Presidential pedagogy

National | Bush, Gore spend more, but in different areas | Bob Jones

You can tell it's back-to-school time. Wal-Mart is advertising jeans, Kmart is advertising notebooks, and George W. Bush is advertising charter schools.

In one of the biggest ad buys this campaign season, the Republican nominee took to the airwaves in 21 states beginning Aug. 21 with commercials touting his education plan. Using footage from the Republican convention, the Bush ads highlight the candidate's promise to "teach all our children to read and renew the promise of America's public schools."

Before the ads even hit the air, the Gore campaign fired back with lengthy press releases that questioned GOP education proposals and highlighted the vice president's own promises. "Bush's ad is designed to cover up the fact that Bush does nearly nothing to improve public schools or help families pay for college," said Gore spokesman Douglas Hattaway. "Al Gore has real plans to improve education from preschool through college."