Bush Seeks to Shape Education Policies

After resigning as governor of Texas, President-elect George W. Bush turned his focus Thursday to one of his signature campaign issues as he began laying the groundwork for political compromise on federal education programs.

He met privately at midday with Republican and Democratic congressional members--most of them heavily involved with education legislation--and also met behind closed doors with representatives of Latino communities and organizations.

Amid the flurry of work to shape the new administration’s policy initiatives, Bush continued to flesh out his Cabinet and other top government posts. A likely nomination today, according to Republican sources, is Christine Todd Whitman, the GOP governor of New Jersey, to head the Environmental Protection Agency.

Bush was also said to be nearing a decision to name GOP Gov. Tommy G. Thompson of Wisconsin to be secretary of Health and Human Services. However, Gail Wilensky, a health expert from the administration of Bush’s father, was said to be still in the running for the job.

Meanwhile, the nomination of former Sen. Dan Coats, an Indiana Republican, as Defense secretary--which days ago seemed nearly certain--was being questioned in Washington, if for no other reason than the delay in the announcement.

And the name of Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach) was circulating as a possible director of the CIA.

The education meeting brought 19 members of Congress to Austin for lunch with Bush.

The president-elect pronounced the session “extraordinary.” Sen. James M. Jeffords (R-Vt.), chairman of the Senate committee that oversees education, called it “a monumental experience for all of us.”

Both seemed stirred by the fact that such a dialogue could take place, bringing together an incoming president and members of both parties.

Bush thanked his visitors for having spoken in a “forthright manner” and expressed optimism that they would be able to pass legislation that he said--using a phrase taken directly from his stump speech--will “make sure that no child is left behind.”

Neither he nor the other participants disclosed any details of what was considered. Bush said he wants legislation “that will empower local folks to make correct decisions for schools [and] that says with freedom comes the need for all of us to understand whether or not our children are learning to read and write and add and subtract.

“There is no better place to start . . . in showing America that our Congress and the president can cooperate for the best for the country than education.”

Jeffords said that the group is likely to try to put premier emphasis on Bush’s literacy program and that he and Bush agreed on the need to advance special education programs, “especially to try to make sure the federal government lives up to its obligations.”

Rep. George Miller (D-Martinez) said that most of the speakers at the lunch addressed the controversial voucher program, under which government funds would help pay private school tuition. But, he said, the discussion was more about Bush’s “passion that all children have an opportunity at first-class education.”

Bush, however, said, “People are going to find out that, when I’m sworn in as the president, I’ll be a realist. And if there are warning signs on the horizon, we need to pay attention to them.”

In the meeting with Latino leaders, several participants expressed support for Bush and invited him back to the communities he had visited during the campaign.

Meanwhile, speculation over who will fill vacant Cabinet slots continued.

Environmentalists signaled that they would protest if defeated Republican Sen. Slade Gorton of Washington is named secretary of the Interior.

Criticizing what he said was Gorton’s failure to protect the forests of the Northwest, Dan Becker, a legislative specialist at the Sierra Club, said that placing Gorton in charge of the Interior Department “would declare war on the environment.” But he spoke more favorably of Gorton’s work on behalf of mass transit and auto safety, areas of interest to a Transportation secretary.

The only personnel decision announced by the Bush transition office was that of Stephen Hadley, 53, an arms control expert and assistant secretary of Defense during the George Bush administration, who was named deputy national security advisor.

Cox’s name showed up in the mix for the CIA post in part because he has focused heavily on China issues in the House. He said through a spokeswoman that he has not been offered a job.

GOP aides said his scalding attacks on the Clinton administration could cause problems if his confirmation should come before a Senate that is divided 50-50. Cox oversaw congressional studies that faulted the administration’s China policy and the Russia policy that Vice President Al Gore directed.

There is strong competition for the CIA job.

Donald Rumsfeld is also said to be in the running. He is a former Defense secretary and close friend of Vice President-elect Dick Cheney. Recently he has immersed himself in intelligence matters as chairman of study panels on missile defense and space policy. Some Republicans are also pushing to leave George J. Tenet, the current CIA director, in place. He is a Democrat.

As for Coats, an official of one conservative advocacy group in Washington said he had been told Tuesday by Bush team officials that Coats was “99.9% sure.” On Wednesday, he was told, “in a cold tone, ‘Don’t be sure he’s got it,’ ” the official said.

The delay “doesn’t seem to bode well,” said Frank Gaffney, director of the Center for Security Policy, a conservative defense think tank.

Bush officials would not comment, but outsiders speculated that the delay could mean that other leading candidates have gained momentum as the Bush team has consulted Republican constituencies.

Paul Wolfowitz, a Pentagon policy expert in the last Bush administration, has been mentioned as a Pentagon candidate. But he also has been mentioned as a possible U.N. ambassador.

One Republican aide speculated that the Bush team could be having second thoughts about Coats in light of denunciations from women’s groups and gay advocacy organizations.

But a former Bush advisor said the delay may simply mean the Bush team is trying to sort out all the remaining national security jobs--Defense, CIA and United Nations--at one time.

Bush paid two visits Thursday to the Texas Capitol. One was to announce his official resignation as governor and the second to sign resignation papers in his vacated office and to attend the inauguration of his GOP successor, Rick Perry, who had been the lieutenant governor.

“I’ve cleaned out my office,” Bush said. “It’s ready for occupancy.”

To a Senate chamber packed with politicians and friends--many one and the same, judging from the applause and standing ovations he received--Bush said he would soon move out of the Governor’s Mansion.

“It won’t be our home, but Texas always will be,” he said.

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Gerstenzang reported from Austin and Richter from Washington. Times staff writer Jean O. Pasco in Orange County contributed to this story.