Candidates’ Flawed Policies, Plans

* Linda DiVall (“Bush Must Stay on Message,” Opinion, Aug. 27) correctly assesses Al Gore’s dilemma. To appease a restless base, Gore had to energize the public-sector-dominated unions and other big-government beneficiaries. Gore’s convention speech ceded the middle to George W. Bush by advocating a more powerful government to uplift those on the bottom. But President Clinton said that “the era of big government is over” to a standing ovation of Congress. So it seems that Gore is really running against Clinton’s policies, not Bush’s.

Bush has been given a great opportunity to clearly define the differences in this race. He could point out that Gore does not want to give seniors and young people the same freedom to choose health and retirement benefit plans that federal employees have. Maybe the governor could remind the voters that it was Gore who was in charge of Western loans to Russia, most of them going into the pockets of oligarchs, thereby costing American taxpayers billions. The people can’t afford Gore controlling our surplus tax dollars to benefit his big-government supporters.

JIM SEAL

Santa Monica

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Re “Gore and Bush Prescribe Differing Education Cures,” Aug. 27:

Both Gore’s and Bush’s plans to improve “failed” schools are based on a fallacy. The fallacy is that schools with high average student scores on standard tests are “successes,” and schools with low average student scores are “failures.”

The most reliable predictors of scores on tests are English skills and family affluence. Schools with relatively more students from non-English-speaking homes and nonaffluent homes will predictably have relatively lower scores. These schools haven’t failed; the teachers and students just have a much harder job to do.

Bush’s plan is especially misguided in that he wants to give $1,500 vouchers to parents with children in “failed” schools to spend at “better” schools. Since that amount alone is not enough to pay for a private school, only the parents who are the least impoverished will be able to take advantage of it. So this plan will drain off the few students who need it the least, while probably leaving the “failed” school with yet lower test scores.

Poverty and poor English skills are tough problems for this society. But they must be faced, not papered over by get-tough politicians.

JERRY BRADLEY

Santa Barbara