Word: reformer
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...recent weeks, world events have pushed the presidential campaigns out of the immediate public spotlight. Violence has resurfaced in the Middle East, and democratic reform seems promising in Yugoslavia. Environmental and health concerns have prompted the call for a multi-national response. Fueled by technologies that know no political borders, the economies of nations have become ever more intertwined...
Both candidates' tax plans have focused concern on middle-class and wealthy Americans rather than the poor, and neither plan contains an adequate proposal for general reform. But whereas Bush's plan shamelessly benefits the very wealthy, Gore's proposal supports a number of admirable programs. Gore has proposed to expand the Earned Income Tax Credit, a program that rewards the working poor and softens the blow of welfare reform. Furthermore, the Gore's plan won't blow a hole in the budget; the Bush plan would cause deficits even if the budget surpluses materializes as expected. Still, neither plan...
...Bush would tell failing schools that enough is enough: If you can't do the job, we'll give your federal dollars to parents to help them send their kids to a better school. A President Gore would keep trying: bring in a team of specialists, pump money into reform, and if all else fails, shut the place down and start over with a new principal and new teachers...
...second half of Gore's plan, reconstitution, has been called the neutron bomb of school reform, and most states, including North Carolina, have been too skittish to try it. The only real success stories have come in New York City, which has "redesigned" about 65 schools in the past five years. One example: three years ago, the Bronx's P.S. 3 ranked 672nd among New York City schools - fourth from the bottom. The city fired the principal, replaced two thirds of the teachers, extended the school day and switched from a touchy-feely "real life" curriculum to one emphasizing basic...
...These mixed results, however, are unlikely to quell the public demand for reform. No matter who wins, our new superintendent in chief will use that 7 percent of education dollars for as much leverage...