KERRY CALLS FOR MORE EDUCATION SPENDING

MANCHESTER - On the eve of a speech to the teacher union's conference,
Democratic Presidential hopeful John Kerry repeated his charges that
the Bush administration was underfunding the federal No Child Left
Behind education reform law.

"You need to provide the resources to make the reforms real," the
Massachusetts senator told a crowd of more than 200 at one of his
"Fresh Air" meetings, this one held inside because of forecast
thunderstorms.

Because of budget cuts, Kerry's sister was laid off two weeks ago from
her job as a middle school teacher in Massachusetts, he said.

James Dunn, a 44-year-old voter from Manchester, asked how Kerry could
improve education without increasing property taxes. Dunn said he
recently moved out of Arlington, Mass., because property taxes became
too high.

Many communities don't have enough tax base to pay for education,
Kerry said.

"That's why we have a federal government," Kerry said.

He said No Child Left Behind was a bargain between the schools and the
federal government, "But President Bush has refused to fund it at the
level that was part of that agreement."

The Bush administration and Republican lawmakers, including Sen. Judd
Gregg of New Hampshire, have said that No Child Left Behind is funded
adequately.

Kerry was scheduled to speak Thursday morning in Bartlett at the state
convention of the National Education Association.

After the Manchester event, Dunn said he was not satisfied with
Kerry's answer. "He just kind of leaves it the way it is. The
teacher's union is way too strong."

Dunn is an independent who said that while living in Massachusetts he
voted for Kerry every time he ran for the Senate.

"I may just vote for him (in the Presidential primary). I do trust
him," he said.

A question about medical marijuana briefly hushed the
audience.

Linda Macia, 49, asked Kerry if he would stop federal drug raids on
people using marijuana for medical reasons in states where that is
legal.

Kerry said he was "open to the question of medical marijuana," but
wanted to see the results of a pending study on alternatives to
marijuana before deciding whether it should be legal. He said if
elected he would put a moratorium on the raids until the results of
the study.

Macia, who was in a wheelchair and said she is seriously ill and
allergic to narcotics, said she has asked several of the Democratic
hopefuls the same question.

Kerry's response "wasn't quite what I expected. It boils down to
state's rights," she said.