The Montgomery Advertiser from Montgomery, Alabama • 39

Tuesday, June 21, 1994 3E '-Montgomery Advertiser GOVERMMEWT Ethics panel to review financing of Folsom trip There were no immediate estimates on how much the Folsom trip will cost the partnership, which is made up of three dozen major corporations, ranging from utilities such as Alabama Power Co. to banking interests and newspapers in Birmingham and Huntsville. The partnership was formed to promote economic growth in Alabama and has played a major role in encouraging the German automaker to choose a Tus- caloosa County site for its first assembly plant in the United States. The ethics panel was asked by the governor's legal staff to determine if the Folsoms expenses could be paid by the partnership. Howard McKenzie, acting director of the ethics commission, said Monday the governor's office was aware that the commission could not take up the question until after the trip had begun.

the German industrial city. He said Alabama was one of four states in the running for a "major project" by an Indonesian firm and it was a significant boost to have the state's governor join in the recruitment. The name of the firm wasn't given, but Barbara Thomas, a spokeswoman for Gov. Folsom, said delegations from Huntsville, Mobile, Dothan and Selma were joining Gov. Folsom on the trip to Jakarta.

Stuttgart, in southwestern Germany. The governor also will make an industry-hunting stop in Indonesia on the privately financed trip. The German leg of the trip concludes Friday, while the visit to Indonesia is scheduled for June 26-29. Neal Wade of Birmingham, president of the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama, said the group would pay for the Folsoms' airfare throughout the trip as well as lodging in THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Gov. Jim Folsom Jr.

is on his third visit to Germany for meetings with officials, a trip being financed by a partnership of private corporations. The Alabama Ethics Commission is to decide Wednesday if it is permissible for the private industry group to pick up the 1 tab for Gov. Folsom and his wife, Marsha, who left Saturday for the trip to Lt. Gov. hopefuls swapping mud pies Opposed: Score 100 is joining other groups on the battleground in an all-day public hearing today 1 1 1 Ml.

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We still question the authority of a local judge." The centerpiece of the proposal is a 42-page section on equity, or ensuring that tax dollars are distributed fairly to school systems. It was the crux of the lawsuit and is the most immediate court-imposed deadline. Gov. Folsom's proposal to reach equity drew criticism in the Legislature as being too expensive and too radical. The education department's version of equity was described by a school finance expert Monday as the updated version of a formula that was the best in the country in 1935.

"(The formula) is representative of the social and political history of this state," said Ira Harvey of the University of Alabama at Birmingham. The court order found that educational opportunities should not vary according to the wealth of the community in which a child lives, and the proposed formula would eliminate what are now large disparities in funding. It also would take into consideration the cost of educating certain children, such as special education, vocational education and at-risk programs, which are more expensive than a regular academic program. Dr. Harvey helped write the equity section and said he is proposing the same local tax effort as Gov.

Folsom proposed a minimum local property tax rate of 20 mills, plus other taxes that generate the equivalent of 15 mills. Estimating a cost of implementing the new formula depends on how high lawmakers want to set the definition of an adequate education system. The higher the standards, the more expensive equity becomes. Dr. Harvey did offer some ex- ANDY HAILSSTAFF Ira W.

Harvey, left, school finance expert with the University of Alabama In Birmingham, talks with reporters following an education reform news conference Monday. At his right Is Rex Jones from the Department of Education. By Mary Orndorff ADVERTISER STAFF WRITER A 200-page proposal to begin improving Alabama's public schools is the latest lightning rod in the reform debate, as hundreds are expected to lash out today at the State Board of Education for even considering the plan. "It is a total restructuring of education as we have known it," said Stephanie Bell of SCORE 100. The Montgomery-based group opposed statewide reform legislation and is joining other groups on the battleground again in an all-day public hearing today.

Technically a legal document the extensive proposal is the State Department of Education's answer to a December court order requiring certain changes. Parts of the plan resemble Gov. Jim Folsom's twice-defeated Alabama First reform legislation and that is not a coincidence. Gov. Folsom is also a defendant in the lawsuit, and Alabama First was his response to the same court order.

"There are some similarities, but all we looked at when we wrote this was the court order," said State Superintendent of Education Wayne Teague. The board will vote on the report during its July meeting, but even if adopted, Dr. Teague says the Legislature will have the ultimate scrutiny over any educational changes. Mrs. Bell disagreed.

"They've used the threat that if the Legis- Breakdown of state report amples of how the formula would work: If the Alabama Legislature decided it wanted to reach the Southeastern average of state and local money spent per pupil, it would take an additional $946 million. Using the same formula, to bring Alabama to 80 percent of the regional average would require $306 million. Rolled into those price tags are several components to improve the quality of the school system, such as more rigorous academics, smaller class sizes and better transportation. Alabama's average spending per student- is about $3,300, or about $1,300 less than the regional average. The following are the 12 sections in the report written by the State Department of Education to be debated today in a public hearing before the State Board of Education: Student learning goals and performance objectives.

School-based decision making. Staff development. Leadership training for administrators. Minimum staffing standards. Teacher mentoring and teacher-assistance teams.

Extended learning opportunities. Early-childhood development. Transportation. Special-education services. Adequate funding levels and how to treat special-education, at-risk, and vocational students in the funding formula.

Tracking resources to the local school level. By GltaM. Smith ADVERTISER STAFF WRITER Despite promises to the contrary, Democratic candidates for lieutenant governor put on the gloves Monday and threw a few kidney punches at each The charges and countercharges between state Sen. Ryan deGraffenried of Tuscaloosa and Don Siegelman, a former secretary of state and attorney generiil, ranged from simple criticism for avoiding public debates to allegations of abuse of power when the other was in office. Mr.

Siegelman flew to five cities Monday in a twin-engine Beechcraft to accuse Sen. deGraffenried of not only defending a-Tuscaloosa cocaine dealer in 1982, but also of using his influence as a state senator to help that client keep his insurance1 license for the next six years. He said Sen. deGraffenried "struck a deal" with then-Insurance Commissioner Bill Ward to keep his client, John Lloyd Sides from having his license revoked. Mr.

Siegelman was attorney general at the time of Mr. Sides' conviction, but when asked wjiy he waited 12 years to bring up (he matter, he said he didn't know about the matter then. "It only came to light this week," he told reporters at a news conference at the Montgomery Aviation Co. hangar. Marilyn Akers, a spokeswoman for the deGraffenried campaign, said, "Sen.

deGraffenried has never used his office for personal or political gain. "When he was assistant distsict attorney in Tuscaloosa County" in 1975, as a prosecuting attorney he put more drug dealers in jail than Don Siegelman has in his lifetime," she said. Sen. deGraffenried further countered that Mr. Siegelmart' is running negative ads and making accusations about the senator's work as a defense attorney "because Mr.

Siegelman's own record as attorney general was.jtiie worst in the history of Alabama." To which Mr. Siegelman responded, "I was not. Charlie Graddick was the worst attorney general in the history of Alabama." Sen. deGraffenried accused Mr. Siegelman of cronyism while he was attorney general, giving.

(lucrative, multimillion-dollar twi-tracts to lawyers and law firms that had contributed heavily, to his campaign. To that Mr. Siegelman countered, "Contracts awarded to Dudley Perry and others who gave to my campaign were con-, tingency contracts. Not a penny of taxpayers' money went lo those law firms." One close observer of political ads said Monday that the Siegelman ad about Mr. Sides is "a cheap shot," but probably will'jbe effective because negative adsre remembered longer than warm, friendly ads that stick to issues.

"But not all negative ads i're equal," said Karen Cartec, associate dean at the University of Alabama College of Communications. "Some arc what we call dirty politics or sewage ads, and the Siegelman ads that attack deGraffenried as an attorney who defended drug pushers definitely fall into the 'misleading' category," she said. "No one likes drug pushers, but in the United States, everyone has a right to an attorney, regardless of the crime. That's what attorneys do defend people" Runoffs may be key to Senate Republican lawmakers back James Rep. Tommy Ed Roberts of Hartselle, a BCA supporter.

Larry Lee of Dothan, a BCA candidate, vs. State Auditor Terry Ellis of Enterprise, whose campaign merited a fund-raising letter from the Trail Lawyers Association. Renee LeMaire, spokeswoman for the Business Council, said the group decided to focus on the Senate because "or years, there has been an imbalance of philosophy in the Senate. The majority of the Senate has been heavily influenced by plaintiff trial lawyers." After all, 17 of the 35 senators elected four years ago were lawyers. The Business Council, on the other hand, has traditionally been strong in the House.

The Business Council's political-action committee spent $916,899 through late April, with the majority of that going to campaigns designed to increase the organization's influence in the Senate. By Phillip Rawls ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER Alabama voters return to the polls June 28 to decide 33 legislative runoffs, with three of them likely to set the political tone of the Senate for the next four years. The Business Council of Alabama and the Alabama Trial Lawyers Association each claimed one victory when they went head to head in five Senate races in the primary, with BCA candidate George Clay knocking off state Sen. Danny Corbett, D-Phenix City, and Russellville lawyer Roger Bedford defeating state Sen. George Boiling of Fayette, a BCA ally.

Three key Senate races remain to be decided in the runoff: Incumbent Pat Lindsey, a Butler attorney, vs. Monroeville businessman J.W. Sales. Incumbent Ray Campbell, a Town Creek educator and trial-lawyers supporter, vs. former state Lawmakers seek unity PUBLIC By Stephen Merelman ADVERTISER STAFF WRITER VESTAVIA HILLS A band of Republican state representa-' tives and senators have endorsed gubernatorial candidate Fob James in a show of support from "the state GOP establishment in the Birmingham area.

State board of education member Bettye Fine Collins, Sens. John Amari and Jabo Waggoner, Jack Biddle and Reps. Jim Carnes, Mark Gaines and Alan Sanderson gave Mr. James their nods. Mr.

James faces state Sen. Ann Bedsole in the June 28 Republican runoff. "I am humbled and deeply 'grateful for their support," Mr. James said at a Monday morning news conference at his Vestavia Hills headquarters. Mr.

James was criticized during the primary campaign for leaving the Republican Party several years ago, switching to the Demo- i cratic Party to run for governor and recently returning to the Re-1 publican Party to seek the governorship this year. Ms. Collins said she supports Mr. James because of his opposition to incumbent Gov. Jim Folsom's Alabama First education-reform plan.

Fob James "We deserve someone like you," she told Mr. James. "It's time our children are not used as guinea pigs." Mr. James said he would reprise his basic literacy effort of his first term. "I want the gift of literacy for every child." He said Alabama First is "nebulous, and with an almost billion-dollar price tag, is unnecessary." He said naturally growing tax revenue would pay for any needed education reform.

Mr. James invited Democrats to vote in the Republican runoff. "I hope they take advantage of the Republican party's openness. We Republicans encourage that." He declined to predict voter turnout in the runoff. A record number of Republicans voted in the June 7 primary.

"We've never had a situation like this before," he said. Alvin Holmes, D-Montgomery, and former state Sen. Hank Sanders, D-Selma, head of the Alabama New South Coalition. "We wanted to see if there was room for everybody to support one candidate," Rep. Buskey said.

"We knew going in that commitments had been made, and it's difficult to break commitments," he said. "We probably knew that to begin with. The result was each one on the line stayed where he was. But it was a wholesome conversation, and the candidates both have considerable strengths and appeal," he said. MEETINGS TODAY: Montgomery City Council: Meets at 7 p.m.

in the council chambers at City Hall, 103 N. Perry St. Montgomery Water Works and Sanitary Sower Board: Meets at 1:15 p.m. in the parlor at 22 Bibb St. Alabama Board of Education: Conducts a public hearing on education reform at 9 a.m.

in the plaza level auditorium of the Gordon Persons Building, 50 N.Ripley St. STAFF REPORT Black lawmakers, hoping to reach unanimity in their endorsement of a candidate for lieutenant governor, talked via conference, call Monday to discuss their differences. Linked through the call were Birmingham Mayor Richard Arrington, who has endorsed state Sen. Ryan deGraffenried, and four state lawmakers who support his opponent, Don Sie-gelman: state Rep. James Buskey, D-Mobile, state Sen.

Michael Figures, D-Mobile, state Rep..