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*x*                                                                     *x*
*x*            Copyright (C) 1995 University of Pennsylvania            *x*
*x*                                                                     *x*
*x*    The data in this file are part of a preliminary version of the   *x*
*x*    Penn Treebank Corpus and should not be redistributed.  Any       *x*
*x*    research using this corpus or based on it should acknowledge     *x*
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*x*                                                                     *x*
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FILENAME:	2797_1117_1108
TOPIC#:		353
DATE:		910505
TRANSCRIBER:	csw
UTT_CODER:	tc
DIFFICULTY:	2
TOPICALITY:	2
NATURALNESS:	1
ECHO_FROM_B:	2
ECHO_FROM_A:	3
STATIC_ON_A:	1
STATIC_ON_B:	1
BACKGROUND_A:	1
BACKGROUND_B:	2
REMARKS: 	Caller A was a little dominant in the conversation.  Caller B
spoke very softly and had a television playing in the background throughout.

======================================================================
  

ad          A.1 utt1:  I'll let you go first. /  

sd          B.2 utt1:  <TV> {D Well } I think, I don't know  how your schools work back there  /
sd          B.2 utt2: {C but } we support our schools here with property taxes. /  

b          A.3 utt1:  Uh-huh. /  

sd          B.4 utt1:  {C And } the land owners or  home owners are the ones that pay the school tax.  /
sd          B.4 utt2: {C So } if you're renting a house or  doing anything else, you're not actually contributing to the education of your children.  /
sv          B.4 utt3:  {C And } I think that's wrong,  /
sv          B.4 utt4: I think everybody should contribute to the  education of their children even if they had to raise the sales tax by one  percent then everybody going through the state would be supporting our education system.  /
sv          B.4 utt5: {C  So, } as it turns out, we don't really have a tremendous education  system because they don't have the money they need to run it. /  

b          A.5 utt1:  Yeah,  /
sd          A.5 utt2: [ I, +  {F uh, } I ] spent a couple,  {F uh, } years down in, {F uh, } Plano, Texas. /  

b          B.6 utt1:  Uh-huh. /  

sd          A.7 utt1:  {C And, } {F uh, } I was one of the  home owners down there that got taxed to death,   

b          B.8 utt1:  Yeah. /  

+          A.9 utt1:  for the, {F uh, } Plano, {F uh, } school system. /  

b          B.10 utt1:  Yeah. /  

sd          A.11 utt1:  {C And, } {F uh, } [ I, f-, +  {D you know, } I ]  know that Texas doesn't have a state tax, /  

aa          B.12 utt1:  No,  /
aa          B.12 utt2: huh-uh. /  

sd          A.13 utt1:  {C and so } all the things come out of  [ the, +  the ] property taxes, /  

b          B.14 utt1:  Yeah. /  

sd          A.15 utt1:  {C and } I was, {F uh, } really shocked  at the amount of taxes I ended up paying.  /
sd          A.15 utt2: [ I was, +  I was ] better off paying  a state tax [ mo-, + ] back in Maryland, where, <breathing> <laughter>, -/  

aa          B.16 utt1:  Yeah,  /
aa^r          B.16 utt2: yeah  /
sv          B.16 utt3: you would be. /  

sd          A.17 utt1:   than I was, {F uh, } paying the, {F uh, }  property tax down there.  /
sd          A.17 utt2: {F Uh, } what they did in Maryland to get around that is [ they, +   {F uh, } they ] developed a renters tax solely for the purpose of paying for the services,   

b          B.18 utt1:  Oh. /  

+          A.19 utt1:  that the renters were getting including  the, {F uh, } educational services. /  

b          B.20 utt1:  Yeah. /  

sd          A.21 utt1:  {C And, } {F uh, } the tax was administered   by,  {F uh, } the, {F uh, } rental company that actually was managing the apartments  /
sd          A.21 utt2: {C so } [ when, +    

b          B.22 utt1:  Oh. /  

+          A.23 utt1:  {F uh, }  long, long time ago, when ]  I used to live in apartments, I would pay a rent payment every month and a tax payment every month. /  

ba          B.24 utt1:  Gee. /  

sd          A.25 utt1:  {C And } the tax payment went to pay  for the services that I was getting as [ a, +  a ] resident of that particular county. /  

b          B.26 utt1:  Yeah. /  

sd          A.27 utt1:  {C And, } {F uh, } that's the way it worked.  /
sd          A.27 utt2:   Here in Maryland [ we have, + ] {F uh, } a certain portion of [ your, +  your ]  property taxes, {F uh, } goes to education, /  

b          B.28 utt1:  Yeah. /  

sd          A.29 utt1:  {C but } also a portion of the state  tax that you pay goes back into the county that you live in, to pay for the educational system. /  

ba          B.30 utt1:  {F Oh, } {D well that's pretty good. } /  

sv          A.31 utt1:  {C And so } [ it, +  it ] works out nice,  /
sd          A.31 utt2:  [ [ it, +  it, ] +  it ] makes it so that the, {F uh, } whole county now, - /
sd          A.31 utt3: [ I, +  I ] know the concept of  counties in Texas is quite a bit different than it is here in Maryland, {F uh, }  /
sd          A.31 utt4:  like Collin County, {F uh, } would only equal about maybe an eighth the size of Baltimore  County, here in Maryland. /  

b          B.32 utt1:  {F Oh, } yeah. /  

sd          A.33 utt1:  {E I mean } [ the, +  the ] counties are much larger. /  

b          B.34 utt1:  Yeah. /  

sv          A.35 utt1:  {D You know, } in [ the, +  the ]  whole state of Maryland I believe there's only like,  {F uh, } fifteen counties. /  

ba          B.36 utt1:  Gee whiz. /  

sv          A.37 utt1:  {C And, so, } {F uh, } {D you know } each  county has their own school system [ {C an, } +  {C and } ] it works out real nice.  /
qy          A.37 utt2: {F Um, } [ the, +  the ]  flip side to this  is, are we getting what we're paying for, /  

b          B.38 utt1:  Yeah. /  

sv          A.39 utt1:  {C and } I don't believe so, {F um. }  /
sd          A.39 utt2:   A lot of things have come to head recently  /
sd          A.39 utt3: {C and } I heard a report because, of, {F uh, }  {F uh, } the emphasis that the President was putting on education, {D you know, }    

b          B.40 utt1:  Uh-huh. /  

+          A.41 utt1:  {F uh, } him running as our education  president and then finally a couple of years later getting around to doing something. /  

b          B.42 utt1:  Yeah. /  

sd          A.43 utt1:  {F Um, } they said since they imposed  the federal regulations on education,  /
sd          A.43 utt2: in other words, they came up with this federalized  system where everyone in the third grade would be taught basically the same thing. /  

b          B.44 utt1:  Yeah. /  

sd          A.45 utt1:  {C And, then, } at the end of, {F uh, }  school year they would be tested  /
sd          A.45 utt2: {C and then } they go into the fourth grade  /
sd          A.45 utt3:  {C and } everybody in the fourth grade's basically taught the same thing. /  

b          B.46 utt1:  Yeah. /  

sd          A.47 utt1:  {C So } when they came up with [ these, +   this ] nationwide system of public schools, {F uh, } they gave some figures out  /
sd          A.47 utt2:  {C and } since it's inception, {F uh, } they've, [ the price has gone up per stu-, +   the prices paid by the federal government per student ] has been thirty-three percent. /  

ba          B.48 utt1:  Yow. /  

sd          A.49 utt1:  {C And so } they're actually spending  thirty-three percent,  /
sd          A.49 utt2: {C and } that's real dollars, {D you know, }    

b          B.50 utt1:  Yeah. /  

+          A.51 utt1:  adjusting it back [ to, +  to ] the days,  {D you know, } when it started, {F uh, } probably, {D you know, } seventy years ago.  /
sd          A.51 utt2:  {C And } what they've said is that we haven't had a thirty-three percent improvement in education. /  

b          B.52 utt1:  No,  /
b          B.52 utt2: huh-uh. /  

sd          A.53 utt1:  We've actually gone backwards. /  

sd          B.54 utt1:  {D Well } they say that Texas schools  are some of the lowest in the nation.  /
sd          B.54 utt2: That our high school graduates can't even  match the national average. /  

b          A.55 utt1:  Yeah. /  

sv          B.56 utt1:  {C So, } {D you know, } our school system  down here is no where near perfect  /
sd          B.56 utt2: {C but } they keep complaining they don't have the money to do it. /  

b          A.57 utt1:  Yeah,  /
sd          A.57 utt2: {D well, } [ they, +  they've ]  been having some problems, {F uh, } even here in, {F uh, } {D like } Baltimore City which is, [ a, +  a, ]  [ pretty good ci-, +  [ goo-, +  good ] sized city. ] /  

b          B.58 utt1:  Yeah. /  

sd          A.59 utt1:  {F Uh, } they've been putting a lot of,  {F uh, } stress on it  /
sd          A.59 utt2: {C and } of course, speaking of stress the teachers are all getting stressed  out from trying to, {D you know, } do everything they're supposed to do  /
sd          A.59 utt3:  {C and } of course they've, {F uh, } been cutting the teachers salaries,   

b          B.60 utt1:  {F Oh, } yeah. /  

+          A.61 utt1:   because they say we don't have the money to do it  /
sd          A.61 utt2: {C and, }   

b          B.62 utt1:  Yeah. /  

+          A.63 utt1:  all the services are costing more money   [ and, +  and ] everything, {F uh, }  /
sv          A.63 utt2: {C but } [ the-, + ] {F uh, } a lot of emphas-, now is  being put on, {D you know, } when children used to be taught, {D you know, } like, {F uh, } {F uh, }  each child is individual, /  

b          B.64 utt1:  Yeah. /  

sv          A.65 utt1:  {D you know, } they're not all the same  /
sv          A.65 utt2: {C and } --   

b          B.66 utt1:  Yeah,  /
^2          B.66 utt2: they need to take things at their own speed. /  

+          A.67 utt1:  -- some students do horrible until  {D like } eighth grade,  /
sv          A.67 utt2: some do horrible, {D you know, } until they get to {D like } tenth grade, /  

b          B.68 utt1:  Yeah. /  

sv          A.69 utt1:  {C and then } all of a sudden everything  clicks in, {D you know. }  /
sv          A.69 utt2: {C And then } there are some students that, {D you know, }  read well at five years old,   

b          B.70 utt1:  Uh-huh. /  

+          A.71 utt1:  and, {D you know, } seem to excel.  /
sd          A.71 utt2:  {C And so } [ [ that, +  the, ] +  {D you know, } one of the ] things I heard proposed on, {F uh, }  one of the  public radio stations up here was that we should go back to teaching children  at their own speed.  Some ki-, -/  

b          B.72 utt1: Yeah,  /
sv@          B.72 utt2: I think it'd be a lot better.*[[note period -- needs  slash unit]]  

b          A.73 utt1:  Yeah. /  

+@          B.74 utt1:  {D You know } each child has to learn  at his own rate,  /
sv          B.74 utt2: they can't keep force feeding things to each other  [ and, +    

sv          A.75 utt1:  [ [ {C And, } +  {C and, } ] +  {F uh, }   

+          B.76 utt1:  or, ] {D you know, } at the kids. /  

+          A.77 utt1:  {C and } ] on top of that [ they, +  they ]  make the child feel inferior,   

b          B.78 utt1:  Uh-huh,  /
^2          B.78 utt2: because he can't do it. /  

+          A.79 utt1:  because he's not as good as another kid  his same age.  /
sv          A.79 utt2: {E I mean, } [ it's +  {D like, } {D you know, } that's ] ridiculous. /  

sv          B.80 utt1:  {C And } it's not that he can't do it,  /
sv          B.80 utt2:  he just can't do it quite as fast,  /
%          B.80 utt3: {C or, } -/  

b          A.81 utt1:  Yeah,  /
sd          A.81 utt2: {C and, } {F uh, } {D you know, }  [ I have, +  {F uh, } [ I, +  I ] have ] five children total, /  

b          B.82 utt1:  Yeah. /  

sd          A.83 utt1:  {C and } I've got two out of the house  already  /
sd          A.83 utt2: {C and } [ I ha-, +  I have ] two that are in, {F uh, } eighth grade this year. /  

b          B.84 utt1:  All right. /  

sd          A.85 utt1:  {C And } prior to their, {F um, } - /
sd          A.85 utt2:  [ when I, +  when they ]  were in elementary school they were [ identi-, +  identified ] as being slow. /  

b          B.86 utt1:  Yeah. /  

sd          A.87 utt1:  {C And so } they put them into special  programs  /
sd          A.87 utt2: {C and then } we actually held them back in fourth grade. /  

%          B.88 utt1:  {F Um. } /  

sd          A.89 utt1:  {C And } it wasn't until the last  two years, {F um, }  /
%          A.89 utt2:  last year my, {F uh, } - /
sd          A.89 utt3: [ they're +  they're ] a set of twins,   

b          B.90 utt1:  Uh-huh. /  

+          A.91 utt1:  {F um, } a boy and a girl.  /
sd          A.91 utt2:  Last year [ the, +  the, ] {F uh, } boy twin started doing real well. /  

b          B.92 utt1:  All right. /  

sd          A.93 utt1:  {C And } [ [ it, +  it, ] +  everything ]  started to click in for him  /
sd          A.93 utt2: {C and } he knew what he needed to do.  /
sd          A.93 utt3: {F Um, } {C and } this year  [ it, +  it ] happened [ for, +  {F uh, } for ] the daughter. /  

b          B.94 utt1:  {F Um, } all right. /  

sd          A.95 utt1:  She just has been,   

^2          B.96 utt1:  Jumped on out there. /  

+          A.97 utt1:  really doing great this year  /
sd          A.97 utt2:  {C and } she has the right attitude towards school and everything. /  

ba          B.98 utt1:  That's good. /  

sv          A.99 utt1:  {C And } I think it's just a matter  of everybody has to find their own path.  /
sd          A.99 utt2: I remember when I was in school, I did horrible up until [ about, +    

b          B.100 utt1:  Yeah,  /
sd          B.100 utt2: I did too, up until ninth or tenth grade. /  

+          A.101 utt1:  {D yeah, }  about ] the seventh, eighth grade  /
sd          A.101 utt2:  [ [ I, +  I, ] +  I ] started [ to, +  to ] come around and realize  /
sd          A.101 utt3: [ {C an, } +  {C and } ]  basically I got interested in math,    

b          B.102 utt1:  Yeah. /  

+          A.103 utt1:  {C and, } {F uh, } never really did  well in english  /
sv          A.103 utt2: {C but, } {D you know } once you got interested in something and things  started to click in place then after that you take off. /  

b          B.104 utt1:  Yeah,  /
sd          B.104 utt2: {C and } {D see } when I was  a kid growing up and going to high school if I wanted to take a little electronics course,  I had a electronics course  I could take,  /
sd          B.104 utt3: {C but } we lived out in the country, /  

b          A.105 utt1:  Uh-huh. /  

sd          B.106 utt1:  {C and } we didn't have all that fancy  stuff to worry about, {D you know, }  /
sd          B.106 utt2: we had our auto shop out there and our ag shop  /
sd          B.106 utt3: [ {C and, } +    

b          A.107 utt1:  Yeah. /  

+          B.108 utt1:  {C and, } ] {D you know, } we had just  about every thing that we needed  /
sd          B.108 utt2: {C but } they don't have it anymore.  /
sd          B.108 utt3: There's a lot of things  that they don't do in school anymore.  /
sd          B.108 utt4:  [ M-, +  our ] oldest boy goes to  Lubbock High down here  /
sd          B.108 utt5: {C and } they go to school four and half days a week,  /
sv          B.108 utt6: {C so. }    

ba          A.109 utt1:  Gee. /  

+         B.110 utt1:  That's pretty weird. /  

aa          A.111 utt1:  Yeah  /
sv          A.111 utt2: it is, {F um, }  /
sd          A.111 utt3: my children had  a, {F uh, } real culture shock, {F uh, } when we lived in Plano,  /
qy^d          A.111 utt4: I guess, I don't know if you've  heard about the Plano school district,  /
sd          A.111 utt5: {C but. }   

nn          B.112 utt1:  No. /  

+          A.113 utt1:  [ they're re-, +  {F uh, } they really stress ]  academics there. /  

b          B.114 utt1:  Uh-huh. /  

sd          A.115 utt1:  {C And, } {F uh, } God, if your child  is not an honor student, {D well } then, <laughter> you're, something wrong with you as a parent. /  

ba          B.116 utt1:  Gee. /  

sd          A.117 utt1:  {C And } [ tha-, +  that's ]  kind of the way they are there. /  

b          B.118 utt1:  Yeah. /  

sd          A.119 utt1:  {C And, } {F uh, } when we moved back  to Maryland, {F um, } I moved to [ a, +  {F uh, } a, ] Baltimore County which is a northern county in Maryland, /  

b          B.120 utt1:  Uh-huh. /  

sd          A.121 utt1:  {C and } it's basically a rural county,   once you get above about the half way point. /  

b          B.122 utt1:  Yeah. /  

sd          A.123 utt1:  {C And } we lived, {D you know, }  in the northern part of the county.  /
sd          A.123 utt2:  {F Uh, } we went from a, {F uh, } middle school in Texas that  served fifty-five square blocks to a, {F uh, } middle school in Maryland that served fifty-five square miles. /  

b          B.124 utt1:  Yeah. /  

sv          A.125 utt1:  {C And } it was just a complete culture shock,    

ba          B.126 utt1:  <Laughter>  I can imagine. /  

+          A.127 utt1:  because  I {E mean, } [ they, +  they're ]  riding on the bus in the morning with, {F uh, } other kids that, {D you know, } are a sleep  because they got up at three o'clock  and were doing chores  /
%          A.127 utt2: {C and, }   

b          B.128 utt1:  Yeah  /
sv          B.128 utt2: that would be quite a shock. /  

+          A.129 utt1:  they <laughter> {D you know, } - /
%          A.129 utt2:  it's, - /
sd          A.129 utt3: {C and } they had, {F uh, } ag,  /
sd          A.129 utt4: they had an ag course, {F uh, }  /
sd          A.129 utt5: I forget what it was called, {F uh, }  /
sd          A.129 utt6:  {C but } it goes along [ the, +  the ] lines of industrial arts,  /
sd          A.129 utt7: {C but } it's, agricultural. /  

b          B.130 utt1:  Uh-huh. /  

sd          A.131 utt1:  {C And } where they had to raise a small animal. /  

bf          B.132 utt1:  {F Oh, } like, Four H then. /  

sd          A.133 utt1:  Had to learn how to drive a tractor. /  

b          B.134 utt1:  All right. /  

sd          A.135 utt1:  They actually had to [ g-, +   take ]  a driving test on the tractor,  /
sd          A.135 utt2: {E I mean, } they just couldn't believe this  /
sv          A.135 utt3: {C and } it was great.  /
sd          A.135 utt4:  They loved it. /  

b          B.136 utt1:  All right. /  

sd          A.137 utt1:  {E I mean } they really enjoyed the  courses, {F um, }  /
sv          A.137 utt2: {C and } [ it, +  {D you know, } it ] made school fun for them again because prior to  that school was just a big pain, a drain. /  

b          B.138 utt1:  Yeah,  /
bf          B.138 utt2: just something you do everyday. /  

aa          A.139 utt1:  Yeah,  /
%          A.139 utt2: {C and } it was, {D you know. }  /
sv          A.139 utt3:   It was {D like, } [ ki-, +  kind ] of {D like } the way we feel about going to work <laughter>. /  

b          B.140 utt1:  <Laughter> Yeah,  /
b^r          B.140 utt2: yeah,  /
bf          B.140 utt3:  just something I have to do everyday. /  

sv          A.141 utt1:  {C But, } {F uh, } up here they seem  to have made it, {F uh, } a lot of fun for them  /
sv          A.141 utt2: {C and } [ they, +  they ] seem to really enjoy it. /  

ba          B.142 utt1:  That's good,  /
sd          B.142 utt2: our oldest boy went into  school politics and made vice </TV> ... -/ 
