---

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, February 26, 1993                   TAG: 9302260216
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B1   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: ELIZABETH THIEL
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Short

---

CONFERENCE COMMITTEE GETS DISPARITY BILL

A House of Delegates plan to give more money to poor school districts in 1994 narrowly escaped death in the Senate on Thursday.

Slick parliamentary maneuvering kept alive the measure which would give $20 million extra to many school districts.

The action leaves the measure's fate to a House-Senate conference committee.

The proposal offered by House Majority Leader Richard Cranwell of Vinton, who originally suggested giving extra money to poor localities, would provide funds to all but 25 school districts.

An alternative that's being pushed by Sen. Charles Colgan, D-Manassas, would give money to 57 of the state's poorest school districts.

Either way, senators who opposed the idea said it was not a good way to reduce disparities in state aid to rich and poor school systems.

The measure, which would cull the $20 million in school money from taxes the state collects on real estate sales, was tacked onto a bill that would distribute $40 million in those taxes to localities.

Also, the measure would not distribute the disparity money to school districts until July 1994, giving legislators time to change their minds about appropriating the money as they fashion a new state budget next winter.

Sen. Hunter Andrews, D-Hampton, called the measure "grab-bagging" by delegates looking to impress voters this year by promising them money next year. All 100 House members face re-election this fall.

Sen. Joseph Gartlan, D-Fairfax, whose district stands to get no money, said it was a "salami-slicing type of approach" to the problem of disparity.

Keywords:
GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1993

---

Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.

---