ILWAUKEE - Governor George W. Bush of Texas kept education at the forefront of the presidential campaign yesterday, laying out a $2.9 billion plan to recruit teachers, improve training, and enforce discipline in classrooms.
The initiative brings the total cost of the presumptive Republican nominee's proposals to $13.4 billion, while his Democratic opponent Vice President Al Gore has offered a $115 billion federal government investment weighted toward building schools, modernizing old ones, and reducing class sizes.
Bush, who has made education his chief domestic priority in his campaign, favors passing authority back to state and local jurisdictions and he defended the disparity in spending.
''I'm not competing on money,'' Bush said. ''There's no way I can possibly outspend Al Gore on any program, any place, any time in government. His motto is vote for me, I'll spend more money.''
Bush told reporters there needed to be ''a mind-set change'' in Washington.
''Our motto is we've got a vision to make sure children learn. It's a vision based upon high standards, local control of schools, and strong accountability measures,'' he said.
Bush's five-year ''Strong Teachers, Strong Schools'' plan would build in part on a proposal by former rival John McCain, whom he defeated in a bitter primary battle for the Republican presidential nomination.
It expands the Troops to Teachers program to train military retirees who have appropriate technological and scientific skills from $2.4 million annually to $300 million. Bush aides said this would result in recruitment of an additional 6,000 teachers a year.
Bush would also expand funds for teacher training and recruitment in general, adding $400 million to the current annual outlay of $2 billion; shield teachers from meritless lawsuits; provide them with a $400 tax deduction to cover out-of-pocket expenses, and enact zero tolerance on disruptive behavior.
''Education reform is empty if it does not take account of the needs of educators,'' Bush said at a forum at Fritsche Middle School in Milwaukee. ''Teachers are not the object of education reform, they are the engine of education reform.''
Gore has dismissed Bush's calls for education overhaul as empty rhetoric and warned that the Texas governor's proposed $483 billion tax cut would kill efforts to upgrade the country's schools.
