WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Republicans Saturday called education a priority in the 2000 presidential election and backed the use of federal funds to pay for tutoring or private schools if a public school had lagging test scores.

Speaking for the party during its weekly Republican radio address, Montana Gov. Marc Racicot said the Republican governors of 31 states were forging ahead with innovative programs to improve U.S. education, such as increasing a school's accountability for the performance of its students.

"We have to produce better graduates for the coming demands of a new millennium -- where the jobs and economy of America's future depend on them," Racicot said in a text of his remarks, which was released in Washington.

"If a school fails to improve test scores for disadvantaged students, parents should have the flexibility to apply federal funding for their children toward tutoring, a charter school, or private school," Racicot said.

Republicans want to establish a "zero-tolerance" policy permitting teachers to remove disruptive students; allow students in persistently failing schools to transfer to better schools and beef up enforcement of juvenile gun laws to keep guns out of schools.

They also wanted to increase character education funding for states and local school districts, Racicot said.

Schools should have more flexibility to use federal education dollars and create more choices for parents by establishing school-by-school report cards, expanding education savings accounts, and allowing creation of charter schools nationwide, he said in the response to President Clinton's weekly radio address.

White House and congressional budget negotiators last month struck an agreement on funding Clinton's $1 billion effort to hire 100,000 new teachers, with Republicans insisting that school districts should have final say on how the money is used.

Racicot singled out programs implemented by governors in Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Michigan, Arkansas, Connecticut, Idaho and Texas as helping to improve public education, increase literacy rates and create more charter schools, innovative public schools generally created by community activist groups.

Racicot also serves as chairman of Jobs for America's Graduates, which provides education and training for 55,000 of the most at-risk students in 900 schools throughout 28 states.

Republicans want alternate use of education funds

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Saturday, December 11, 1999