CUOMO AND MCCALL PRESS EDUCATION, OF THE PRESCHOOL VARIETY

Andrew Cuomo focused on preschool children and literacy as he announced an
education plan yesterday, echoing the plan released on Sunday by H. Carl
McCall, his opponent for the Democratic nomination for New York governor.

In their plans, Mr. Cuomo and Mr. McCall each stressed the need for a fully
funded, universal prekindergarten program. While such a program already
exists, it has not been fully supported financially.

"Albany is very good at finding money when they want to," Mr. Cuomo said
during a visit to the Lenox Hill Neighborhood House on the Upper East Side
of Manhattan.

One idea, Mr. Cuomo said, would be to reform the Rockefeller drug laws,
which he predicted could save up to $100 million, though he offered no
details on the savings. He estimated that full support for universal
prekindergarten would cost about $300 million.

Mr. McCall's plan - which he announced at the beginning of the Dominican
Day Parade on Sunday on the Grand Concourse in the Bronx - includes an $8
billion increase in education aid during his first four-year term, which
would go to support programs such as universal prekindergarten, said Steven
Greenberg, a spokesman for Mr. McCall.

The McCall campaign also favors reform of the Rockefeller drug laws, Mr.
Greenberg said, but he doubted it would save $100 million as suggested by
Mr. Cuomo. "Because of all the money that would have to go into funding
drug treatment programs and all the expenditures to help these people that
would come out of jail," he said, "you will not get $100 million saved by
reducing the prison population for many years."

Both Democrats say these issues have been dodged by Gov. George E. Pataki.
Mr. Greenberg said the governor had tried to reduce support and halt the
expansion of universal prekindergarten to more schools.

Michael McKeon, Mr. Pataki's communications director, dismissed the
comments as "just more partisan attacks." He said Mr. Pataki has supported
increasing school aid in New York City by 62 percent. There has also been a
350 percent increase in preschool program enrollment statewide, Mr. McKeon
said.

Apart from their agreement on universal prekindergarten, the two Democrats
emphasize different education programs in their respective plans.

Mr. Cuomo proposed several ideas yesterday in which literacy was a theme.
He said he would create programs to increase literacy, including training
for teachers, the placement of a literacy specialist in every school and
the creation of a New York literacy corps in which adult volunteers would
acts as reading mentors for elementary school students. Mr. Cuomo also
proposed the addition of a reading instruction component to teacher
certification tests, subsidies for districts to buy literacy software and
support for summer reading programs.

In his plan, Mr. McCall proposed a a permanent program to provide money for
more teachers and classroom space, as ways to reduce class sizes.

He said he would also focus on recruitment, training and retention of
teachers, with "new models for performance-based compensation." And Mr.
McCall called for closing failing schools, among other ideas.