THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 23, 1996 TAG: 9610230468
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SERIES: DECISION '96
CHOOSING A PRESIDENT
Part 4 in an eight-part series on the issues underlying the words in
the presidential campaign.
SOURCE: BY JOHN MOONEY, THE BERGEN RECORD
LENGTH: 124 lines
Part 4 in an eight-part series on the issues underlying the words in the presidential campaign.Listening to the presidential campaign, the reach from the White House to the schoolhouse would appear a short one.
Schools have become a central issue in this year's run for the presidency. President Clinton and Bob Dole have both vowed to reform public education as we know it.
Their approaches differ. Clinton combines his status as a ``New Democrat'' with more traditional activist roles, pressing for funding of classroom technology and innovative programs but also backing school uniforms and higher standards for students and teachers.
Dole, true to his conservative label on education, supports private-school vouchers as a solution to the woes of public schools and opposes teacher unions as a roadblock to reform.
No matter who is elected, the White House is not expected to bring about big changes in public schools during the next four years. When the chalk hits the blackboard in the nation's thousands of public schools, the federal government plays a support role, at best.
Washington provides just 6 percent of the overall education spending in the country, mostly to urban districts. School practices and policies are largely left to the state and local levels.
``One of the difficulties with any national movement is it's hard to get it to make much of a difference in the classroom,'' said Chris Pipho of the Education Commission of the States, a Denver-based policy clearinghouse. ``It's just a slow, slow process.''
Still, it's no wonder that candidates focus on the issue. An NBC/Wall Street Journal poll last month found that education is second only to the economy as the most important issue to voters in the coming election.
``The candidates talk more than they can do,'' said John Jennings, director of the Center on National Education Policy in Washington. ``But they do reflect a national tenor out there.''
That tenor is most apparent in the issue of school choice - one that Dole, particularly, has seized upon.
The former Senate majority leader has proposed a pilot school voucher program of $2.5 billion. The matching aid to states would provide what he calls ``opportunity scholarships'' of up to $1,500 for low- and middle-income students to attend the school of their choice, private or public. In a twist on more typical voucher proposals, Dole's plan could provide a cash infusion to public as well as private schools.
``You ought to have the same choice that Vice President Gore has or President Clinton has,'' Dole said at a Louisiana rally last month. ``You ought to be able to send your child to the school of your choice.''
Voters in 18 states so far have shot down referendums on voucher proposals. A recent Gallup Poll found 61 percent of respondents opposed to using public funds for private schools.
In Virginia, the issue has been discussed, but legislation has yet to get past a committee in the General Assembly, much less rise to a vote by lawmakers or the public. Gov. George F. Allen has preferred to push for charter schools - independently run schools within existing public school systems.
Dole's prominence could make the voucher option more palatable. ``It gives more legitimacy to that issue,'' Jennings said. ``It may not turn the tide, but it might give some people more reason to think it is the way to go.''
Reform Party candidate Ross Perot hasn't paid much attention to education in his campaign, but he does support experimenting with vouchers and, in general, more local control of schooling.
``If I could wish for one thing for all the children in the disadvantaged community, it would be tiny little neighborhood schools that their parents could be involved in, where learning is stressed,'' Perot said.
Clinton is against private-school vouchers of any kind. The president has instead pressed for more school choice within the public system, allowing parents to choose among the public schools in their towns - or even in their states.
He also supports creation of ``charter schools,'' which operate within the public system but are run by teachers, parents, or private groups and are freed from many of the bureaucratic constraints faced by other public schools.
``It's like most of these issues that national politicians pick up on,'' said Pipho, of the Education Commission of the States. ``It's just more fingers on the pulse of what states are already doing.''
But where national politicians have more direct impact is the $23 billion that Washington distributes to schools every year.
Although that's only a small fraction of total education spending in the country, the federal money is acutely felt in urban districts. The largest federal education expense is Title I funding for remedial programs, which totals nearly $7 billion. The federal government provides $200 million more in aid for bilingual education.
Virginia school districts this school year are receiving about $96.5 million in Title I money. All local cities receive such funds, and Norfolk, Portsmouth and Suffolk also receive additional ``concentration grants'' because of their higher proportions of disadvantaged children.
Norfolk receives the most locally - about $7.6 million - followed by Portsmouth, $3.8 million, and Virginia Beach, $3.3 million. Chesapeake gets $2.5 million and Suffolk, $1.8 million.
The two main rivals for the White House have differed on federal support for education. Clinton has advocated expanding these programs, as well as the national Head Start program and his Goals 2000 grants for innovative schooling.
Dole is clearly lukewarm to federal funding of education and proposes to abolish the Department of Education and transfer its roles to the states. Although he has not yet said where he would make cuts in federal aid to pay for the cornerstone of his campaign - a 15 percent across-the-board tax cut - critics predict that education funding would be one casualty.
On the issue of funding for higher education, where Washington has its biggest role, the line between the two candidates is more blurred. About 12 percent of college spending is federally funded, and Washington provides an additional 75 percent of all student aid. But the contrast between Clinton and Dole on that aid is largely in degree, with Clinton more generous.
Both candidates support tax breaks for tuition-paying families. Clinton has offered the choice of a $1,500 tax credit for the first two years of college, as long as the student maintains a B average, or a $10,000-a-year tax deduction for tuition costs.
``I want us in the next four years to make at least two years of community college education as universal for every American . . . as a high school education is today,'' Clinton said at a recent rally in St. Louis.
Dole supports reinstating the tax deductibility of college loan interest, and would remove the penalties for withdrawals from Individual Retirement Accounts if the money goes toward education costs. MEMO: Staff writer Matthew Bowers contributed to this story.
Coming Thursday: Defense issues.
KEYWORDS: EDUCATION PRESIDENTIAL RACE U.S.
CANDIDATES ISSUES by CNB