Invitation To The 1994 -1995 Harry Singer Foundation
National High School Essay Contest

Alternatives: Proposals For Local Governments Struggling With Limited Resources

Two big city mayors appeared on television on May 22, 1993. They claimed libraries would close, recreational and park services would be curtailed and public safety would suffer unless they collected more taxes. One mayor claimed that he had cut 1,000 jobs and "people cannot hope to receive the level of services they have become accustomed to." The other mayor made much of "sharing the pain" and suggested that a city like his, with a large population of poor and unemployed, could not expect to raise enough money from "producers" to support this kind of burden and that the obligations of his city should be undertaken by the entire state. This situation is duplicated across the nation.

Since local, state and federal budget cuts are eminent, why not have students help out by finding ways to continue the level of services desired by citizens without raising taxes?

Three out of every hundred classrooms will be awarded up to $1,000 in purchases of their choice from either the Mac Warehouse or Micro Warehouse mail order catalogues. Choose among printers, modems, scanners, software or if you are starting out let us search for a great value in a reconditioned computer package for your school.

All essays must be typed (English only) double spaced, checked for grammatical and spelling errors and be no less than 750 words nor more than 1,000 words in length. Please submit electronically or send hard copy originals; photocopies are not acceptable. If your school decides to enter the contest open the "Required Reading"folder and download the material. Included is a bibliography with suggestions for supplementary research resources. Copies should be made for each participating student. Schools entering fewer than ten students, or papers that are too short or do not abide by other rules, will not be considered for prizes.

Papers must be received by the Foundation on or before April 3, 1995.

A completed and signed hard copy application must be sent to the Foundation for every essay submitted whether electronically or by U. S. surface mail. Download the form (was provided at the time of the contest) and make the desired number of copies.

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In the spirit of Vice President Al Gore's Reinventing Government proposal, students are to explore ingenious ways to save money and stretch the resources of their local governments. Teachers should assign research jobs to individuals, or groups, depending on the size of the class. Some students should conduct polls to find out what services their community really wants. This will teach participants something about prioritization. (Poll I) Other students should poll elected officials, public administrators, members of the news media and academicians to discover what services they suspect will be cut, and how deeply, if taxes are not raised.(Poll II) Polls may be conducted via voice phone, or door to door.

With the results of these two polls, the class should come up with ideas for making changes or substitutions for the programs that are most desired by the community and are most likely to be cut. (Alternatives) They might decide, for example, that a particular alleyway or parking lot might be paved by volunteers with donated or rented equipment or that the volunteer services of local senior citizens are not being used to their potential. Already Scouts, schools, civic clubs and businesses have successfully "adopted" highways and playgrounds. Why not libraries, auditoriums and other public buildings? Why couldn't students and parents take over the maintenance and repair of public schools? Many private schools have made ends meet this way? Already parents and local businesses donate books and other resources. These are all questions for students to explore.

Material for class discussion will be provided by the Foundation. Students will read about the nine year-old and his father who built a public bridge in Arizona when community resources were depleted during the Great Depression. They will read about real people, some thwarted and some successful, in their striving to supplement tax dollars. The Foundation will provide recent examples, as diverse as attempts to provide transportation to low-income areas, find jobs for AFDC recipients, fill potholes and plow snow. Students are asked to contribute examples from their own research. (Examples)

A third group of students would document any resistance the class encounters in formulating its proposal. For instance students may be told volunteers must be certified and insured. The class should spend at least one day discussing the various reasons for licensing and regulation. Discussion material will explain why restrictions and regulations were considered necessary. The requirement that everyone and everything be insured will be traced to the recent expansion of tort law with background on strict liability and the demise of sovereign immunity explained simply by attorney-volunteers. Students should discuss problems encountered as if they were actually putting their proposal into effect. (Resistance to class proposal.)

A fourth group of students will obtain, from the appropriate officials, an estimate of the number and salaries of the workers who might be displaced if the class proposal was implemented. The entire class will address this displaced-worker problem and try and come up with a solution. Discussion material will provide statistics showing the relationship between private and public sector employment in general. Students should extrapolate. (Displaced worker problem)

The last student-group will explore incentives and disincentives to volunteers, decision-makers and government workers. Discussion material includes subjects like tax inducements, internal and external personal awards, portable pensions and job retraining. (Incentives and disincentives posed by the class Alternative proposed.)

Group research, class discussion and individual written evaluation of the proposal reached by class consensus, concludes this new variation of the Foundation's annual essay contest.

The individual essays should be considered sales presentations. Although each participating school will have a different proposal to "sell", all members of the same class will be discussing identical proposals--the proposal reached by class consensus.

The most forceful and enthusiastic submittal from each school will be printed in a book and posted on electronic bulletin boards along with the name of the teacher and student creators of the proposal. The book will be sent to policy makers. There's a good chance that somewhere in the country, at some point in time, your hard work, enthusiasm and creativity will make a difference! You could even choose the time and place by implementing your own proposal through a school or community White Hats project. (Inquire about student White Hats and White Hats projects.)
                                                                           The essay should contain:    

1) Results of Polls I & II

2) The Alternative reached by class consensus

3) At least one example of a successful local project

4) The resistance encountered in formulating the class proposal

5) Discussion of the displaced worker problem and the incentives and disincentives the class proposal would provide.

Individual student essays will be judged on the ability to sell the class proposal. All participants will be awarded certificates of participation and the best essays will be awarded special recognition: Honorable Mention, or 1st, 2nd or 3rd place classroom designations. The computer equipment will be awarded to the three class proposals (Alternatives) out of every hundred submitted that are judged best nationally.                                                          

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