Date sent: Wed, 19 Feb 1997 16:15:13 -0600 (CST)
From: LindaP (Texas)
Subject: Clinton's agenda

Loop members [on bcc]:

9:12 PM 2/3/1997

Education leads Clinton agenda

Role of federal government still at issue in school debate

By NANCY MATHIS

Copyright 1997 Houston Chronicle Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON -- President Clinton appears prepared to use the most powerful apparatus of his office, the bully pulpit, to propel education to the forefront of the nation's political agenda.

Few issues are as vexing to politicians and policy-makers as how to improve the nation's public schools, and any marked improvement under Clinton's administration would likely contribute favorably to his legacy.

By word and deed, Clinton has moved quickly in recent weeks to try to capture the high ground in an area shown by public opinion surveys to be a top concern.

Last week during his first formal news conference in months, Clinton announced a budget proposal for education programs that would increase federal grants to schools trying to make improvements and to students seeking more college schooling. Clinton's plan would double the national support to higher education by 2002.

"All together, these proposals will move us much closer to our clear national goal: an America where every 8-year-old can read, where every 12-year-old can log onto the Internet, where every 18-year-old can go to college, where all Americans will have the knowledge they need to meet the challenges of the 21st century," the president said.

His first presidential trip of the second term was to the Chicago area to highlight the participation of students in an international math and science testing program. On Wednesday, he'll head to Georgia to highlight the HOPE Scholarship program that guarantees students access to two years of college.

Clinton's focus on education comes at a time of renewed interest in reform efforts. The newspaper Education Week and the Pew Charitable Trusts issued a state-by-state report card last month that said public schools remained "mired in mediocrity" despite a decade of reform attempts.

"One of two outcomes is almost inevitable. Our Democratic system and our economic strength -- both of which depend on an educated citizenry -- will be eroded; or alternative forms of education will emerge to replace public schools as we have known them," the report said.

President Bush was the first to proclaim himself the "education president" and his tenure produced, among other things, Goals 2000, the program providing grants to improve teacher and learning standards.

But efforts to establish national standards in core academic subjects met with furious objections from conservatives who oppose a deeper involvement by the federal government. Indeed, House Republicans pushed plans in 1995 to eliminate Goals 2000, reduce federal spending on education and abolish the Department of Education, though the effort failed.

Education became a vital issue for Clinton during the presidential campaign. He outlined literacy efforts, called for school uniforms, planned to hook all classrooms to the Internet and sought to ensure at least a community college education for everyone.

"I believe the 1996 election was a mandate in terms of education being not just a state and local responsibility but a national priority," said Mary Elizabeth Teasley, director of government relations for the National Education Association.

Teasley said the public believes education is a key to reversing civic decay and rising crime rates and to promoting economic vitality. "We came out of the election with elected officials at all levels and from both parties understanding that education had to be a top priority and at the national level."

Bella Rosenberg, an official with the American Federation of Teachers, said Clinton "can use the bully pulpit to stimulate more local districts to do the right thing, which is to adopt grade-by-grade standards in core academic subjects and to deal head-on with the issue of safety and order."

"The public is getting tired of people making excuses about why people aren't getting it done," said Chris Pipho, spokesman for the bipartisan Education Commission of the States.

Pipho said Clinton, a past commission chairman, was one of only three governors to raise a sales tax specifically for education.

Gary Bauer, head of the Family Research Council and a former Education Department official under President Reagan, questions how much impact Clinton can have. Reagan's Education Department produced the report, "A Nation At Risk," that spurred reform efforts 14 years ago.

"I suppose that by using the bully pulpit of the presidency it is possible to encourage local officials and parents and school boards to focus on various education problems. But at the end of the day, American education at the elementary and secondary level is a state and local responsibility. The odds are the more it becomes a federal responsibility, things will be worse," Bauer said.

Bauer, a leading conservative lobbyist, said if Clinton so supports testing he should overrule the teacher unions and test the quality of teachers as well. The issue of standards, he maintained, went beyond measurable objectives into subjective areas such as "attitudes of kids and what they believe in."

Rep. Gene Green, D-Houston, a member of the House Economic and Educational Opportunities Committee, said: "Frustration is a policy-maker. I don't want to write the curriculum in Washington, but we know the system's broken and we want to be a part of (fixing) it and that's what the president's saying. We know it's a national issue. Let's bring it to the forefront."