Battle to Be Education Champ
As election day nears, Republicans make headway in convincing voters of the merits of their classroom agenda.
Linda Feldmann
Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
csmonitor.com
Republicans have changed the way they talk
about education - and, on the eve of crucial
midterm elections, voters have listened.
No longer are Republicans talking about shutting down the US
Department of Education or bashing the teachers unions. Instead, the
message is better teachers, local control, and smaller class size.
Polling results have been dramatic. Two years ago, Republicans
trailed Democrats by 30 points among voters who were asked which
party could be trusted to handle education. That gap is now down to
about 10 points, according to a team of Republican and Democratic
pollsters.
In an election where education is the No. 1 issue, these results signal
an important victory for the GOP as it tries to expand its grip on
Congress and build on its already-substantial lead in governorships.
(Related story, Page 3.)
"We finally got our candidates not talking about 'Let's close the
Department of Education' as the first thing out of their mouths," says
GOP pollster Ed Goeas. "The message that sends to voters is, 'I
don't care about education,' and they didn't hear anything after that."
Celinda Lake, a Democratic pollster who sometimes conducts
surveys with Mr. Goeas, notes that education remains a powerful
issue for her party - especially for the women voters whom
Democrats are eager to keep in their camp.
But Ms. Lake calls the Republicans "brilliant" in their handling of
President Clinton's initiative to put money in the budget for 100,000
new teachers. Instead of fighting the plan as an attempt to federalize
education - anathema to GOP ideology - the Republicans went along
with it and made sure the program was under local control. Now,
GOP congressional candidates across the country are touting the
100,000 new teachers as a signal achievement of the 105th
Congress.
In a way, the prominence of the education issue is a sign of the
luxurious times in which America is living - a time when Americans
feel unusually good about the direction the country is going in, when
concerns over the world economy haven't quite broken to the
surface, and the nation is at peace.
TOPIC FOR TODAY, EDUCATION:
Prospective voters (and young
voters-in-training) heard from
Republican Rep. Steve Chabot of
Ohio, a candidate for reelection, at a
recent meeting in St. Bernard, the
congressman's home district.
(ANDY NELSON - STAFF)
Classrooms and hordes of smiling schoolchildren provide a ready
tableau for campaign ads for candidates at all levels of government.
At times, it looks as if Campaign '98 is one giant school-board race.
In Texas, the mantra of Gov. George W. Bush (R) - a possible
presidential hopeful - is that "no goal is more important than making
sure all Texas schoolchildren are able to read."
In California, when Sen. Barbara Boxer (D) went on the air with the
first television ads of her reelection bid, the message was tough new
graduation standards for high-schoolers and after-school programs to
keep kids out of trouble.
For her Republican opponent, state Treasurer Matt Fong, the
solution is greater parental choice of schools and a voucher program
to allow the lowest performing children to attend the schools of their
choice, either public or private.
Gary Huggins, a school-choice advocate, says the sea change in
Republicans' fortunes isn't just a better message - it's that the public
has become more receptive to the reform ideas that Republicans have
long championed.
"Everybody's for charter schools now, but initially they suffered from
the same charges that vouchers do now - that they will siphon money
from the public system, or that they will be havens for the elite child,"
says Mr. Huggins, executive director of the nonprofit Education
Leaders Council.
The teachers unions, stung by the harsh criticism leveled at them by
Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole in 1996, have also
jumped on the school-reform bandwagon. And in this election cycle,
the National Education Association (NEA) political-action committee
is backing 18 Republican candidates, compared with only one in
1996.
Mary Elizabeth Teasley, the NEA's chief lobbyist, says that's simply
because there are more pro-education Republicans now than in the
past. The NEAPAC bases its recommendations on how members
vote in Congress.
Some education analysts agree that Republicans have become less
confrontational with Democrats over what to do about the nation's
education crisis - but to the detriment of true reform.
'The Republicans are
bungling the issue by
becoming
Clintonites.'
- Chester Finn,
education expert
Chester Finn, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute in Washington,
argues that in going along with the 100,000 new teachers, and other
education policies, "the Republicans are bungling the issue by
becoming Clintonites."
Mr. Finn opposes the 100,000 new teachers strategy because there
aren't enough qualified people available for the jobs.
"Clinton is an exquisite reader of polls and focus groups, and he
figured out that people have an instinctive belief that more teachers
and smaller classes mean better education," says Mr. Finn. "Ninety-five percent of the evidence ... suggests that people are just
wrong about this."
Finn and other conservative education experts fault the Republicans
for not fighting harder for their own ideas - such as the plan to allow tax-free educational savings accounts for parents to use for school expenses.
They call it the "school-lunch syndrome." A few years back, when
Republicans were tagged as favoring cuts in the federal school-lunch
program, their image took a big hit.
Now, observers say, many Republican lawmakers are squeamish
about voting against a popular measure with the word "school"
attached to it. |
