‘Seed Corn for Education’

No, no, and no on Gov. Deukmejian giving away the $700 million.

I could not agree with you more about your editorial regarding this latest proposal by the governor.

Consider all the money it has cost the state to collect these taxes. Consider all the money that would have to be spent to distribute it . . . all those bookkeepers, all those printers, all those notices, etc. Even deducting it from state taxes next year would breed a plethora of disputes over who had it coming and who didn’t get their share and who has moved or died or recently come into residency in the state, etc., etc., ad nauseam.

The Lottery has not provided the hoped-for bonanza promised as relief for the schools. The governor has cut back on school support time and time again. This money should be spent on the schools.

My first interest in writing this letter is to inform you that all the people I have talked with regarding this issue think it is the most stupid thing they have seen the governor do yet! This money should be kept in our state treasury to be used for the things that need to be done by the state. One is schools.

I have raised four children who are now grown, but education and my interest in education did not end when my last child graduated from college. The hope of our future in the state, as well as in others, depends on the quality of education our young people receive. In our old age we will be governed by people with the kind of education we have provided for them. Our nation will rise, fall, or remain tottering, according to the quality of education our children are able to get.

I attend adult classes in a local college and am appalled and saddened by the fact that the schools do not have enough money to provide adequate copies of materials they want us to read. They do not have enough money for staff and faculty salaries, not enough for books, to say nothing of buildings.

I have been writing to my senators and legislators and have enclosed the clippings of your “Seed Corn for Education” in the hope that this foolish move by the governor can be forestalled.

SUZANNE HUNTZINGER

South Pasadena