May 18, 1983

Mr. Mondale, who unveiled his education initiative at a press conference at Harvard University, charged that President Reagan had "turned his back on the country, its children, and its future" by failing to support increases in education spending to implement the commission's recommendations.

The President, in accepting the commission's report on April 26, said the report affirmed his Administration's position against "federal intrusion" in education, and he restated his commitment to tuition tax credits, school prayer, and education vouchers.

The House Education and Labor Committee last week approved a measure to give states and school systems up to $150 million during the next three years to improve foreign-language instruction.

Several weeks ago, the Bell Commission's report on excellence in education appeared. The need for educators to address the concerns it raised is as compelling as it is daunting. Yet often overlooked in the agonizing over the problems in education today is the enormous effect of collective bargaining. The wholesale adoption by many states of the private-sector model of labor relations for teachers has and will continue to impede efforts to improve our schools.

Prior to the middle of this century, the schools in America's largest cities were the exemplars of American public education. Talented teachers and administrators sought positions in the large-city schools and the achievements of the students were legion.