Word: serrano
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Last August the California Supreme Court ruled, in Serrano v. Priest, that California schools must be financed by a more equitable method than widely varying property taxes. A child's right to an equal chance for education, the court said, should not depend on the wealth of his parents or where he lives. Similar judgments are eventually expected in other states, and Minnesota's Supreme Court has already adopted such a ruling. If the drive to "equalize" school finance forced wealthy suburban communities to support schools in poor urban areas, parents might have less objection to busing their children...
...Crimson's strong point is its field. Outfielders Vince McGugan, Art Serrano and Mike Thomas will start their third full-time season in the field, and reserve fielders Tim Bilodeau and Toby Harvey have had plenty of playing time and should easily fill in at first and catcher...
Park will have the nucleus of a solid hitting club (with a .300 hitter at number eight in Serrano) and a strong fielding club that will prevent careless runs. The big question in the Crimson's plans is its meager pitching staff. Of course, pitching was the big mystery last spring also and the hurlers turned out to be the best in the Eastern League...
Last week a decision by the California Supreme Court threatened to upset this long-accepted economic imbalance. In Serrano v. Ivy Baker Priest (who is treasurer of California), the court ruled, by a margin of 6 to 1, that the state's system of funding schools through local property taxes is unconstitutional because it violates the 14th Amendment's equal-protection clause. Wrote the court: "We have determined that this funding scheme invidiously discriminates against the poor because it makes the quality of a child's education a function of the wealth of his parents and neighbors...
Challenge to the System. The decision climaxed a three-year court battle begun in the name of John Serrano Jr., a twelve-year-old pupil, by a group of Los Angeles parents who challenged the state's property-tax system. (Their suit was filed by Derrick Bell, now Harvard University's first black law professor.) The system they challenged fairly well represents the pattern of educational financing in most states. About 56% of California's school funds come from property taxes raised at the local level, while the state kicks in about 35% (most of the balance...