and essential to achieving any other national goals in the 1980's and 1990's, and further, that there is no long-run conflict between economic progress and improvements in social justice and goals regarding resources and the environment.

The Commission, staffed by a number of highly qualified professionals with expertise in government, economics, history, demographics, and so forth, produces work of the highest quality which carries with it considerable influence on its merits. This ingredient of merit is blended with an appointed board of opinion leaders in Congress, the executive branch, usually Cabinet members, State Governors, legislators, city and county elected officials, and members from the private sector.

This combination of nationwide leadership and superior staff work has placed the work of the Commission high among forces influencing the direction legislators have taken in legislating changes in the structure of Federal, State, and local relationships.

Charged with monitoring the operations of the federal system of government and directed to make recommendations for solutions to critical problems among levels of government, the Commission has studied conflict points in governmental structure, tensions in financial and tax relationships, urban problems and the rural plight. All of these issues have some degree of impact on the operation of school district government. Furthermore, ACIR has probed these issues in an effort to develop practical solutions.

Many of the studies undertaken by the Commission deal with the problems resulting from population shifts, industrial dislocation, international economics, and so forth, while placing particular attention on the identification of the proper responsibilities of each level of government. The Commission has also studied and recommended new mechanisms of government to be created at regional and areawide levels; recommended the most effective uses of the resources available to each level of government; and ways of improving coordination among levels of government.

The Commission works with Government agencies, associations of public officials-not school district governments-the higher education community, and with private research organizations. In selecting items for its work program, the Commissioners consider the relative importance and urgency of the problem, its manageability, and the extent to which the Commission can make a fruitful contribution to the solution of the problem. We believe the process followed by ACIR to be extremely effective and feel it should continue.

So I always love it when you can say, in conclusion.

In conclusion, we would ask that the committee take the lead in amending Public Law 86-380 to include school district representation on the Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations. Perhaps at no time in the Commission's 22-year history is it more important to include school districts than at this time. As this committee and others who look to groups such as ACIR for research work on quasi-markets, block grants, turnbacks, paymentin-lieu-of-taxes, and numerous yet unknown areas of study in the future, and inasmuch as the school districts of America are an integral part of the federal governmental system, we believe the time is right to amend the law and include school district government

representatives on ACIR. Thank you for the opportunity to present our views.

I appreciate the fact that you listened to a very tired voice after speaking for a week at a convention and letting me, as I said before, get my feet wet on you on my very first day in action as the National School Board president.

I would like to share just one thing with you. In north Florida we have a farmer who has an old grandfather clock and one night it began to chime. It struck 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13. The old farmer sat up in bed and shook his wife to wake her up and he said, "Mother, it's later than it's ever been before."

I think it is, but I certainly don't think it is too late for school boards to have a place on ACIR.

Mr. FOUNTAIN. Thank you very much for a very meaningful and informative statement, Mrs. Page.

I might say that as a beginner you are doing much better than most of the people who testify before Congress because you gave us a table of contents in the event we decide to look for some particular aspect of your testimony. That is seldom done.

Mrs. PAGE. Well, Mr. Chairman, I've been a school board member for 14 years and on the National School Board for 11 years so I have had experience, but this is the first time before such a prestigious group. So, I thought we ought to cover all fields.

Mr. FOUNTAIN. I am sure of that. And, obviously, that tremendous background of experience enabled you to know how best to present the strength of your argument.

Mr. Howerton.

STATEMENT OF JAMES R. HOWERTON, MEMBER, BOARD OF SANGAMON COUNTY, ILL.

Mr. HOWERTON. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, before I begin I would like to say that as citizen and resident of the State of Illinois, I felt particularly warm and welcome here today with Senator Percy being here and being one of the sponsors and with our own local Congressman, Paul Findley, being here to introduce me and I certainly appreciate that on their part.

As Congressman Findley said in the introduction, I am Jim Howerton, a resident of Pawnee, Ill. I am chief executive officer and chairman of the board of Roosevelt National Life Insurance Co. of America.

I am an elected member of the board of Sangamon County, Ill., and an elected member of the Pawnee, Ill., Community Unit School District No. 11 Board of Education. I am also a former schoolteacher and it happens to be in that same district, of which I'm elected to serve.

I am here today to support the placement of three elected school board members on the Advisory Commission of Intergovernmental Relations.

Public education is an enormous enterprise in Illinois. Let me share some figures with you that outline the scope of this endeavor. This year, the State of Illinois has appropriated $2,243,300,000 for the public elementary and secondary schools-approximately 18 percent of the State's budget. Local funds, raised through the local

property tax, totaled $2,826,000,000, $9 million comes from the Federal Government. This is a total of $5,568,900,000-big business by any yardstick.

Illinois' 1,010 local school boards-all but one are elected by the people-serve 1,966,602 students. We have 4,778 buildings with 107,740 classrooms. Local boards of education are major employers. Our districts employ 126,247 teachers and administrators and 65,900 noncertificated personnel.

Food and nutrition programs are major operations-169,688,000 type A lunches were served to elementary and secondary students. Approximately 440,000 of the 982,000 daily meals went to needy students. It is estimated that $330 million is generated in Illinois through food service programs.

While in Illinois the local taxpayer contributes more than 50 percent of the funds necessary to operate the public schools, the local board of education is involved in a partnership with State government and the Federal Government in governing the schools. Increasingly, the local board is more and more junior in the partnership relationship. Decisions made in Springfield and Washington dictate what we must do.

The Illinois State Board of Education has a great deal of authority, both in its statutory authority and its promulgation of rules and regulations. The Illinois General Assembly can, and does, legislate on virtually every aspect of school operations. The Congress has a significant impact on schools and what they are required to do. State and Federal courts hand down decisions on almost a daily basis that place additional requirements on the schools.

Because of these facts, because local boards of education are such a significant unit of government in Illinois and the Nation, and because local school boards of education are so significantly impacted by decisions at the State and Federal level, three representatives of local boards of education should be placed on the Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations.

The issues and problems addressed by the ACIR have a great impact on school district operations. This becomes even more significant as we address new definitions of the Federal-State-local relationships that will be a product of the New Federalism.

Three representatives of locally-elected school boards would bring a much needed perspective to the deliberations of ACIR.

For example, ACIR has sought, and will continue to seek, ways to improve Federal, State and local governmental taxing practices and policies. Nothing is more important to education than the equitable allocation of resources, increased efficiency in collection and administration, and reduced compliance burdens upon taxpayers.

As an elected member of county government in Sangamon County, Ill., I believe that school boards ought to be included on ACIR. This year, Sangamon County appropriated approximately $16 million for services. In contrast, the 12 school boards in the county have receipts of approximately $63.2 million. The county board employs approximately 500 individuals; the county's 12 school districts employ 2,261 persons. The decisions of the Sangamon County Board are significant, but of even greater significance are the decisions of the school boards of the county.

Our system of public education is unique, highly valued, and important to all levels of society. School boards are part of this uniqueness because of their close relationships to the communities which they serve. The lay persons serving on local school boards would be an asset to the deliberations of the Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations.

I certainly thank you for the opportunity to appear here this morning.

Mr. FOUNTAIN. Thank you very much.

The 12 school boards in your county have receipts of approximately $63 million. Where do those funds come from? Are they taxes assessed by the school board or do they come from the county or the State?

Mr. HOWERTON. Well, they do not come through county government in Illinois. They come, first of all, through local property taxes and that is not equal in all school districts on the assessed valuation of each district. And then a good part of it also comes through general revenue from the State of Illinois and a much smaller part, particularly in the area of the hot lunch programs, comes through the Federal Government.

Mr. FOUNTAIN. What percentage comes from the State?

Mr. HOWERTON. The numbers I gave you for the county would show that something over 50 percent-I'll go back to my numbers very quickly—I stated that approximately 18 percent of the State's total budget is for public education and not within Sangamon County, where I really don't have the numbers, but within the State of Illinois, $2,826,000,000 is coming from local property taxes and $2,243,000,000 from the State of Illinois; so, the local property tax is the larger amount within the State, and I would have to think that those numbers are typical of Sangamon County.

Mr. FOUNTAIN. Do you have any figures indicating how much of the cost of public education is paid on a national basis by State government?

Mr. HOWERTON. How much is paid on the national-

Mr. FOUNTAIN. By State governments for the country as a whole for public education.

Mr. HOWERTON. Could you state that question to me, again. I'm sorry, I misunderstood.

Mr. FOUNTAIN. How much of public education is paid for throughout the Nation by State governments?

Mr. HOWERTON. OK. Less than 50 percent.

Mr. McGRATH. Mr. Chairman, if I may interject here, while it differs by State, in New York State it even differs between city districts and the State. In my particular home town, about 70 percent of the money raised for the education of our children comes from local property taxes and about 30 percent from the State.

Mr. FOUNTAIN. And those property taxes are levied by the school board?

Mr. McGRATH. They are levied by the school board.

Mr. FOUNTAIN. Some years ago, as I indicated after Senator Percy testified, ACIR recommended that the financial support of public education should be wholly a State and local responsibility. And I think this is still ACIR's policy position.

Does your organization have a position on the extent to which the Federal Government should contribute to the support of public schools?

Mrs. PAGE. You are talking to me?

Mr. FOUNTAIN. Either one of you. Whoever can answer that question.

Mrs. PAGE. I'm sorry. You are going to have to answer that.

Mr. FOUNTAIN. You may not have a position. Do you have a position as to the extent to which the Federal Government should contribute to the support of public schools?

Mr. STEINHILBER. We do not have a set position.

Mr. FOUNTAIN. I might say it amounts to about 8 percent today and the National Education Association is advocating that the Federal Government pay one-third.

Mr. STEINHILBER. We have no set percentage. We basically-our resolution process which just happened this last week at our convention takes a look at the needs in the United States and, then, depending upon both the Federal and the State makes its recommendation as to which items should be present at the particular time of goal. No one-third or set percent.

Mr. FOUNTAIN. OK.

Mr. McGRATH. Since the initial public law establishing the ACIR with no school board members, certain things have changed with respect to school boards. As you point out, only 8 percent of the money nationwide that goes toward the education of our children in public schools comes from the Federal Government. But since that time you might be interested in finding out that in 1964, for instance, the Civil Rights Act was established which school districts had to adhere to. The Education of All Handicapped Childrens' Act was established in 1976, the Rehabilitation Act, the Child Nutrition Act, the Asbestos Detection Program Act, revenue sharing, Refugee Education and the Migrant Children Education Act.

You might also be interested in knowing that ESEA, established in 1965, put the Federal Government square in the education busi

ness.

Now, in 1959 when the ACIR was established, none of these things affected school boards. Now, school boards are affected by all of these things and the picture has changed dramatically.

Mr. FOUNTAIN. I might say-not as an indication of my own opinion about whether school boards should be included or not-none of those acts to which you refer were recommended by the ACIR. Mr. McGRATH. I understand that, but the Congress did.

Mr. FOUNTAIN. Of course, we in the Congress represent all of our constituents regardless of where they are, local, State, or Federal. Mrs. PAGE. Mr. Chairman, also, some school districts are so large, using, in my own State, Dade County or you could use LA, Houston, Dallas, any of the tremendously large school districts are cities within themselves. They have their own police forces, their own health services. They operate almost totally independent of the city itself. And the board has to be the policymaker for some of the same services that the city is. And, yet, when you sit down as a group, or when ACIR sits down as a group, there is no one from education that can provide that particular kind of up-front living information. No school board member wants to see ACIR turned