Al And Joe Go Back To School
Al Gore and Joe Lieberman let their limos trail behind as they boarded bright yellow school buses to persuade voters their $170 billion education package tops presidential rival George W. Bush's ideas for schools.
Seeking to underscore the breadth of their plan, the Democratic running mates motored across southern Ohio in cramped buses, holding town meetings on the road and stopping at three schools.
“Both Governor Bush and I have an emphasis on new accountability and local control. The difference is my plan will start with accountability, but doesn't end there,” Gore said during a noisy tour of a Middletown high school Tuesday, punctuated by cheers and shrieks from students.
Later, on the highway around them, traffic snarled as the Democratic duo rumbled along.
“Is that a happy or unhappy one?” Lieberman asked as horns blared. “There are some happy people out there. Those thumbs are up.”
The two candidates brought aboard student reporters, teachers and parents who quizzed them on topics including school immunizations, special education and school counselors.
“If you're in a class with 25 or 30 others it's easier to goof off, isn't it?” Gore asked one student.
Shawn Thomas, 28, a Middletown teacher, asked Lieberman about family values.
“Schools have been a traditional source of values in our country,” Lieberman said.
“I really do think it comes down to the parents,” Thomas said.
Bush aides responded to Gore and Lieberman's latest campaign stunt by referring voters to Bush's success with education in Texas and hammering traditional anti-big government GOP themes.
“If Al Gore's school bus is like his education proposal, it will have four flat tires,” said Bush spokesman Dan Bartlett. “Al Gore's education plan is more of the status quo, moving money and power to Washington.”
Bush also says he would make education a priority, and Gore strategists are worried about some polls showing him getting traction on an issue that traditionally works for Democrats.
At each of their meetings, Gore and Lieberman remarked in depth on their education proposals, which range from bolstering preschool to paying teachers more to making college tuition tax deductible.
At the same time, they focused on proposals designed to make teachers more accountable and to better measure school performance - steps designed to chart their independence from the powerful teachers' unions that have endorsed them and to ease inner-city parents' worries about schools that don't perform.
“What we're proposing is a comprehensive package that focuses on the classroom,” said Gore. “It's more than just putting in money, you have to have results. We want to make it a national priority.”
The linchpin of the Gore education poposal is a move to add 100,000 new teachers in classrooms around the country - a move he said is crucial to cutting class size. In addition, he argued that making college tuition tax deductible would open the doors of higher education to many more.
Bush has proposed spending $47 billion over 10 years on education, focusing on literacy and college scholarships and grants. He would also cut federal education money by 5 percent to states where performance lags. He wants more charter schools and more flexibility for states, and would let families save, tax-free, $5,000 per year per student for education expenses.
Bush favors vouchers to help poor parents whose children are in failing schools send them to private or other public schools; Gore says a voucher plan would hurt public schools.