31.   Danner said the bill greatly improved schools and was the greatest legacy of the late Gov. Mel Carnahan.

32.   Danner said that the bill greatly improved schools and was the greatest legacy of the late Gov. Mel Carnahan.

33.   Educators increasingly agree that without high standards and intelligent assessments of student performance, it is extraordinarily difficult to improve schools.

34.   Educators say efforts to improve schools could suffer if local officials can easily disregard state directives.

35.   Dr. Rizzo said Crew supported the continued creation of small schools but saw them as only part of the answer to improving the schools.

36.   Even some people who defend the deal say the state simply should have made itself a better place to do business, especially by improving the schools.

37.   Far from improving the schools, busing eroded the community support that had nurtured them.

38.   Federal aid can at best act as a spur for state and local communities to reach for high standards and improve inadequate schools.

39.   Facing a takeover by the State Board of Education, Union City, N.J., embarked several years ago on a crash course to improve its schools.

40.   He also advocates strengthening neighborhood social organizations and striving harder to fight truancy and improve schools.