PA. GUBERNATORIAL RACE Taxes, teachers dominate debate

Rendell admitted that he doesn't know how money would be distributed in his plan to better fund the state's schools.
PITTSBURGH (AP)-- Democrat Edward G. Rendell and Republican Mike Fisher clashed over property taxes and teacher testing in a gubernatorial debate Sunday, despite disruptions by Green Party candidate Michael Morrill and his supporters to protest their being shut out.
In an unscheduled speech just before the event began, Morrill called the sponsors' decision to exclude him "utterly, utterly outrageous."
"This is not Iraq. This is the United States," Morrill said before security officers at the Jewish Community Center ushered the West Reading consumer activist off the set moments before the live-TV debate began.
The debate moderator, WPXI-TV anchor David Johnson, explained that Morrill and Libertarian Party candidate Ken Krawchuk were excluded because neither of them had won at least 15 percent support in independent polls. Both have barely registered in the half-dozen polls taken so far.
School aid
The debate produced no bombshells. But former Philadelphia mayor Rendell acknowledged he has not decided how he would distribute among the state's 501 school districts the $1.5 billion in additional school aid he has promised.
Rendell said after the debate that he was only being realistic, since any distribution plan would likely require a compromise between the governor and the General Assembly. He said his plan would provide an average 30- to 33-percent reduction in property taxes and that the biggest reductions would go to districts with the highest millage rates.
Fisher's campaign manager, Kent Gates, accused Rendell of being inconsistent, noting that he had said at a recent debate in Easton that the new money would be distributed according to the formula the state uses to distribute school subsidies. That formula generally funnels proportionately more to the poorest districts.
Despite a state revenue shortfall that he says could reach $2 billion, Rendell said he can raise the additional school money without increasing taxes -- by legalizing slot machines at racetracks and cutting spending by $1 billion.
"Ed's plan doesn't work. The numbers just don't add up," said Fisher, the state attorney general. Fisher proposes requiring most school districts to hold referendums to find out whether voters want to increase local income taxes in exchange for lower property taxes.
Asked about a bill to abolish the state's one-year-old teacher-testing program, which the state Senate approved last week, Fisher said he would urge Gov. Mark S. Schweiker to veto the measure. Rendell said the testing program has been "a fiasco" and should be repealed.
Only one more debate -- in Philadelphia on Tuesday night -- is scheduled before the Nov. 5 election. Sunday marked the eighth debate or similar forum in which Rendell and Fisher have engaged.
Polls
Since June, shortly after he won the Democratic nomination in the May primary, polls have consistently shown Rendell leading. And he has gained ground in recent weeks, both in public opinion and fund raising.
Campaign finance reports filed Friday showed Fisher had raised $2.2 million since mid-September, while Rendell raised more than $9 million in the same period.
Rendell's total for the primary and general-election campaigns now stands at more than $37 million -- more than the 1994 record of $36 million for spending by both parties in a gubernatorial campaign.