Parochiaid Decision Now Up To State Supreme Court

- LANSING - Parochiaidr is back with the voters, but whether they get to settle the issue in the Nov. 3 general election now is up to the Supreme Court. The State Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that a proposed constitutional amendment to outlaw state aid to rtonpublic schools should be put on the fall ballot. But within hours after that decisión, Atty. Gen. Frank J. Kelley decided to appeal and ask for a "stay of proceedings" that would stop the order of the appeals court from being carried out. The issue is further complicated because the supreme court must first decide whether to considerthe appeal at all. It has the option of rejecting or allowing the appeal and the stay. Still another factor is a case already pending before the high court, put there by the legislature when it adopted the School Aid Act which included $22 million for partial payment of salaries for certain teachers in non-public schools. This case clearly is on the constitutionality of parochiaid, as d e f i n e d by the legislature and would have no effect on the other issue which grew out of a petition drive to amend the constitunion. The petiüon drive was conducted by the Council Against Parochiaid (CAP), but ran into legal troubles when the signatures were filed. The State Board ofCanvassers refused to certify the petitions after ■ getting an opinión from Kelley that they were not in the proper form according to state law. The proposed amendment advanced by CAP is additional language to an existing section of the constitution, which would remain unchanged. The language, to forbid any type of parochiaid except bus transportation, would be tacked onto the section directing the legislature to "maintain and support a system of free public elementary and secondary schools." The state law regulating the procedure for putting a proposed amendment on the ballot requires that petitions specify if any existing constitutional provisión is to be "altered or abrogated." Kelley argued in his opinión that since the section would not read the same with the additional languageTtnesec tion would be "altered or abrogated." The canvassers accepted the option and refused to certify the petitions because they did not meet the requirement. But the court held, in effect, that Kelley is wrong. The court held that adding new language to an existing section does not "alter or abrógate" that section under the meaning of the law. The law, the court added, , says a statement that an altera tion is being made is I necessary only if such a change is to be made. In this case, the court added, "it must be presumed that no alteration or abrogation of existing provisions was intended." There is a history of court interpretion, the appeals court added, to support the idea that "a proposed amendment dealing with a particular subject, complete in itself, which does not specifically amend or replace any existing provisión, does not consitute an alteration or abrogation within;the context of the issue presented in this case." The appeals court split 2-1 in its decisión, with judges Donald E. Holbrook and John W. Fitzgerald in the majority. Judge Thomas M. Burns offered a dissenting opinión because he contended the "precise effect of the proposed amendment . . . does not appear anywhere on the petition." For this reason, he added, the petitions should be rejected. Gov. William G. Milliken said he was glad that the attorney general will seek a review by the supreme court. "It would not be approprite for me to comment further until the matter has run its course through the courts," Milliken said. However, his position on parochiaid is clear. Milliken proposed the concept accepted by the legislature as part of his educational reform package. But on that point, Milliken said Wednesday: "Much of the point of my proposal and of the legislative action was to position the question of parochiaid f o r consideration by the courts." The $22 million appropriation would pay half the salaries of lay teachers in nonpublic schools who teach nonreligious subjects, such as ing, writing and arfthmetic. It is anticipated that the amouut of the appropriation would be stepped up in the future to cover about threefourths of the salary costs for these teachers so that other money would be freed for other üses by the private schools. - Milliken's opponent, state Sen. Sander M. Levin, D-Berkley, has opposed parochiaid. However, M r s . Harriett Phillips of Huntington Wood, chairman of Council Against Parochiaid, does not expect the vote on the proposed constitutional amendment t o have much of an impact on the political races. Her group has set up a meeting for next Tuesday in which to begin a promotional campaign to teil voters about the proposed amendment.