TAX REFUNDS FOR BASIC EDUCATION 457

and have become a part of it, then funds for similar services should
be provided for private and parochial schools, " the Governor said.

Governor Agnew said he is firmly opposed to a proposal now before
the Constitutional Convention to prohibit State aid to any religion-
connected school.

He told a news conference two weeks ago that he does not feel such
a prohibition belongs in a Constitution and that the requirement
of equal protection of the laws for all people adequately covers the
subject.

His response was misinterpreted by one newspaper as opposition to
any State aid for private education.

"My views on this subject are basically the same as they have been
for the past three or four years, including the period when I was
County Executive of Baltimore County, " Governor Agnew said.

"I believe that public tax money for education should be confined
to what is basic education and not such auxiliary services as trans-
portation, sports, cultural television and such ancillary Federal pro-
grams as Operation Headstart.

"But I believe just as firmly that if we are to continue financing
these ancillary services from tax dollars — and they have grown up
around the public school system as extensions of basic education —
then they should be provided equally to all children, those in private
and parochial schools as well as those in public schools.

"These are questions to be resolved in the future as the demands
of education place an increasing burden on our tax resources. What-
ever the final answer, it has no place in the State Constitution. "

The Governor said it is his personal view that if public education
is "to achieve the status it deserves, we cannot afford to divert monies
we are finding extremely difficult to raise. "

He said he is not in agreement with those who regard school bus
transportation, recreation and similar auxiliary services as basic edu-
cation. "I think these activities are separable from basic education, "
he said.

But if such services are to continue from tax dollars in the public
schools, then they also should be made equally available to the private
school sector, the Governor added.

"The separation of public education from private education has
to be restricted to just that — education. It cannot be otherwise with-
out a substantial injustice resulting. "