His basic approach resembles that of former president Lyndon Johnson, except Gore's plan is guided by research on educational quality and is less tightly focused on the poor. Gore would take the unprecedented step of using federal money to raise the salaries of some teachers. Bush is inclined to send money and allow states or school districts to decide how to spend it, similar to the way state governments dole out general school aid. Texas has provided models for Bush's proposals for a new reading program, mandatory testing in certain grades and the expansion of charter schools. Dan Thomas, a political scientist at Wartburg College in Iowa, suggests education may have joined patriotism, crime and the economy as issues that appeal but don't divide.
Nobody is against education.
Gore has vowed never to support government vouchers for private school tuition. That disagreement follows typical party lines, but a few differences in the two education plans do not. Bush's ideas for helping families pay for college, for instance, are more geared to low-income students than Gore's. That is not the only role reversal. While congressional Republicans have come to favor disabled students in writing education budgets, Bush has allocated no additional funds for special education in his spending plan.