CHENEY'S CHOICE: GOOD GRADES OR SCHOOL VOUCHERS.

Byline: Gina Keating and Wendy Thomas Russell Staff Writers

REDLANDS - Schools that don't meet state achievement standards could lose federal funding for disadvantaged students to a voucher plan proposed by the GOP presidential team, vice presidential candidate Dick Cheney said Tuesday.

Cheney made his comments on education during a visit to Kingsbury Elementary School in Redlands on Tuesday and spoke afterward on the issue of defense, blaming the Clinton-Gore administration for going too far in cutting the military's budget.

During a short panel discussion in the school library, Cheney told about 60 parents and community officials that he and Texas Gov. George W. Bush would emphasize tough standards and accountability for schools if elected.

He praised California's Stanford 9 standardized achievement test as one of the nation's most rigorous and vowed to require similar measures in every state.

``The key is to have high expectations for all of them and design and operate an educational system that's held accountable for how they perform,'' Cheney said. ``It's a soft form of discrimination . . . to set low standards for kids.''

Under the Bush voucher plan, schools would have to meet performance standards within a certain time frame - Cheney's example was three years - or lose Title I funds for disadvantaged students.

``At the end of that time, if they are still failing the students . . . you would instead shift the (Title I) funding to the parents,'' Cheney said.

Parents could use that money to send their children to another public school, a private school or pay for tutoring, he said.

``The point is you don't simply accept failure on behalf of the child or live with a school that is failing,'' he said. ``You've got these kids locked in with no prospect that they're ever going to acquire the basic skills they need.''

State and local governments would have ``as much authority as possible'' in setting and meeting performance goals, Cheney said.

The GOP plan would be separate from California's Proposition 38, a proposed constitutional amendment on the Nov. 7 ballot to allow parents to draw at least $4,000 per pupil in state-funded vouchers for private schools.

Many public school officials and teachers oppose both voucher plans, saying Proposition 38 would siphon off money needed for textbooks, computers and supplies to schools that aren't accountable to taxpayers.

After speaking to the school group, Cheney during an interview spoke on national defense, vowing to help rejuvenate interest in the armed forces if elected.

Shortages of ammunition, parts and personnel plague the military, said Cheney, who was secretary of defense under Presidents Reagan and Bush.

The military ``is a very fragile thing,'' Cheney said, cupping his hands as if holding a glass ball. ``We think of the military as a very strong, robust organization . . . but, ultimately, its capacity depends on the degree of trust between those who serve in the armed forces and their respective leadership.''

Ironically, it was Cheney who led America's military cutbacks in the early 1990s - the same round of cutbacks that closed the Long Beach Naval Station in 1993.

But Cheney justified those cutbacks (a reported 25 percent of the defense budget at the time) as necessary in the post-Cold War era.

Defense Secretary William Cohen, speaking Monday at the annual convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Milwaukee, launched what amounted to a preemptive strike against criticisms by the Bush campaign that the Clinton administration was responsible for a weakened, over-extended military.

Cohen noted the budget increases approved by Clinton, including the biggest pay increases for service members in a generation, and launched a lengthy, detailed defense of the nation's armed services, arguing that they remained strong and ready and had proved it during last year's war against Yugoslavia.

On Tuesday, Cheney accused President Clinton of further slashing the defense budget with reckless disregard for the future.

``There have been significant reductions, some of which I started when I was secretary of defense,'' he said. ``I think it's gone too far now. I think we've reached the point where we're no longer investing in the future.''

Under Clinton and Gore, not enough was done to train and retain personnel, Cheney contended. And the resources needed to maintain a strong defense were allowed to dwindle, he said.

``You can't just turn the military on and off,'' he said. ``It's not like building a highway. You've got to maintain leadership.''

To that end, Cheney said he would like to see better pay for the ranks, better housing and school on military bases, and an end to what is sometimes termed ``the birthday problem.''

The birthday problem, Cheney said, is when troops repeatedly miss their children's birthdays because they're too busy serving away from home.

Appreciation for the armed forces must be boosted to the level enjoyed during the Gulf War, Cheney said, and all war veterans should have better access to health care.

Cheney's remarks came on the heels of a proposal released Monday by Gov. Bush, which calls for increasing military pay by $1 billion over the $75.8 billion Clinton signed into law this month.

Recent polls show Bush and Gore neck-and-neck in California. A recent Public Policy Institute poll found Gore backed by 40 percent of the likely California voters; Bush, 37 percent; and Green Party candidate Ralph Nader, 8 percent. Gore and Bush are statistically tied, given the poll's margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

The campaign chose Kingsbury Elementary School as a backdrop because school administrators from there traveled to Bush's home state of Texas several years ago to study its education system.

The New York Times contributed to this report.

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Photo:

GOP Vice Presidential nominee Dick Cheney speaks to parents and others at Kingsbury Elementary School in Redlands.

Terry Pierson/Staff Photographer