Hoping an eighth visit would put Ohio firmly in his corner, President Clinton focused on education Tuesday with suggestions on how parents can compare schools and choose the best for their children.
During a rally at Ohio State University, Clinton offered a short list of proposals, including "school-by-school report cards" to help parents determine where to enroll their children."The only way to get excellence in education for everyone is to define it, expect it, measure it," Clinton said. "Our ability to give every young person in this country the capacity to live up to his or her God-given ability . . . is central to America's ability to maintain its world leadership."
The president was heckled by a small but raucous group of students who jostled posters with Clinton supporters seated nearby.
Waving Dole-Kemp posters, the group chanted, "Tell the truth! Tell the truth!" and "Dole-Kemp! Dole-Kemp!"
"Stop lying to the American public!" a heckler shouted. A college-age man seated beside him shouted back, "Shut up!" and a woman yelled out, "You're a liar!"
Clinton sought to dismiss the protesters. "I'll bet you they won't be doing that a week from today," he said. The group quieted down after security guards stood around them and stayed there for the rest of Clinton's speech.
Education is one of four issues the president is emphasizing in these last days of the campaign. Over the past two days, the president has highlighted his earlier pledges on education, such as a tax credit to pay for two years of community college and a massive volunteer effort to help all 8-year-olds read by themselves.
Before traveling to Columbus, he told a lively rally in downtown Chicago that education is a vital part of his 21st century agenda.
"We want to see all of our children learning in our schools. We want to see every 12-year-old able to hook up to the Internet," Clinton said. "And we want to see every 18-year-old in America able to go to college. If you give us a chance that's what we'll do."
Clinton campaign spokeswoman Ann Lewis said the president intends to make education a high priority in a second term. "He feels he has seen, in his own life, the difference education can make," she said.
Clinton said he wants states to measure the performance of each school and make the information available through the Internet so parents can use it as a guide.
Clinton also recommended that states take over schools that persistently fail to meet standards and convert them into charter schools.