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Gore Goes To School In Texas

Vice President Al Gore took his call for "revolutionary" education reform to the home state of his Republican rival Friday in hopes of outshining Texas Gov. George W. Bush on an issue widely viewed as paramount to the 2000 presidential race.

The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee arrived in Texas on a four-day, six-city campaign trip during which he has attacked Bush on the economy, health care, education and the environment, while casting himself as the proven national leader best suited to the task of preserving American prosperity.

"The quality of our public schools is perhaps the greatest test of our responsibility to the next generation," Gore said."My differences with George W. Bush on this issue are not personal. But when it comes to education reform, I have serious questions about his plans, about his resolve and his record here in the state of Texas."

With six months still to go before the November election and opinion polls showing Bush edging ahead of Gore, the vice president has turned to education as a vehicle geared to reach undecided voters by appealing to families.

He chose a speech to the Conference of Black Mayors as his means for laying out details of a plan that aims to turn around 100 failing public schools in part by threatening to withhold federal funds from states and school districts that fail to meet education performance targets.

"It's the same ploy George Bush Sr. used against Michael Dukakis in 1988," said University of Pittsburgh political science professor Bert Rockman. "I'm going to your state to show what a miserable record it's produced. And Texas has a pretty miserable record on education."

Both candidates have made education a top priority. But despite starkly divergent strategies for reform, public opinion remains divided about which candidate would be best for the job.

Bush, son of the former president, has sought to cast himself as the education candidate by touting improvements in the Texas educational system since he became governor in 1995.

He has proposed a $13.4 billion education reform plan, which favors passing authority back to state and local jurisdictions and supports private education.

Gore, who dismisses the Republican plan as empty rhetoric, has proposed a $115 billion multi-faceted plan to reform public schools by raising school accountability, reducing class sizes and giving parents greater choice in deciding which public schools their children attend.

On Friday, the vice president's camp also criticized Texas as a state where pre-school enrollment is 28 percent below the national average and which ranks 41st in standards of teacher quality.

"Investment without accountability is a waste of money," Gore said. "Accountability without investment is doomed to fail. And public school choice and competition are essential if we want to push our schools to thhighest possible levels of excellent education."

The Bush camp said Gore was taking a page from its plan.

"We're not going to question a convert on the day of his conversion, but we're glad Al Gore now agrees with Gov. Bush's proposal to hold schools accountable for results," said spokesman Dan Bartlett.

Gore spokesman Chris Lehane denied that the vice president's plan was a response to his presidential opponent.

"A good campaign continues to expand on good ideas,'' Lehane said.

He noted that Gore had already proposed some accountability measures, but Friday's announcement went further.

Under Gore's five-point plan, failing public schools would have a year to turn themselves around or face an overhaul by state or local school district officials. In cases where improvements did not materialize after two years, bad schools would be closed and reopened under new principals, possibly as charter schools.

Gore also would allow students at failing schools the chance to transfer to better performing public schools in the same district, while providing after-school assistance from a $500 million accountability fund for those who remain behind.

The vice president's plan calls for financial incentives for school officials, plus intensive teacher training and the removal of bad teachers, in hopes of turning around the poorest performing school districts, tripling the number of charter schools and reducing the national dropout rate.

Analysts said it was not certain how successful Gore would be in using education reform to attract votes, saying the average voter was not likely to be able to distinguish between the Gore and Bush proposals.

"It's a created issue. The candidates and the press talk about education, so it seems important," said Rockman. "But the vice president is better off talking about the economy."

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