The governor threatened to constrain school budgets in an effort to inspire reform. He reportedly answered "I don't know yet" when asked what he had in mind.

WHILE BROWN presses for increased funding for education, one striking aspect of President Bush's education program is the modest increase in funding.

Instead of more money, the Bush administration highlights more experimentation with education programs and has endorsed "school choice" that allow parents flexibility in selecting schools--public or private--and introduce competition into the public school system.

The administration is basically saying it can do more with less.

His four-point program, titled "America 2000: Excellence in Education," seeks to set national educational goals and develop a community-wide strategy to reach them, establishes a "report card" to measure schools, and supports the creation and funding of "New American Schools" that experiment with innovation.

His new Secretary of Education, former Tennessee governor Lamar Alexander, has already earned the respect of Democrats and Republicans inside and outside of Washington.

Bush sees education as the vehicle for a more competitive global economy. He writes, "A better educated workforce is essential to America's economic growth and world competitiveness."

The president also proposes an increase of funding for Head Start of $600 million.

ARKANSAS GOVERNOR Bill Clinton's most dramatic education proposal is a plan to double federal spending on education, concentrating resources on the inner city and rural areas.

Clinton also supports a "service option" for students to pay off tuition loans--a work-study program geared toward public service.

Clinton says he would also create apprenticeship programs for high school graduates not planning to attend college as well as adult education programs for those without high school diplomats.

The Democratic frontrunner receives a generally positive review for his record on education. He has been credited with turning around the Arkansas school system, or at least preventing it from slipping further behind.

A 1978 University of Florida study concluded that Arkansas schools were the worst in the nation. In 1989 Time magazine named Arkansas as one of two states whose schools improved the most in the 1980s.

While high school graduation rates improved during that period, standardized test scores, per-pupil expenditures and teacher pay remain among the nation's worst.

His initiatives are a mix of old and new. He increased state funding for Head Start and set academic achievement standards. He also pushed through a proposal to test teachers for competency and fine parents who tolerated student truancy.