now 3). Gore’s education agenda would triple the number of charter schools, and require schools to issue performance report cards to help parents select the right school for their child (Snow 3). He would allow parents to move their kids from failing schools to better public schools, but he strongly opposes giving parents money for tuition. Gore proposes the creation of 401(j) Life Long Learning Accounts. From these accounts, employers and families would be able to contribute up to $2500 annually (Crowley 7). The invested earnings could be withdrawn and used tax-free if they were to be used for education expenses or “qualified life-long learning,” or they could be used after the age of thirty to acquire new job skills ( Crowley 7). The extra tax credit would match fifty percent of the individual contribution. In addition, he would support the College Opportunity Tax Cut, which would provide a choice between a tax deduction or a twenty-eight percent tax credit up to $10,000 in tuition in order to make college more affordable (Snow 2). Gore also wants to create a National Tuition Savings Program to help families invest their money in special trusts which would help pay for their children’s tuition at universities outside of their state (Crowley 8). He wants mandatory teacher testing for all new teachers, rigorous evaluations after granting teacher licenses, and he supports merit pay (8). States would have to guarantee 100 percent of their teachers have licenses by 2004 (Snow 1). Gore’s plan furthermore includes spending $170 billion over ten years for children in public schools to achieve high standards. Voluntary preschool would be available to every four-year-old, and an increasing number of three-year-olds, as well as an expanded fund for Head Start and Early Head Start (3). He supports raising teacher pay, and will hire 100,000 new teachers in order to reduce class sizes to eighteen students ...
