Long before Bill Clinton appeared on the

presidential horizon, he had, as governor of Arkansas, established himself as

one of a half-dozen national leaders in the public school reform movement of the

1980s. The movement was determinedly bipartisan, pragmatic, and nonideological.

In addition to Clinton, it included Republican governors Thomas Kean of New

Jersey and Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, as well as independent Califormnia

State School Superintendent Bill Honig. These reformers sought, and generally

achieved, tougher graduation requirements; more rigorous curricula and

textbooks; competency tests for both students and teachers; merit pay or other