Kerry details broad goal of boosting achievement
ALBUQUERQUE -- John F. Kerry kicked off a three-day swing through western battleground states yesterday with a pledge to increase the number of high school graduates in the country over the next five years by a total of 1 million students.
The presumptive Democratic nominee, due to campaign across New Mexico, California, and Arizona this week, said he would do so by establishing a trust to fully fund the Bush administration's education overhaul program, enlist college students to mentor middle-schoolers, provide funding for local communities if they try to break larger schools into smaller ones, and pay administrative costs to support states that would withhold driver's licenses to dropouts.
All told, the program would cost $4.5 billion over 10 years. The money would be generated through Kerry's pledge to repeal recent tax cuts enacted for those making over $200,000 per year. Over five years, the number of high school dropouts would fall from about 1 million annually to about 800,000, a campaign aide said, producing 1 million more graduates. A high dropout rate is a major issue for Latinos, who make up 42 percent of New Mexico's population.
"There is no greater priority in this country than reversing this trend of dropouts," Kerry told parents and teachers at the Longfellow Elementary School, a "dual language" school that teaches students simultaneously in English and Spanish. "President Bush and his administration have had four years. Education reform was supposed to be the single biggest effort of this administration, and all over our nation, I am meeting teachers who are burdened, teachers reaching into their own pockets, paying money out of their own salaries, in order to put materials in front of their kids in school. That's unacceptable when you're giving tax cuts to the wealthiest people in America. Period."
Campaign aides to President Bush scoffed at the criticism, noting that Kerry voted for the No Child Left Behind Act, the education overhaul that Bush championed but Congress has not fully funded.
"John Kerry called No Child Left Behind 'groundbreaking legislation' when he voted for it, then changed his view when he needed the support of Democrat primary voters," said Representative John Boehner, an Ohio Republican who is chairman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
"Kerry's political attacks on the president's strong education record have no basis in reality," he said. "The president's budget represents a 48 percent increase for elementary and secondary education since 2001."
During his visit to New Mexico, Kerry was accompanied by Governor Bill Richardson, who is often mentioned as a possible running mate. The two met briefly on Kerry's campaign charter. Afterward, the governor said he was not interested in the vice presidential nomination although he refused to say whether he had spoken with anyone in Kerry's campaign about the post. He also chided a
"I am very happy as governor of New Mexico and plan on staying here, and that's all I want to say," Richardson told reporters during a news conference at the school.
Recently he told a local questioner, "There's a new one I am thinking of: 'I would not accept at gunpoint,' " offering a variation of William Tecumseh Sherman's "If nominated I will not accept" declaration in 1884.
During Richardson's appearance at the news conference, requested by the Kerry campaign, the politician, who is of Mexican descent, addressed recent criticisms from Hispanic groups that Kerry has not moved quickly enough either to hire Latino workers or reach out to Latino voters.
"The Democratic Party is not taking the Latino vote for granted, and Senator Kerry is making the right moves," said Richardson.
He cited the campaign's plans to increase Hispanic hiring and deal with other issues affecting Latinos, including support for home ownership and entrepreneurship.
"Latinos shouldn't be put in a box, and the worst way to get Latino votes is to try to just deal in very narrow, very focused Latino issues that previously were in other [election] campaigns but are not now," the governor said.
A school parent also encouraged Kerry to have a diverse government if he becomes president, to provide role models for young Hispanics.
"I will do what I have done in all my life in public life, which is make sure that we reach out," the senator said. "I've always tried to have hiring reflect the diversity of the United States of America, and I can promise you, if I'm president of the United States, my government -- the administration, my Cabinet, the government, my appointment, and all of our efforts -- will reflect the doors of opportunity and the full face of the United States of America."
Upon arriving at the Longfellow School, he read a class of kindergarteners a pair of books, including "Green Eggs and Ham" by Dr. Seuss. He also fielded provocative questions from students.
"What will you do to make sure airplanes don't fly into tall buildings?" asked one child, prompting Kerry to say that the country would find "the bad guys" first. Another student asked, "Can you make sure dogs don't get run over by cars?"
The question appeared to provoke an emotional response from Kerry, who replied, "That's a hard thing for a president to do, but I'll try."
Glen Johnson can be reached at johnson@globe.com.
