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wire.ap.org
OCTOBER 05, 13:44 EDT
Bush Aims To Change Local Education
By GLEN JOHNSON
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush today criticized his own party's record on social issues, as he proposed mandatory state testing of students to ensure that schools are performing up to standard.
Expanding on his education agenda, Bush tied federal education money to student testing. He proposed requiring all states to develop and administer annual tests for students in grades three to eight. He also would require the states to participate in the National Assessment of Educational Progress, which tests a random sampling of students every two to four years.
Republicans have long been critical of any expanded federal role in education, particularly mandatory testing.
Speaking to the Manhattan Institute, a conservative thinktank, Bush noted that ''education reform is gaining a critical mass of results. In the process, conservatism has become the creed of hope, the creed of aggressive, persistent reform, the creed of social progress.''
He said that was a change for the GOP.
''Too often on social issues my party has painted an image of America slouching toward Gomorrah. ... Too often my party has focused on the national economy to the exclusion of all else. ... Too often my party has confused the need for limited government with the disdain for government itself,'' he said.
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