Presidential candidates Al Gore and George W. Bush are tapping into the public's concern about education with robust debate.

        Even though the president plays little role in what happens in the classroom, the candidates are pushing the most comprehensive education policy platforms ever seen in a presidential election.

        People like Michelle Tha man and Kellie Brown are listening intently.

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        For Mrs. Thaman, 32 and a mother of five from Ludlow, education is “close to the No. 1” issue in this election.

        “This is a big thing,” Mrs. Thaman said as she waited for her oldest sons to be dismissed at Mary Goetz Elementary.

        “This is where our future is headed,” she said, as her young sons Gabrial and Benjamin hugged her legs and 7-month-old Margaret watched from a stroller.

        For Ms. Brown, 28, the issue is about educating children and more. In fact, it's her livelihood. She teaches English at Mount Healthy High School.

        “High-stakes tests can take away your creativity, because there is pressure to teach to the test,” Ms. Brown said. “And that can put a lot of stress on students, too.”

        Education is on the voters' minds, said Tom Loveless, director of the Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C.

        And so the candidates beat the education drum.

        Republican candidate Bush says there is an “education recession.” He supports private-school vouchers for students who attend failing public schools.

        “We will give schools new freedom to excel in exchange for proven results,” Mr. Bush said in a Sept. 16 speech. “When a school district receives federal funds to teach poor children, we expect those children to learn. And if they don't, par ents should get the money to make a different choice. That is real accountability.”

        Democrat Mr. Gore calls for more teachers, more money for school repair and a renewed focus on preschool learning.

        “Now let's set a specific new goal for the first decade of the 21st century: high-quality universal preschool, available to every child, in every family, all across this country,” he told the Democratic National Convention.

        Mr. Bush uses the education topic to woo female and undecided voters.

        Mr. Gore, who already has the endorsement of the country's two largest teacher unions, hopes to maintain the support Democrats have traditionally enjoyed from minority and low-income voters, who most often use public education.

        Despite the rhetoric, the federal government contributes just 7 cents of each dollar spent on schools. State and local taxes cover 93 percent of the $360 billion spent to run schools from kindergarten through 12th grade.

        Yet the two candidates both advocate a larger federal role in schools, as well as putting more federal money inside classrooms. Both want more charter schools, improved early childhood education and more efforts to fix schools with continued low performance.

        The differences appear in the areas of choice and accountability, and how much money each thinks schools deserve.

        These areas are where voters voice the most concern, too.

        Mrs. Thaman wants to see her children go on to college, or at least learn a good trade.

        She said she thinks Mr. Bush offers the more serious platform. She likes his support of school choice, and she thinks he has more background as governor of Texas in turning schools around.

        “If I could afford to send them to Catholic school I would,” she said, “but it's just too expensive with five kids.”

        On the other side is Ms. Brown, the Mount Healthy teacher.

        She prefers Mr. Gore's education platform because “it reaches out to a more diverse group of kids.”

        Vouchers, Ms. Brown said, could hurt some students and schools. If students choose to leave their neighborhood public school, what happens to the students who are left behind, she asked.

        “A lot of those students will be special-needs children, and not all teachers are equipped to teach those kids,” she said.

        Taking money away from public schools is not something Roger Berger, 58, a retired business owner from Covington, wants to happen.

        “If you're taking money out of the public school system and transferring it and students to private schools, what's left is students not acceptable to other sources and the public schools don't have the money to help them.

        “We learned a long time ago that separate but equal doesn't work.”

        He supports Mr. Gore because “he's willing to make an investment that can make a difference.”

        Mr. Gore's plans to focus on getting the public schools back into shape appeal to Patricia Kessler, 57, a Covington grandmother to five.

        As a tutor in public schools, she said, she saw students who could not read, classrooms that were disruptive and teachers who did not use all available resources.

        “It's the discipline thing,” she said. “It's too lax.”

        Mrs. Thaman and Mrs. Kessler are part of the voter demographic both candidates are pursuing.

        A Washington Post/ABC News poll asked 1,065 voters how important improving education would be in their vote for president.

        Seventy-seven percent said very important; 17 percent said somewhat important.

        The candidates are paying attention. From literacy to accountability, Mr. Bush and Mr. Gore are offering ideas to get the attention of voters, said Mr. Loveless of the Brookings Institution.

        But the researcher said more traditional federal issues, like taxation, the budget, Social Security and Medicare will be the deciding factors at the polls.

        “I don't know if the voters, when weighing the differences among the candidates, are using education as a wedge,” he said.

        Mike Jacobson, 43, an osteopathic doctor from West Chester, agrees.

        With his wife, Susie, he home-schools sons Joshua, 14, and Nathan, 7. He supports Mr. Bush and was pleased to hear Colin Powell mention home schooling as a viable option during the Republican National Convention.

        But the president, he said, has little jurisdiction when it comes to education.

        Juliann Herron, 30, feels the same way. A special-needs teacher at Loveland High School, she says education is a state and local issue.

        She's aware of the candidates' efforts to win voters, particularly, women, by talking about schools, but she won't be voting based on the education platforms of Mr. Bush or Mr. Gore.

        “You hear them talk and it sounds great,” Miss Herron said, “but when it comes down to it, what can they really deliver?”

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