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MR. CASE: Ladies and gentlemen, the meeting

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will come to order. This meeting has been called to

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clear up some points that were made in the record of

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two hearings which the Committee on State Finance and

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Taxation heretofore held.

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Before getting into that, let me wake one

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point abundantly clear, so there cannot be any mis-

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understanding on anybody's part and that is, nothing

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that this Committee has done and nothing that I have

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heard said during any of the deliberations would in

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any way indicate that the Committee is opposed to a

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strong progressive system of public schools for the

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State. Quite to the contrary, personally, as a former

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member of the State Board of Education and a current

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member of the Board of Regents of the University, I

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can hardly be other than for a strong system of public

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education and I know that my colleagues on the Com-

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mittee reel just as I do about this.

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For the record, also I should like to say

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that the Committee has already passed, with approval,

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a proposal that the legislature should not be permitted