MCKEON SEEKS POST.

Byline: Eugene Tong  Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - Rep. Howard P. ``Buck'' McKeon said Friday that he has made a bid to chair the congressional committee overseeing education and labor policy, a job the former school board member has been angling for over the past year.

The Santa Clarita Republican said he sent a formal letter applying for the seat on the House Education and Workforce Committee a day after the panel's current chairman, Ohio Rep. John A. Boehner, was tapped to be House majority leader.

``America has entered a new age of unprecedented challenges both for our schools and our work force,'' McKeon said in a statement. ``I believe that with my 13 years of Capitol Hill experience, I am in the best position to lead the committee in addressing those challenges.''

House rules bar members in leadership positions from holding a committee chairmanship. To win the job, McKeon, 67, must sway the House Republican Steering Committee, which determines assignments for the GOP.

McKeon is the second-ranking Republican on the committee behind Rep. Tom Petri of Wisconsin. A spokesman for Petri declined to comment on the impending leadership shift.

In a letter to House colleagues, McKeon laid out his priorities - some of which appeared firmly rooted in the GOP platform. He believes the country is facing unprecedented levels of competition from around the world, and that the focus of American policy should be to create a highly skilled and adaptable work force.

``Education is fundamental to maintaining our competitiveness because it lays the foundation for future leaders and innovators,'' the letter said. ``Beyond a quality education system, we must have a framework that allows the work force to react to changing economic needs. To that end, we must develop work force training opportunities that permit workers to quickly acquire new skills and move into new jobs.

``The environment of labor regulation should also reflect the realities of today's age, not yesterday's. We have 20th century laws in a 21st century workplace. We need to rethink our approach to regulation in light of the global economy so that business can get back to doing what it does best - running a business.''

Within Education and Workforce, McKeon has chaired the subcommittee on 21st-century competitiveness since 1995. The seven-term representative from the 25th Congressional District also serves on the House Armed Services Committee.

Before election to Congress, McKeon served on the William S. Hart Union High School District board for nine years until 1987, when he was selected to serve on Santa Clarita's first City Council.

Clyde Smyth, Hart's superintendent between 1974 and 1992, said McKeon was adept at compromise as a school board member.

``He listens,'' Smyth said. ``To me, that's one of the most critical issues. You can't know all there is to know about any subject. You have to identify people who do have skills and listen to their input.

``That doesn't mean he will always vote that way, but Buck has a capacity to listen to those ideas and always incorporate them into what he is doing.''

McKeon also helped broker deals with local developers to provide classrooms in new housing projects during his Hart board stint.

``Buck was on the board when we really came to grips with the fact there will be tremendous growth in the area,'' Smyth said. ``He executed some of the first agreements with landowners.''

Smyth believes McKeon can strike a balance between federal and state financial responsibility over education.

``You got the whole issue of college tuition, federal funding for grants,'' Smyth said. McKeon has worked to boost student loans, though he has said it's hard for federal funding to keep up with tuition increases.

``We will empower education, prepare an adaptive work force, and reduce regulation, helping to keep America as the world's most innovative, dynamic, and prosperous society,'' McKeon said in his letter.