Despite public hints by his campaign team that he was prepared to drop the issue of school vouchers, the US President, Mr Bush, yesterday unveiled a major package of education reforms in which vouchers will play a prominent part.
But Mr Bush sugared the pill somewhat for liberals and Democrats, who view vouchers as deeply damaging, by letting it be known he was prepared to plough in extra cash on top of his campaign pledge to revamp the use of $47 billion spent federally on education.
Mr Bush wants to free states to allow parents of children in schools which have been recorded as failing for three years in a row to be able to take their children out of the state system with a $1,500 voucher towards the costs of education in the private or church sectors.
Critics warn that taking such funding out of the failing schools will simply condemn them to death. If new funds are available, they say, there is plenty that can be done to raise standards in the failing sector.
The proposals also include plans to allow greater discretion by states in spending federal cash, to allow for the sacking of unsuccessful head teachers, and the introduction of more systematic testing of children's aptitudes in maths and reading - the aim is to have all children reading by nine.
"If children are trapped in failing schools," parents should have options to deal with that, he argued. "None of us at the federal government should try to impose a school voucher plan on states and local jurisdictions. That's not the prerogative of the federal government as far as I'm concerned, but to the extent that the federal government spends money, we ought to expect good results and good consequences," he said.
Senator Ted Kennedy said that Mr Bush talked about vouchers and that "we have some differences in that area" because "I don't think we ought to abandon the schools by taking money away from public schools in order to save them".
Meanwhile, Democrats revealed their own education plan which also proposes cracking down on failing schools and spending more on teacher training. The bill would reward school districts that excel with bonuses, while forcing failing schools to implement new lesson plans or shut down. While providing $200 million to boost competition within the public school system, the plan does not include private school vouchers.
