Calif. Schools Get Scant Attention From Candidates

By Lonnie Harp

In what observers say will go down as a disappointingly lackluster campaign for the California governorship, education issues have taken a back seat as the candidates have spent most of their time trying to persuade voters that they are tough on crime and equipped to pull the state out of its financial mess.

Gov. Pete Wilson and his Democratic rival, State Treasurer Kathleen Brown, have discussed the state's schools largely as they fit into the candidates' focus on crime and the economy.

"There's been some lip service paid to public education, but very little in the way of serious proposals," said Tom DeLapp, a spokesman for the Association...