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"Scam" ads the norm Trail Mix: Hillary haters spam cyberspace Gunning for the center Democrats make Hillary legit The blundering pundit Don Giuliani Campaign video: |
Bush's answer: Send teachers, books and money
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March 29, 2000 | RESTON, Va. -- Immediately, Vice President Al Gore lashed out at the likely GOP nominee, saying through a spokesman that Bush's program was a mere "pebble in the ocean" compared to his own, $115 billion proposal. Beyond the policy and cash chasm that separates the two candidates, the debate -- and Bush's speech -- was just the latest chapter in the candidates' feud and political pageant over the education issue, a debate Bush seems to be winning.
According to a Pew Research Center poll released last week, 44 percent of the American people think that Bush would "do the best job on education," as opposed to 41 percent who pick Gore -- a significant development not only because Democrats traditionally score better on the issue than Republicans, but because the issue rates foremost among women and suburban voters who will wield much of the decision-making power this November. Bush has received some positive reviews for recent educational achievements in Texas. Working with the Legislature, Bush reduced the number of state education rules, cut the number of state education goals from 48 to four ("excellence in English, math, science and history"), launched an $82 million early reading initiative, worked to end social promotion and established goals for each school to meet, measured through annual testing. During Tuesday's speech, just the latest hop on Bush's path back to the political middle, he continued to embrace education as his issue, refusing to cede it to anyone. Last Friday, Bush appeared at Central High School in Little Rock, Ark., to continue to discuss education reform and the proposals he's made in the past -- like support for charter schools, or giving parents the option of taking a voucher instead of continuing to send their children to failing schools. The goal of the plan Bush unveiled Tuesday, called "Reading First," is literacy for "every child" by the end of third grade -- though the program only funds reading programs for poor children whose schools are partly funded with federal Title I funds. The program would spend $5 million annually to determine which children need the extra help. Another $90 million would be spent on training teachers in whatever "research-based" instruction methods each state and locality deems appropriate -- whether after-school programs, "school within school" programs or tutoring. The bulk of the cash, $900 million a year, would be devoted to the programming itself. "There's a tension at the heart of our prosperity," Bush said. "All our wealth has not purchased educational achievement. Our economy is the envy of the world. But unfortunately, our schools are not." But Gore spokesman Chris Lehane was eager to slam Bush for not acknowledging the fact that achievement in education will indeed take some purchasing. "We need smaller classrooms, more teachers, modernized classrooms and an emphasis on pre-kindergarten education," Lehane said. But Bush's proposed tax cut -- estimated between $1.3 trillion and $2 trillion over a decade -- "leaves no money for domestic programs," Lehane said, repeating Gore's mantra that the Bush plan is "a risky tax scheme." Bush's speech was as jam-packed as an inner-city classroom with lofty rhetoric about how "not a single child shall be left behind," with little cash on the table. "We need to challenge failure," Bush insisted. "More and more we are divided into two nations: one that reads and one that can't, and, therefore, one that dreams and one that doesn't." But for Bush, the emphasis isn't money, but accountability -- an area where he says Gore falls short. "You can't have a kernel of success without strong accountability systems," Bush said. "We need to know" how schools are performing. Gore's proposal is "resources without reform," Bush said, "with no history of results, and really no prospect of success." Under Gore and President Clinton, "the consequences for failure never come ... If you don't know where you're headed, it doesn't make much sense to pick up the pace." Bush has a point, according to Amy Wilkins, principal partner of the Education Trust -- a Washington, D.C., non-partisan, non-profit organization that focuses on closing the achievement gap that exists between rich and poor students, and white and minority students. "To put more money into the current education system is like putting gas into a car that needs to go to the shop," Wilkins says of the Gore approach. But, she cautions, the way to improve the education system is through both Bush's emphasis on accountability as well as "Gore's strength, which really is about investment. Money does matter. You can't get a higher level of achievement without committing the federal resources necessary, and to say you can is a little bit hollow." So they're both right, and they're both wrong.
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