by putting their kids in private schol or moving altogether.
Hence the concern that a school might be left "too black" if a white student
was allowed to transfer out.
Notice that what might be best for individual students doesn't enter into this
kind of thinking. Now might be a good time to start thinking about that.
http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/2000-03/21/122l-032100-idx.html
http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/2000-03/21/052l-032100-idx.html
Michael Lynch tells of the flip side of administrators picking and choosing
schools for kids--letting their parents decide at
http://www.reason.com/opeds/ml032000.html
- - No New Taxes - -
To no one's real surprise, the Internet tax commission ended its work with
little more than a recommendation that the current moratorium on Net-specific
taxes be extended. Congress will still have to navigate the complex issues
surrounding basic fundamentals of taxation to settle the matter--which means
the matter will likely never be settled.
The most interesting of the commission recommendations is the call for a
radical simplification of state sales levies. This could be an opening through
which an overall modernization of government revenue departments might be
driven.
The Clinton administration, speaking for technocrats everywhere, also backs
simplification. Deputy Treasury Secretary Stuart Eizenstat called for states
and localities to develop these simplified sales taxes within the two next
years. So there is some momentum behnd the idea.
But it would have to move far beyond simply making governments more efficient
at picking the pockets of private enterprise. Compliance costs should be--and
could be if done right--near zero for any entity which is made to remit
transaction taxes of one kind or another.
http://www.zdii.com/industry_list.asp?mode=news&doc_id=RTC20a1338reuff
http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/2000-03/21/026l-032100-idx.html
- - Smoking Email - -
Well, just as a civil suit was digging up interesting information about the
Clinton White House's email problems, along comes the Justice Department to
announce it will conduct a criminal inquiry into the email follies.
Another big embarrassment for the Clintons and Al Gore, who seems to have lost
an unusual share of email due to the glitch, right? Perhaps not so big a
problem as it would be if the Justice Department didn't get involved.
Seven years of Justice Department political prosecutions and persecutions
forces the question of whether the investigation is being launched to help
stifle the civil suit that is now under way. Justice could tie up potential
witnesses from testifying under the "ongoing investigation" rubric until the
November elections are passed, Al Gore is either a private citizen or in the
White House, and Hillary and Bill are back flinging lamps in Little Rock or in
the Senate cloakroom.
Or perhaps someone at Justice really does find it odd that not only did White
House email go poof in 1996, Al Gore's went missing all the way back to 1994.
http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/2000-03/24/203l-032400-idx.html
QUICK HITS
- - Quote of the Week - -
"That's why it's good to have direct deposit, for instances like this and for
the convenience. Come pay day, I used to have to chase down my check," U.S.
Postal Service clerk Randy Rueb, 40, on the 150 paychecks that were "missent"
to Postal Service employees n Florida from a postal "data center" in
Minneapolis. Workers without checks will receive loans from future wages until
the checks are found.
http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/news/Today/Local/ST004.htm
- - Hacked Out - -
Netpliance announced that it is modifying how its $99 i-opener email box is
made to prevent the hack that turned it into a full-service computer.
http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,35156,00.html
- - Australian for Dumb - -
The Australian Broadcasting Authority is up and mailing out orders to Aussie
Web site operators to take down objectionable content. Some 27
Australian-based sites have received takedown notices from the ABA directing
them to remove X- or R-rated content. Some sites have responded by moving ops
to the U.S.
http://www5.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2469620,00.html?chkpt=zdnntop
- - Home of the Brave - -
President Clinton, who has presided over the transformation of the White House
grounds from a park-like setting to bunker-like one, nonetheless scraped up
the courage to fly to Pakistan. Braving real threats this time, Clinton called
on the country to stop its pointless border war with India.
http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/2000-03/26/267l-032600-idx.html
- - Photo Finish - -
A man in Canada is up on child porn charges because of nude photos of his
four-year-old son. An employee at Costco called authorities after the roll of
film was dropped off for processing. The pictures were of the general
kiddie-frolic variety, both clothed and nekkid.
http://www.canoe.ca/Columnists/mcrae.html
REASON NEWS
For the latest on media appearances by Reason writers, visit
http://www.reason.com/press.html.
On March 29-30, Reason Privatization Center director Adrian Moore will chair
the 2000 Summit on Federal Privatization at the Kellogg Conference Center in
Washington, D.C. For more information call 888/670-8200 or visit
http://www.iir-ny.com.
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