Dear Editor

...Dear Editor Lekachman Robert Lekachman's excellent article "Schools, Money and Politics," NL, September IS) puts Serrano in perspective This is the latest in a series of decisions by state and Federal courts that forces Americans to reexamine institutions and premises they have been comfortable with, but which do not stand analysis Of course, Serrano is not good law or even an area that the courts should ordinarily venture into, since their power to deal with major social problems is inherently discontinuous and embarrassingly ineffective Indeed, Serrano reminds me of the reapportionment decisions that have untied a few knots here and there but have not made very much difference m American politics Legislatures that found their reapportionment formulas unconstitutional simply drew gerrymandered district lines that continue to preserve established power In this instance, affluent school districts will try to evade Serrano by waiting it out as they have waited out the school busing decisions However, judicial intervention became necessary because of the way the Real Property Tax is being used For example, assessment in upstate New York at 30 per cent of true values, 'equalized" by employing arbitrary mathematical averages, has turned the tax into a political football Hopefully, the threat of a literal application of Serrano, plus the more radical suggestions contained in the Fleisch-mann Report, will make state legislatures more honest m their approach to school financing Applied one step at a time?00 per cent of true property value uniformly assessed, state support of schools based on local tax effort, a state standard for local support of education, and a gradual shift of the cost burden to the state, with a shift of proceeds from the Real Property Tax—Serrano will produce tangible results The danger is that it will be read as an attack on the Real Property Tax as the means for school support This is not justified, and it would be unfortunate if it were so construed The Real Property Tax has many advantages as a base for financing education, not the least being its resilience in times of recession and the tax reservoir it contains for the future as property values increase Court intervention m school financing is not the most symmetrical of solutions—hardly a true system of checks and balances—but we are fortunate that it is there at all Albany, N Y Jack E Bronston Ranking Minority Member, New York State Senate Education Committee Robert Lekachman does a commendable job of exploring many of the complexities, inadequacies and inequities of current school financing procedures on a national basis His discussion of alternatives is noteworthy and is presented in a highly informative manner I was particularly interested in Lekachman's final conclusion that the most effective way to mitigate the perils of plutocracy is to tax the rich in order to educate the children of the poor He would do well to devote an entire future article to this concept Sacramento Wilson Riles Superintendent of Public Instruction and Director of Education, State of California McGovern Since the tradition of debate has withered in our colleges and classrooms, I'm pleased The New Leader is keeping it alive with such discussions as "McGovern, or Not McGovern...

...September 4) But I'd like to present an aspect of the current Presidential campaign that Gus Tyler, Walter Goodman, Carl Gersh-man, and Steven Kelman did not emphasize Perhaps political parties sense when they are going to be defeated In 1964, the Republicans could afford the pure conservatism of Goldwater because they knew he was going to lose to a Lyndon B Johnson wearing the mantle of the martyred John F Kennedy Similarly, the Democrats nominated a pure Left-liberal, George McGovern, knowing he faces almost certain defeat by Richard Nixon, who still stirs mature voters with fading echoes of Eisenhower's peace, stability and judgment I prefer McGovern to Nixon But we'll get the incumbent for a second term because he is closer to Roosevelt, Truman, Kennedy and Johnson than most Democrats realize Like President Nixon, even these "active" Presidents were rather feeble in making any profound changes through domestic legislation, but showed great skill in keeping troops, investments and treaties all over the world Even President Nixon s bombing of the Vietnamese will not hurt him m November It merely puts him m the class of the old imperial Germans, French and British—our models ot European civility Minneapolis, Minn James C White The Ugly Russian Reading Walter C Clemens Jr's article ("The Ugly Russian," NL, October 2) made me recall an experience of my own that re-enforces his point In 1968, I was traveling through Egypt and spent a few days in Aswan One afternoon, while wandering around the town, I got lost in the maze of small, unmarked streets Because 1 was in one of the poorer sections, it was unlikely that anyone would know English, but I happened to spot a European-looking person and approached him to ask directions However, when the man noticed me coming he rudely turned away and walked off It took me a few dazed moments to realize that he must have been one ot the Russian engineers Bv his behavior he seemed so suspicious of people that I wondered even then how the Russians at Aswan could possibly get along with the Egyptians and tow Years, later Clemens has given me the answer they don t t might add that it the Russians (or at least my one Russian) were unfriendly the Egyptians were anything hut In Cairo as well as in the smaller towns they displayed u warmth, even when they knew I was an American that surprised me After all only one year had passed since the war with Israel and the country leaders were then officially denouncing the US whenever they got the chance But I suspect that Sadat's current policies better reflect the genuine feelings of his people than did the formal friendship that existed until recently between Russia and the UAR Chicago Thomas Novak Detente Detente is lovely notion but 1m afraid the usually hard-headed Zbigniew Bizezinski ( Debating Detente NL October 2) has fallen into the inviting trap of the idealists Utopians and eternal-optimists Whether conditions in the world are tense or relaxed the Communists will pursue their ideological goals since to do other wise would be to admit the fallibility of Maixism The USSR (.an no more be a partial friend of the free world than a gul can be partially pregnant and it we bail out Russian agriculture for example we can be sure that US wheat will end up feeding North Vietnamese soldiers Unfortunately the Brzezinski piece is t( good example of the kind of advice Richard Nixon has lately been listening to It is i major tragedy of our time that appeasement has become a word that is considered too strong to use in public debate Chapel Hill N C Lloyd Rivers Kitman Bravo Marvin Kitman' The Nielsen ratings are one of the outrages of corporate thinking in America and I hope your article ( The Rating Game NL October 2) was only the opening shot in a long campaign When the networks make then programming decisions on the basis of 1 100 families when intelligence counts for less than projected statistics and when the least common denominator is put sued in the place of excellence there can be no other result than Daddy is a Dope New York City Merel Shorter I am grateful to Marvin Kitman for his way column Master Chesscaster ( On Television NL September 4) After all the furor over the chess tournament in Reykjavik it was refreshing to see the event taken in stride Though Bobby Fischer's behavior as a representative of the U s was disgusting kitman placed it in proper perspective The new international chess champion is a monolithic marshmallow By panning the Wide World of Sports approach to the match Kitman has done chess enthusiasts a tremendous favor The idea of treating a chess tournament like an athletic contest is a preposterous mockery of a fine intellectual pastime Televisions play-by-play coverage ot the games was surely as unsatisfying to anyone who knows something about chess as it was boring to anyone who doesn't I hope that Kitman's view prevails and that chess will be spared such treatment by the media in the future His portrayals ot the attitudes and of the personalities he discussed are quite accurate even if some may tend to discount them because ot his humorous style Indeed F found kitman's column an enlivening change of pace from the normal style of your magazine Hooray for humor Minneapolis TyrpiL Schick...