Bush Praises Private Aid in School Funding

President Bush, en route to his home in Maine for a weekend with French President Francois Mitterrand, took a first-hand look at enterprising school programs in Upstate New York today and declared that government financial support for education “is not a be-all and end-all.”

Embarking on the 16th trip of his 4-month-old presidency, a pace that put him on the road for one-fourth of his first 100 days in office, Bush preached his message of partnership with private enterprise to build educational excellence while federal funds are tight.

Touring Wilson Magnet High School in a crime-ridden westside neighborhood of Rochester, Bush enthusiastically hailed the centerpiece of the local school district’s highly touted reform program.

“I think that if this visit does nothing else but to encourage others to use this model to achieve excellence, it will have been well worth it,” Bush told cheering students with the pledge to take that message “all the way to the West Coast and up to Alaska.”

Teachers in the district have a contract paying them as much as $70,000 a year in exchange for taking more responsibility for student performance.

In remarks later at an Eastman Kodak factory where he was accompanied by Democratic New York Gov. Mario M. Cuomo, Bush vowed, “As President, I intend to spur the partnerships which nurture that productivity.”

The Kodak plant in suburban Gates, where most Kodak cameras and copiers are made, involves another of the area’s educational opportunities, a “brainpower” program that helps prepare high school students for jobs.

Bush acknowledged to the community leaders gathered at the high-tech plant, “No, our program is not a be-all and end-all. We’re living in times of complicated resource allocation. But it is a commitment, a commitment to help business and academia make America much more productive.”