Copyright 2000 Globe Newspaper Company
The Boston
Globe
September 26, 2000, Tuesday ,THIRD EDITION
SECTION: NATIONAL/FOREIGN; Pg. A18
LENGTH: 861 words
HEADLINE:
CAMPAIGN 2000 / BUSH;
RICH-POOR GAP IN EDUCATION IS ASSAILED
BYLINE: By Anne E. Kornblut, GLOBE STAFF
BODY:
PORTLAND, Ore. - Repeating the words
"recession" and "stagnation" nearly a dozen times in an hour, George W. Bush
yesterday tried to blunt the political impact of the booming national economy by
warning of a mounting education crisis that his opponent had failed to fix.
Bush, encouraged by poll numbers that show him again running even with
Vice President Al Gore, sought to close the gender gap that has separated them,
focusing on an issue that traditionally plays well with women. But in doing so,
the Texas governor walked a fine ideological line, between holding the federal
government accountable for public education failures, and saying that
educational policy should be dictated mainly at the local level.
Bush blamed Gore for not taking a more active role in
closing the "achievement gap" between rich and poor children in public schools,
and pledged to improve standards in "every public school in America" if elected
president.
"Our education recession has been long and deep and
destructive," Bush said. "Ending it will be a national challenge and my most
urgent priority."
Yet Bush also embraced a more traditional Republican
line, saying that as president he would not expect the government to manage
expensive problems such as teacher shortages or crowded classrooms.
Instead, Bush pointed to his home state as an example of what can be
accomplished with proper leadership at the local level, saying that test scores
for minority students in Texas have risen in recent years. The Gore campaign
immediately disputed the claim, but it did not stop Bush from accomplishing his
mission of yesterday morning: discussing, without distraction, an issue he has
made central to his campaign.
"Across this country entrepreneurs and
small businesses are creating jobs in record numbers," Bush told a select crowd
gathered in Bethany Elementary School in Beaverton, a suburb of Portland. "And
yet there are some warning signs."
"The most significant warning sign is
the achievement gap in our public schools between rich and poor, Anglo and
minority," he said. "There is an education recession in America that threatens
our future."
The federal government provides about 7 percent of all
public school funding.
Bush's new "education recession"
catch phrase, imprinted on glossy new pamphlets distributed at his campaign
stop, is one the Republican nominee plans to repeat in the Democratic stronghold
of California today and tomorrow, and again as he moves into Midwestern swing
states later in the week.
He is scheduled to travel to a total of five
states this week, taking some time off on Wednesday in Austin, Texas, to
practice for next week's presidential debate in Boston. Bush is also planning to
hold another mock debate this weekend, with Senator Judd Gregg, Republican of
New Hampshire, playing the part of Gore.
Yesterday, though, the focus
appeared to be on simply getting out a consistent message, continuing his
recovery from slipping poll numbers and verbal gaffes. Although he met with a
local newspaper editorial board in Oregon, Bush continued a new policy of
selective silence with the media, declining to hold an open news conference with
reporters.
The centerpiece of the Bush education plan is accountability
- a requirement he says the Clinton administration has ignored.
Bush's
proposal, which would cost $47.6 billion over 10 years, would
require schools that receive federal funding for poor students to administer
state-determined tests to see whether they are improving each year. If schools
don't improve after three years, the federal funding would be redirected to
parents, who could spend it on sending their children to private schools.
But parents would receive a voucher worth only about
$1,500 - thousands less than the cost of most private schools.
A Bush education adviser, B. Alexander Kress, conceded the federal money would
not fully cover the cost of sending a child to private school. Instead, the Bush
proposal is designed primarily to send a warning to failing urban schools:
Either improve, or risk losing federal funds.
Other key elements of the
Bush plan include creating more charter schools, increasing federal funding on
teachers, and moving Head Start, the federally funded program for health and
social services, into the Department of Education. Bush would not carry out the
Clinton plan to hire 100,000 new teachers to reduce class sizes, instead leaving
that to each state.
Gore has outlined a $115 billion,
10-year plan to continue the existing Clinton education agenda, as well as
increase teacher salaries and benefits. At the center of the vice president's
plan is a $50 billion proposal to make sure every 4-year-old
has access to preschool.
Gore aides pounced on the Bush proposal, saying
that, despite its relatively small size, the Texas governor had no mechanism to
pay for it and still offer his $1.3 trillion tax cut. The
Democrats also quarreled with Bush's account of his success in Texas.
"You don't need to look beyond the borders of Texas to see the governor
has failed when it comes to education," Gore spokesman Chris Lehane said.
GRAPHIC: PHOTO, George W. Bush with students yesterday
at Bethany Elementary School in Beaverton, Ore. / AFP PHOTO
LOAD-DATE: September 26, 2000