Burleson Star (Burleson, Tex.), Vol. 27, No. 104, Ed. 1 Monday, October 12, 1992 Page: 2 of 8
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2A-Burleson Star. Monday. October 12.1992
And the debate goes on. . . . • j
Erickson and Finstad answer teachers' questions
Incumbent representative Be
nard Erickson and his Democratic
challenger, Geneva Finstad, recently
appeared before a group of Burleson
ISD teachers to answer questions and
make statements concerning their
views on education issues.
Erickson won a special election
this spring to fill out the unexpired
term of Bruce Gibson, who resigned
to take a position in Lt. Governor Bob
Bullock's office after serving for a
decade as District 58 representative.
In winning the election, the
Burleson dentist and former BISD
school board president became the
first Republican representative ever
elected in Johnson County.
Finstad has served as an office
manager in the Texas Senate and as a
legislative assistant in theU.S. House
of Representatives.
Both Finstad and Erickson are
natives of Bosque County.
Opening statements of each
candidate were printed in the Oct. 8
edition of the Burleson Star. Re-
sponses the two gave to prepared
questions posed to them by modera-
tor Lciha Grace McCoy follow
(note—some questions contained a
tremendous amount of background
material that, for the sake of brevity,
is not repeated here. On the other
hand, answers—which were spoken
off the cuff—sometimes tend to
ramble but, for the fnost part, are
transcribed here verbatim):
The state salary schedule has
not been improved but one time
since 1984. Would you actively
work toward a (teacher) salary
increase and where would the
money come from:
Finstad: I do believe that it's time
for the teachers to have a raise. There
are some ways that we can evaluate
and prioritize the program and (de-
cide) where the money does the stu-
dent the most good. (It's) by quality
teachers, and if we arc to acquire the
brightest and best of our students in-
to the teaching profession, we have to
provide the kind of fair pay and bene-
fits they could get in other profes-
sions.
Erickson: I have seen additional
monies pul into education and it seems
like there's loo many tilings the money
gets caught up in. We need to get rid
of state mandates unless the state
funds them and I think the number
one priority is getting the salaries up.
That's my number one priority if it
takes a dedication of money (to do it).
The lottery is not dedicated to educa-
tion although it was talked about as a
source of money for education. It just
goes into the general fund. We have
good highways in this state ahd I
think the main reason is that we have
dedicated funds for the highway
system. If you're going to put educa-
tion first, and if you're going to take
care of your teachers and pay them
correctly then, from the stale's stand-
point, we need to have dedicated
monies for education. The lottery
would be one of them. We're going to
need some additional monies, there’s
no question. If we take a sales tax
increase dedicated to education, that's
fine. I would definitely support that
because I believe you get what you
pay for and you need to pay a teacher
what she deserves.
The state had a mandate that
school districts must make health
insurance plans available to school
employees by September, 1992.
Neither the state nor the local dis-
trict is required to contribute to
the cost of the premiums, which
can run as high as $500 to $600 per
month. The state already pays $150
a month for all other state employ-
ees. Would you support and ac-
tively work to enact legislation to
provide insurance to school .em-
ployees at a level that is already
provided other state employees?
Erickson: I do think you de-
serve the health benefits state em-
ployees have and yes, I would sup-
port that and I would vote for that.
Finstad: Yes, the state should
pay at least $150 for teacher health
care. There are ways that this money
can be appropriated. I understand that
the lieutenant governor has about
$500 million in his proposed budget
for health care. You know, he tried to
get that through in the last session
and didn't quite get the money for it
and it ended up that you were sup-
posed to have access to health care,
but access doesn't mean that it's af-
fordable. When health care increases,
some teachers sceareduclion in their
paychecks because of the 'increased
costs. We need to do something about
controlling health care costs, which
is a whole other issue. Yes, I support
and will work hard and will work
with other members to get health care
through this next session.
During the last decade there
has been a constant struggle be-
tween the Teacher Retirement
System (TRS) and the state of Texas
about how much the state needed
to contribute to TRS in order to
maintain its actuary soundness.
Each time the state has had finan-
cial problems, one of the solutions
used was to reduce the state's con-
tribution to TRS. The lAoney should
and could be used to help the re-
tirement of school employees who
earned fairly small salaries during
their working years and under the
current formula will be trying to
live on about half of that amount t
after 30 years of serviefywith no
adjustments for inflation. The lat-
est proposal by the TRS is to give
teachers an option of early retire-
ment, however there are other ru-
mors going that the legislature is
going to try to raid one more time
our fund so by the tithe this bill for
early retirement gets there, the fund
will no longer be actuarily sound.
What are your thoughts and how
can we improve teacher retirement
benefits?
Finstad: I believe that the plan I
talked about for teacher health care
for using some of that money for
teacher benefits would .be of benefit
to the teachers, not for general funds
that the state borrows. This money
belongs to you, the teachers. I believe
that we need to increase the multi-
plier and the niimbcr of years for
retirement so thattl benefits the class-
room teacher. The higher salaried
administrators, higher education per-
sonnel, receive larger benefits than
the classroom teacher who retires at a
lower salary. If we change that multi-
plier to, say, 2.2, and the years to the
five years instead of three, that would
benefit the classroom teacher.
Erickson: Last year, the rate was
7.31 percent that the state contrib-
uted. I will definitely support going
back to the 8 percent and I am against
any form of borrowing monVy from
the school trust funds. The school
trust fund investmentshavedone well,
but that is no excuse for the state |
getting intcrcstecKin them. I don't *
want anybody messing with my re-
tirement system, and I don't want
anybody messing with your retire-
ment system. My sister (a teacher)
would probably have my head if I did
let that happen.
The concluding questions and
answers will be published in an up-
coming edition of the Star.
Oops, we made
him too old
If firefighting doesn'tage you,
the Burleson Star will, quite by
accident. We added 10 years to
Michael Sanders life in the fire
prevention special on page 6B of
the Oct. 8 issue. Sanders is actu-
ally only 33 years old. We apolo-
gize for the typographical error.
RUTH IRIS MARTIN ’
Graveside services for Mrs. Ruth
Martin, 84, of Burleson took place
Oct. 7 at 11 a.m. at Marathon Ceme-
tery in Marathon, Texas.
Mrs. Martin died Monday, Oct.
5,1992, at her residence. She was a
housewife and a Baptist.
She was bom May 3, 1908, in
Green Forest, Ark., to Charles Mor-
ris and Susan Young Morris. She
married Edd Martin Sr. on Jan. 14,
1931, in Del Rio, Texas. He preceded
her in death.
She is survived by four daugh-
ters, Iris Anderson of Burelson, Betty
Sue Wiscof Abilene, Mary Lee Jobes
of Austin, and Martha Brockman of
California; one sister, Nellie Vivian
of Georgewest; 10 grandchildren;
several great-grandchildren; and
numerous nieces and nephews.
Baumgardner Funeral Home in
Crowley handled the arrangements.
Garage sale will
benefit Texas
Showdown
The B urleson High School Show
Choir, now called the Texas Show-
down, will be sponsoring a garage
sale on Saturday and Sunday, Oct.
17-18 from 8a.m.-6p.m. both days at
the First National Bank parking lot
on Alsbury Blvd.
The money will go to outfit the
choir members with costumes and
help pay travel costs on possible
upcoming trips.
fV\
I McDonald's
The Big
Decision
All Large Sandwiches
99*
After 4:00 P.M.
Starts 9-25-92. Limited Time • Burleson, Texas
On Campus
RAUSCHUBER
AlRauschuberJr.,a 1986 gradu-
ate of Burleson High School, received
his masters degree in public admini-
stration in August of 1992 from the
University of Texas at Arlington..
Rauschubcr earned a bachelor
of science degree from East Texas
State University in 1990 and has been
employed with the Region XI Serv-
ice Center. He was recently hired by
the federal government.
CMMC bike rally takes off Oct. 17
TO ALL INTERESTED
PERSONS AND PARTIES:
FRANKLIN MANUFACTURING & SUP-
PLY, INC. has made application with the
Texas Air Control Board for Permit No.
21707 to construct a Can Plant Tooling-
Rolls, Shafts Facility in BURLESON,
JOHNSON COUNTY, Texas. The loca-
tion of the proposed facility is 1490
Southwest Wilshire Blvd., Burleson,
Texas 76028, Additional information
concerning this application is contained
in the public notice section of this news
paper. This notice is to be published on
October,8 and October 12.
The third annual Chalk Moun-
tain Metric Century bike rally to
benefit the Rett Center at the Baylor
College of Medicine in Houston will
lake place at 10 a.m. on Saturday,
Oct. 17.
The Rett Center conducts re-
search for Rett Syndrome, a rare
neurological disorder that strikes
apparendy normal female toddlers
and leaves them profoundly retarded.
The rally is directed by Mike
Yandell of Burleson, an avid cyclist
whose daughter Erin has Rett Syn-
drome. A story on the Yandclls
(Glynda and Mike Yandell are the
parentsof 10-ycar-old Erin)—"Burle-
son family organizes bike race for
rare ailment"—was published in the
Oct. 3, 1991, issue of the Burleson
Star. The ride is sponsored and staffed
by Erin's relatives and friends of the
family, including honor society
members at Gunn Junior High in
Arlington.
The ride includes 27 mile, 42
mile, and 62 mile routes through the
scenic hills surrounding Glen Rose.
Rest slops, featuring homemade
cookies, arc locatcdcvcry 10-15 miles
and "sag" vehiclesupportisprovided.
The registration fee is $20. For more
information call LaVeme Yandell at
817-293-0419.
>
SERVICE
Juvenile probation services
will be topic tonight
The Johnson County Family
Crisis Center, in cooperation with the
East Cleburne Community Center,
will present a free community serv-
ice workshop today, Oct. 12, from 7
p.m.-9 p.m.
Paul Haley with Johnson County
Juvenile Probation, will talk about
the services for juvenile offenders in
Johnson County and the efforts being
made to help troubled youth. The
workshop will be presented at the
East Cleburne Community Center,
located at 657 Chase Ave. in Cle-
burne. Child care during the work-
shop will be provided by First Mount
Zion Baptist Church, located at 1005
Chase Ave.
For further information, call the
crisis center at 817-641-2343.
JOHNSON
Marine Pvt. Daniel D. Johnson,
son of Robert A. and Margie P.
Norris of Burleson, recently com-
pleted recruit training.
During the training cycle at Marine
Corps Depot, San Diego, recruits
are taught the basics of battlefield
survival, introduced to typical mili-
tary daily routine, and personal and
professional standards.
All recruits participate in an active
physical conditioning program and
gain proficiency in a variety of mili-
tary skills including first aid, rifle
marksmanship and close-order drill.
Teamwork and self-discipline are
emphasized throughput the cycle.
The 1991 graduateof Burleson High
School joined the Marine Corps
joined the May 1992.
AL RAUSCHUBER JR.
SOUTH FREEWAY • 8
I.H. 35 and F.M. 1187 295-8339
Re-Elect
BOBBY ESTES
for
Commissioner
Precinct 3
(PG) 3 Ninja*
125 320 5:15 7:10 905
(R) UnforgivMi
1:35 4:20 705 955
(PG-13) Hero
1240 300 520 740 1000
(R) Under Saiga
12:45 255 5:10 720 9:30
(PG-13) Mr. Baaabdi
100 3:10 5:20 7:30 940
(PG) Mighty Dudes
1250 2:55 500 705 9:10
(PG-13) Sneakers
200 4:30 705 955
(PG-13) Captain Ron
1:15 3:15 5T5 7:15 9:15
All New Sound System
Matinees $3 00
5T
Early Voting
October 13
Burleson Sub-Courthouse|
250 N.W. Tarrant
Election Day...
November 3
Pol Adv pd. lot by Bobby EMn. P.O. Box 26. Alvarado. Tl
foil axe coxdiallij invited to join
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The Burleson Area Churches
that participated in the religious census on September 20th
would like to thank the community for their participation.
However, the religious census was not completed so many of
the churches will be back out until October 15th taking the
religious census. The following statistics are based on
completed forms received so far...
YES NO
1. Percentage of Americans believe in God. Do you? 100% 0%
2. Percentage of Americans pray. Do you? 97% 3%
3. Percentage believe a prayer answered. Have you? • 95% 5%
4. Per ntage attend a worship service. Active member of a church? 67 % 33 %
5i Percentage with life changing experience. Have you? 69% 31 %
•v'A*. • ■
Again, we say "Thank You"
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Ellertson, Sally. Burleson Star (Burleson, Tex.), Vol. 27, No. 104, Ed. 1 Monday, October 12, 1992, newspaper, October 12, 1992; Burleson, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth762439/m1/2/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Burleson Public Library.