Bradley Education Plan Will Be Released Today

Democratic presidential contender Bill Bradley today will announce a wide-ranging education plan that would double the federal program for distressed schools and allow parents to transfer their children from under-performing to better public schools.

Each school would receive a report card detailing, among other things, graduation rates and test scores, Bradley said. If parents were dissatisfied with the school, he said, “they should be able to move their child to a high-quality public school.”

Bradley, speaking at a town meeting in this Cleveland suburb Tuesday, did not offer many specifics but gave a brief preview of the plan he is scheduled to announce today in St. Louis. Bradley will also call for stiff standards for teachers and the creation of 15,000 after-school “beacon centers” for latchkey children.

In response to a question about what could be done to improve education, Bradley said, “We have to allow parents to be able to choose.” Bradley did not explain how the transfer program would work but said students would remain in their own school districts.

A high school student asked Bradley if his proposal would spur “white flight” and encourage white parents to pull their children out of integrated schools. Bradley said he did not think his plan would have that effect.

“When I say choice, I mean public school choice . . . in general from one school in the district to another,” he said. If an under-performing school began losing students, he said, his program would force the school to improve.

School choice are words traditionally associated with vouchers--public funds which allow parents to send their children to private school. Vice President Al Gore, Bradley’s opponent for the presidential nomination, has often criticized Bradley for once voting for a voucher program while in the U.S. Senate. Bradley has since said he opposes vouchers and voted for the program as an experiment.

On another campaign front, Gore once again alleged that Bradley’s proposals do nothing to protect Medicare and drew a surprising comparison between himself and Republican presidential contender and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). Gore said he and McCain believe future budget surpluses should be used to bolster Medicare, and denounced Bradley for not planning to put “a penny” into Medicare.

“McCain and I have in common putting money from the surplus into Medicare and keeping it from being drawn down when the baby boomers retire,” said Gore in Pembroke Pines, Fla. Bradley’s campaign said Gore’s charges were inaccurate and misleading.

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Times staff writer Robert A. Rosenblatt contributed to this story.