April 11, 1974

NYC Bd of Educ pres Dr Seymour Lachman calls on School Chancellor Irving Anker to take action to stamp out cheating on citywide reading tests by teachers and principals who want to make themselves look better by raising students' scores; statement is spurred by charges that teachers at some schools, sometimes under pressure from supervisors, gave pupils practice exercises containing actual test questions, pointed out errors to children while tests were in progress and gave them more than allotted time to complete tests; City Councilman Howard Golden says he will introduce resolution calling for investigation into conduct of tests and will propose establishment of ind body to monitor them; unidentified Brooklyn teacher tells NY Times that asst principal at her school instructed teachers to withhold poorest papers from central bd hq, where official grading is done (M)

sources say IRS Comr Donald C Alexander has asked that Watergate prosecutor's office initiate grand jury investigation into possible criminal conspiracy stemming from Pres Nixon's claim of $576,000 tax deduction for his pre-Pres papers; say Alexander discussed tax issue with Leon Jaworski last wk and provided him with list of former White House aides and Pres associates to be investigated; number of Washington tax experts and former Govt officials depict Alexander's direct request for formal grand jury investigation as highly unusual step that could provide more embarrassment for Adm, telephone ints; attys say under law, person who signs a tax return is usually held responsible for return; 1 Fed tax expert says Justice Dept has on occasion prosecuted preparer of individual returns but that he cannot recall case involving so many participants; identity of other potential targets of Jaworksi is not yet known; speculation about names noted; Alexander por (L)

HR Repub leader J J Rhodes, after talking with Repr E Hutchinson, informs White House that HR Judiciary Com is virtually certain to subpoena material it requested Feb 25 unless some concession is made before Apr 11; Pres Nixon's atty James D St Clair says he has no reason to believe White House will make any change in its position by Apr 11, telephone int; Repub members say White House should either immediately produce some of material requested or clearly state how and when decision will be made on what material it will eventually furnish voluntarily; chief problem that even advocates of subpoena see is matter of enforcement; some persons are concerned that White House is hoping for confrontation to force issue of impeachment and to limit it to relatively narrow ground of Pres resistance to a Cong subpoena; Reprs P W Rodino Jr and T F Railsback comment; material at issue noted (M)

Israeli Premier Meir on Apr 10 resigns, bringing down her mo-old coalition Govt and making new natl elections likely in next several mos; says she is quitting because deep divs within her Labor party made it impossible to continue; Meir reptdly says at closed session that she no longer commands sufficient support within her divided party to continue as Premier; reptdly says 'Don't ask me to change my mind, this is final'; says there seems to be no alternative but new election; under Israeli law, Meir and her Cabinet will continue in office on caretaker basis until new govt is formed; Meir is expected to advise Pres Ephraim Katzir of her decision on Apr 11; Information Min Shimon Peres says 'business of the Govt will continue as usual until there is a new Govt'; Meir makes her announcement with no warning and minimum of fanfare at Labor party meeting; meeting was deadlocked over whether Defense Min Dayan should accept responsibility for Oct Middle East war mil errors and resign or whether entire Govt shares responsibility; Finance Min Pinhas Sapir says he will not run as candidate for Premier; Police Min Shlomo Hillel says he expects 'whole new alignment of political forces' in Israel; possible Labor candidates for Premier include Deputy Premier Yigal Allon, Haifa Mayor Yosef Almogi and Labor Min Itzhak Rabin; illus of Meir and of Dayan (L)

Broadway Assn to push for plush gambling casinos as means of revitalizing Times Square; lobbying com chmn Seymour Durst and assn pres Robert W Watt say legitimate theaters could be converted into stylish supper clubs where customers would dine, watch show and gamble; say program will revitalize economy, theater and Times Square area; assn wants bill moved through Legis this session to compete with similar proposal under consideration in NJ; other members of lobbying com are Myron A Minskoff, Francis A Cox and Dr Jerrold Ross (M)