When President Clinton and Vice President Gore turned up in Concord four years ago to help string computer cable at Ygnacio Valley High School, they also helped foster a burgeoning political myth. Yet the memory of NetDay '96 lingers. Indeed, this year Gore and his Republican challenger for president, Texas Gov. George W. Bush, have made education a top campaign issue. Voters, meanwhile, have come to expect answers from the candidates.
Education is the political paradox of the presidential campaign.
The federal government provides just 7 percent of operating funds for elementary and secondary public schools. Yet public appetite for improvement and candidates' pursuit of swing voters have moved a predominantly state and local issue to the top of the national agenda. I want to hear their opinions of what teachers should be getting paid and what they're going to do for the teachers. They are less likely to say that education in the state has improved in the past few years and more likely to say it has gotten worse. Her two sons now attend the same high school Clinton and Gore helped wire.