61.   The bill greatly enlarges the federal role in public education, mandates annual testing of children in grades three to eight and provides tutoring for children in failing schools.

62.   The board has seldom, if ever, used the power to intervene in failing schools and has developed a reputation for aloofness and inaction.

63.   The committee was lobbied to include an escape hatch, in the form of a voucher, for students in failing schools that accept Title I money.

64.   The bill also mandates annual testing to measure student performance and holds failing schools accountable.

65.   The plan calls for giving the money to the states, which would then give it to parents of the children in the failing schools.

66.   The Republican legislation would mandate rapid steps to improve failing schools.

67.   The running mate criticized Gore for opposing any type of school voucher plan that would provide federal grants to parents with children in failing schools.

68.   The Samaritan Project aims to deal with crime, drugs, failing schools, out-of-wedlock births, broken homes, and welfare dependency.

69.   The study, by a civic group called the Educational Priorities Panel, reveals that failing schools have become retirement homes for inept teachers who were unwanted elsewhere.

70.   There is growing concern that the testing would result in a significant increase in the number of failing schools, a political dilemma for any governor.