Clinton Blames GOP for School Failures

President Clinton accused Republicans of failing to fix crumbling schools or repair education. He appealed to voters to elect a Democratic Congress to do the job. But a Republican congressman running for a Senate seat responded that education can best be improved by “getting Washington out of our schools” and leaving education improvements to teachers and parents, not the federal government. Speaking just three days before the midterm elections that will decide Congress’ makeup, Clinton said education heads a long list of reasons to end the GOP’s four-year grip on the House. The president set the scene carefully, delivering his weekly radio address from a desk in one of nine classroom trailers parked outside the Glen Forest Elementary School. Clinton said the trailers symbolize what he called congressional Republicans’ refusal to approve the money he asked for this year to build or modernize 5,000 schools.