Post by bot on Jun 3, 2004 0:25:42 GMT -5
Posted on Wed, May. 12, 2004
Bush, Kerry push domestic issues
www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/nation/8643847.htm?1c
The President touted the No Child Left Behind Act. Kerry emphasized his health-care plan.
By Deb Riechmann and Mike Glover
Associated Press
VAN BUREN, Ark. - President Bush yesterday defended the No Child Left Behind Act amid criticism that the administration has come up short in funding schools and that the education law's standards are too rigid.
Campaigning in Arkansas - a state he won narrowly in 2000 - Bush opened a three-day swing focused on his education policies. "I'm not changing my mind about high standards and accountability," he told voters.
"We're not going back to the days where kids just got moved through and they weren't sure whether or not they could read, and at the end of the system they said, 'Oops, they can't read,' " Bush said.
His education tour follows a similar swing by Democratic rival John Kerry, who voted for the 2002 education law but now criticizes the administration's budget spending and the way student progress is measured.
The No Child Left Behind Act requires states to chart adequate yearly progress. If schools do not improve enough, students must be allowed to transfer to a better-performing school within their districts, or the state might take control. Democrats contend that Bush is enforcing the law on the cheap.
At Butterfield High School, Bush told several hundred students, parents and teachers that no child should be trapped in a school that does not teach and that will not change.
"Under the new law, when we discover that children are falling behind - that are not meeting standards, those schools get extra help, extra money to make sure that people are brought up to the standards," Bush said. "Schools will have time to improve... . But at some point there has to be an end to mediocrity."
This was Bush's 10th visit to Arkansas, a toss-up state that offers six electoral votes. Today, in suburban Washington, Bush will speak about the importance of reading in early grades, and tomorrow he visits a high school in West Virginia, another election battleground.
Also today, Bush's campaign is starting a groundbreaking Internet ad blitz that features Laura Bush. The former librarian is promoting her husband's education policies in a commercial being placed on about three dozen Internet sites, many of which cater to Internet-savvy women who are watching less television.
Kerry, for his part, also focused on a domestic issue yesterday: health care. In Louisville, Ky., small-business leaders told the Massachusetts senator that soaring health-insurance costs were forcing them to take extraordinary steps to offer their workers any coverage.
Kerry said his health-care plan would offer serious help to small businesses, which he called the engine of the nation's economy. "It's not a plan drawn up on the back of an envelope for a campaign," he said.
Bruce Cohen, who owns a plumbing company, said his company health-insurance costs had soared by 75 percent over the last five years and forced him to put in place a $2,500 deductible.
"It's a huge item," Cohen said. "It is constantly going up."
Kerry held the round-table discussion at Louisville Stoneware, a company founded in 1815 that owner Anthony Urbaites said had been forced to cut 18 workers and spend $200,000 a year on health care.
Kerry called for giving small businesses tax credits of up to 50 percent to help them provide coverage for low- to moderate-income employees. He also proposed having the federal government help small businesses cover the costs of catastrophic medical care, which he said would save a family as much as $1,000 each year.
Later, at a luncheon that raised $750,000 for his campaign, Kerry argued for reshaping the economy Bush created.
"I believe we can do it in a fair and sensible way," he said.
Bush, Kerry push domestic issues
www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/nation/8643847.htm?1c
The President touted the No Child Left Behind Act. Kerry emphasized his health-care plan.
By Deb Riechmann and Mike Glover
Associated Press
VAN BUREN, Ark. - President Bush yesterday defended the No Child Left Behind Act amid criticism that the administration has come up short in funding schools and that the education law's standards are too rigid.
Campaigning in Arkansas - a state he won narrowly in 2000 - Bush opened a three-day swing focused on his education policies. "I'm not changing my mind about high standards and accountability," he told voters.
"We're not going back to the days where kids just got moved through and they weren't sure whether or not they could read, and at the end of the system they said, 'Oops, they can't read,' " Bush said.
His education tour follows a similar swing by Democratic rival John Kerry, who voted for the 2002 education law but now criticizes the administration's budget spending and the way student progress is measured.
The No Child Left Behind Act requires states to chart adequate yearly progress. If schools do not improve enough, students must be allowed to transfer to a better-performing school within their districts, or the state might take control. Democrats contend that Bush is enforcing the law on the cheap.
At Butterfield High School, Bush told several hundred students, parents and teachers that no child should be trapped in a school that does not teach and that will not change.
"Under the new law, when we discover that children are falling behind - that are not meeting standards, those schools get extra help, extra money to make sure that people are brought up to the standards," Bush said. "Schools will have time to improve... . But at some point there has to be an end to mediocrity."
This was Bush's 10th visit to Arkansas, a toss-up state that offers six electoral votes. Today, in suburban Washington, Bush will speak about the importance of reading in early grades, and tomorrow he visits a high school in West Virginia, another election battleground.
Also today, Bush's campaign is starting a groundbreaking Internet ad blitz that features Laura Bush. The former librarian is promoting her husband's education policies in a commercial being placed on about three dozen Internet sites, many of which cater to Internet-savvy women who are watching less television.
Kerry, for his part, also focused on a domestic issue yesterday: health care. In Louisville, Ky., small-business leaders told the Massachusetts senator that soaring health-insurance costs were forcing them to take extraordinary steps to offer their workers any coverage.
Kerry said his health-care plan would offer serious help to small businesses, which he called the engine of the nation's economy. "It's not a plan drawn up on the back of an envelope for a campaign," he said.
Bruce Cohen, who owns a plumbing company, said his company health-insurance costs had soared by 75 percent over the last five years and forced him to put in place a $2,500 deductible.
"It's a huge item," Cohen said. "It is constantly going up."
Kerry held the round-table discussion at Louisville Stoneware, a company founded in 1815 that owner Anthony Urbaites said had been forced to cut 18 workers and spend $200,000 a year on health care.
Kerry called for giving small businesses tax credits of up to 50 percent to help them provide coverage for low- to moderate-income employees. He also proposed having the federal government help small businesses cover the costs of catastrophic medical care, which he said would save a family as much as $1,000 each year.
Later, at a luncheon that raised $750,000 for his campaign, Kerry argued for reshaping the economy Bush created.
"I believe we can do it in a fair and sensible way," he said.