Casey, Rendell Rhetoric Hot In Pa. Democratic Primary

By Catherine Gewertz

Two Pennsylvania Democrats with big political name recognition are making school funding a key issue in an increasingly nasty and intense bid to win next week's gubernatorial primary.

The most recent polls show Edward G. Rendell, the former mayor of Philadelphia, carrying a narrow lead over Robert P. Casey Jr., the state auditor general and son of a former Pennsylvania governor. As the May 21 contest nears, the candidates have been trading barbs and ideas on how to better pay for the state's schools.

In debates and television ads, the soft-spoken Mr. Casey has painted the often- brash Mr. Rendell as a "serial prevaricator" who exaggerates how much he did to improve Philadelphia's schools when he was mayor from 1992 to 1999. Mr. Casey points out that two years after Mr. Rendell left office, the financially and academically struggling district was taken...