Kelly Wallace: Bush to reach out to African-Americans

Kelly Wallace

CNN White House Correspondent Kelly Wallace is covering President-elect George W. Bush's plans to commerate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Q: What does Bush plan to talk about Monday?

WALLACE: George W. Bush is at Kelso Elementary School in Houston to commemorate the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and to discuss his administration's education agenda.

Joining Bush is his choice for education secretary, Rod Paige, who happens to be Houston's school superintendent. Paige will speak at the event as will the president-elect. We are told the audience will be invited guests, including some students and teachers from the school.

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This also will be an opportunity for Mr. Bush to reach out to African-Americans, who overwhelmingly voted by a ratio of 9-1 in favor of his former rival Al Gore when they went to the polls in November.

An interesting note is that this elementary school Bush is visiting is predominantly African-American. It is made up of about 66 percent African-American students, 33 percent Hispanics and less than 1 percent white students.

Another interesting note, from CNN Correspondent Tony Clark, is that the school also happens to be a precinct for Houston voters. Back in November, Al Gore scored 1,057 votes and George W. Bush scored only 19 votes at this precinct.

Again, based on the makeup of the school and how Bush faired here during the election, you can see it's an opportunity for him to reach out to African-Americans.

Many African-Americans, particularly in Florida, felt they were intimidated or blocked from voting when they went to the polls. Many believe that George W. Bush didn't win the election -- that Al Gore was the real victor. Many African-Americans plan to protest in Washington on Inauguration Day.

Q: Are protesters expected at the school in Houston Monday?

WALLACE: We haven't seen any protesters here and we're basically not expecting any opposition to Bush's visit.

When asked on Friday if Mr. Bush would use this speech as an opportunity to reach out to African-Americans, the president-elect's press secretary, Ari Fleischer, said Bush's remarks would touch on the powerful and important role Martin Luther King Jr. played in changing America.

Fleischer also said bringing about racial progress in this country is an ongoing struggle no matter who is president. And Fleishcer said Bush is definitely committed to it.

Q: What education initiatives will Bush likely discuss?

WALLACE: In addition to focusing on Dr. King's birthday and appealing to African-Americans, George W. Bush will definitely be touting his education agenda. He has said education reform would be his first legislative priority.

He again named Rod Paige, an African-American, to be his education secretary. Paige was widely praised at his confirmation hearings last week.

And the Bush agenda basically calls for giving states more flexibility in using federal education money and at the same time making schools more accountable for results by testing students more regularly. The president-elect also advocates school vouchers, which would allow low-income parents to take children in failing schools and place them in private schools.