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acceptable, and something that is unacceptable. You have to have a
number of standards. Otherwise, it's all meaningless. Someone was saying
that you can't put any assessment into place until all students have the
same resources to meet the standards. All this is churning. But there is a
movement to put these things into place. The answers are slowly being
sorted out.
Harry Kahn:
I wonder if any of the Democratic candidates have come
forth with a position on this problem, or have indicated what they
would do if elected?
AI Shanker:
Paul Tsongas has said he'd like to experiment with vouch–
ers. Tom Harkin has been for vouchers in the past, but he says that by
taking care of Head Start and getting kids ready everything else will take
care of itself. Bill Clinton is very involved in the standards issue. His
wife, by the way, is one of the country's real experts on education. She
not only has read all the stuff but also has traveled around the country
and spoken to the best people in the field.
Harry Kahn:
Would a strong position paper in a Democrat's platform
be helpful?
AI Shanker:
That will have nothing to do with the candidate.
Abigail Thernstrotn:
Is it fair to say that there really isn't much differ–
ence between Clinton and the other candidates on the education ques–
tion?
AI Shanker:
There's a very big difference, especially on private versus
public schools.
Abigail Thernstrotn:
Okay, but what about questions of curriculum
and standards?
AI Shanker:
Those questions are related. Today, private schools are un–
regulated by government, and they're not going to be any more regu–
lated if they get vouchers. In Detroit, for example, public schools wanted
to
have an all-black male school. The court said no. If vouchers are put
into effect, there are already four or five private schools ready to imple–
ment an all-black student body.
Edith Kurzweil:
I'm worried about the results of a voucher system. We
seem to assume that all parents know what they're doing, that they're
