Bob Schaffer: “The contrast again could not be clearer. The Texas record is one of improving test scores. This is a graph of the Texas…”

“The contrast again could not be clearer. The Texas record is one of improving test scores. This is a graph of the Texas 4th graders when it comes to reading skills. Back in 1994, when Governor Bush took over the governorship in Texas, only 75 percent of Texas 4th graders could read at grade level, and that has increased to almost 90 percent in 1999. That is a remarkable improvement. This is a huge contrast to what has been created by the Clinton-Gore administration. If we take, for example, the third international math study, math-science study comparison, which ranked American students Nationwide against their peers with 21 other industrial countries, we come in 19th. This is something we have known about for 8 years that the Clinton and Gore regime have occupied the White House, and our test scores have not improved. They have gotten worse. So I guess the question that Americans need to decide in the next few days is whether we want to see the Texas style rates of improvement of dramatic increases in academic performance or whether we want to see the Clinton-Gore kinds of trends, which is declining performance when compared to international peers in the case of math and science. I love Colorado. It is a great State. But nobody from Colorado is running for President of the United States. Of the two models, the bad Washington, D.C. model versus the good Texas model, I will choose the Texas model every time. I prefer that for my kids.”