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Politics : Don't Blame Me, I Voted For Kerry -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: lorne who wrote (24139)	5/20/2004 3:06:07 PM
From: American Spirit	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 81568

Kerry: Bush 'Willful' in Breaking Education Vow By Patricia Wilson PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Democratic challenger John Kerry (news - web sites) on Thursday accused President Bush (news - web sites) of willfully breaking his promise on education so he could give tax cuts to the richest Americans. The senator from Massachusetts, who voted for Bush's sweeping reform of the public school system but has since criticized it as poorly implemented and underfunded, asked students at Edison High School: "Why do people who earn more than $200,000 a year get another tax cut?" Prodding Bush on one of the president's own signature domestic issues, Kerry said the provisions of the No Child Left Behind education legislation had been shortchanged by $26 billion. "Now, everybody in America would forgive you if you fall short because you're trying the hardest you can and you just can't quite get there," he said. "But I don't think people should forgive a willful turning away from a promise ... and the president has chosen to give a tax cut to the wealthiest Americans." Kerry announced a plan to get 1.5 million more people enrolled in college by 2009 by expanding programs to get at-risk youth ready for higher education, simplifying student aid applications and offering a tuition tax credit at the start of the school year. BATTLEGROUND STATE He campaigned in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, which Democrat Al Gore (news - web sites) won in 2000, before returning to Washington for a Senate vote on the federal budget. Tony Podesta, who heads Kerry's campaign in Pennsylvania, said the presumptive Democratic nominee would not take the state for granted. "Bush has been here 27 times," Podesta said. "They're trying to take the state away. They're working hard here." Kerry proposed to expand GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) to encourage 2 million more high school students to plan for college. After hearing from four children who said they would not be headed for higher education if it weren't for GEAR UP, Kerry told teachers and parents: "This is where the rubber hits the road, folks. This is reality right here." The Bush administration had first tried to eliminate the program and then worked to cut it by $70 million, he said. City officials said GEAR UP was in eight Philadelphia schools but 20 others did not have the resources to implement it. "It's inconsistent and misleading to say to Americans leave no child behind and then consciously make choices to cut programs like this or starve them so they can't do their full jobs," Kerry said.