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The Kerry-Edwards campaign billed the event as a discussion about the importance of education and the challenges educators, students and parents face under Bush administration education policies.
The wife of the North Carolina senator criticized cuts in federal funding to early childhood education as well as elementary, secondary and higher education budgets. She said increased spending on public education would save government money in the long run by reducing the number of children who get into a cycle of poverty and crime because they see few other options.
"We should never let them believe that they don't have every tool they need to be the very best they can be," Edwards said. "And we give that tool not as a gift to them but as a gift to all of us to make sure that everyone has the opportunity to ... become a productive member of society."
Edwards said Kerry and her husband would increase the percentage of federal money spent on after-school programs and early childhood education.
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http://www.wilmingtonstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040902/APP/409021062&cachetime=5