Kerry: Higher Pay For Teachers

Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry pledged Thursday to channel $30 billion over 10 years to improve teacher pay as well as raise teaching standards, including bonuses of up to $5,000 for those who teach math and science or work in high-need schools.

The program would tap a $200 billion education trust fund established with money from the repeal of President Bush's tax breaks for those earning more than $200,000 a year, the Kerry campaign said.

"It's time for a new bargain with America's teachers and children — I will offer teachers more, and I will ask for more in return," Kerry said in a statement. He was visiting a school as he concludes a three-day education tour.

The plan called for rigorous testing for new teachers and would require fast but fair procedures for improving or replacing teachers who perform poorly.

"While teachers deserve protection from arbitrary dismissal, no teacher deserves a lock on a job," the campaign said in a statement.

The plan also proposed establishing mentoring programs to link new teachers with experienced peers and using technology to set up teacher voicemail boxes and post homework assignments on the Web.

Kerry said he wanted to recruit or retain 500,000 teachers during his first term in the White House. He also said he would provide tuition assistance to college students who agree to teach in high-demand areas. Schools that boost student achievement or make other improvements would receive up to $500,000 under the plan.

"No more broken promises on funding. No more empty rhetoric on reform," Kerry said. "We're going to get this done right because we know that empty rhetoric leads to empty dreams — and we won't let that happen in our America."

Kerry has criticized Mr. Bush's education program, the No Child Left Behind Act, even though he voted for it in Congress and supports its goals. The Massachusetts senator contends the administration has failed to fund the program adequately, but the Bush campaign points to Kerry's criticism as an example of flip-flopping on issues.

Kerry is on the final leg of a three-day education tour that's taken him to Minnesota and New Mexico, as well as California.

On Wednesday, Kerry celebrated Cinco de Mayo at Los Angeles' Woodrow Wilson High School, where he criticized Mr. Bush's education policies, sprinkling his remarks with the Spanish that he's been learning on cassette tapes.

Mr. Bush "promised in the No Child Left Behind Act that billions of dollars would be coming to America. El rompio las promesas," Kerry said, then translated. "He broke his promises to America."

Kerry also honored the troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. "We pray that the next Cinco de Mayo, they will celebrate here in the streets of the United States of America," he said.

Kerry also addressed the scandal over abuse of Iraqi prisoners by some U.S. soldiers, saying the Bush administration's response has been "slow and inappropriate."

He told reporters the president has to show the world that the U.S. is willing to correct things that "don't live up to our values."

Kerry said the abuse has done a disservice to all the troops who serve with valor, courage and distinction.

Kerry spoke on the same day Mr. Bush told television stations broadcast to the Arab world that the treatment of Iraqi prisoners was "abhorrent."