21.   President Clinton again pressed his case for national education standards while visiting a Maryland elementary school Monday.

22.   Rather than getting worked up about education standards and test scores, parents ought to invest time in their schools.

23.   Such continued poor showings are ample fodder for those who call the tough education standards discriminatory.

24.   That is because the standards include long extracts from a book on education standards that was published by the National Research Council.

25.   The education appearances, at least at this early stage, are not designed to confront and convince doubting state legislatures or school districts to adopt national education standards.

26.   The federal government can play a unique central role in encouraging high, uniform education standards.

27.   The education standards enacted in recent years are likely to lead to competition among the states, he said.

28.   The Lerner report assigns a grade to each state based on how thoroughly or scantily it treats evolution in science education standards.

29.   The report calls for education reform, giving more money and resources to school districts that serve low-income and at-risk students and setting minimum education standards for all children.

30.   The study also cited less quantifiable effects like declining quality of life, deteriorating education standards and the flight of families to the suburbs.