George W Bush promises to raise school reading standards
Speaking during a public meeting at a high school on the edge of Silicon Valley, Mr Bush put an emphasis on the need to recruit extra maths and science teachers.
"This country needs to do something about it before it's too late," he said.
"If American students don't lead the world in math and science, the next generation of Americans may not lead the world."
His education proposals - involving spending of $47bn over 10 years, include waiving repayments of student loans of up to $17,500 for graduates who become maths or science teachers.
International comparison
Mr Bush quoted the Third International Maths and Science Study, which showed American students near the bottom among major industrial nations.
He claimed the present administration had been responsible for a downward turn in school performance.
A television advertising campaign promoting the Republican candidate claims that large numbers of school children are unable to read, with the punchline: "There's an education recession in America."
Reinforcing this message, Mr Bush has published a booklet, called Ending the Education Recession, and was visiting schools in California on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Mr Bush promised parents that he would promote "accountability, local control, and the importance of teaching every child to read".
'Need to raise standards'
He is calling for greater attention to be paid to the basics of literacy, numeracy and science - claiming that the Clinton administration had allowed standards in the United States to slip behind international competitors.
"If we really want to make sure no child gets left behind in America, we need the courage to raise standards,'' says Mr Bush in the advertisement.
In response, Vice President Al Gore has pushed an education agenda which would see a $110bn programme of investment over the next decade - including repairing crumbling schools, cutting class sizes, hiring more teachers and protecting state education against voucher schemes.
The scale of the recruitment problem has been highlighted in a report from a panel headed by former astronaut and senator, John Glenn.
It said high school maths and science teachers were often little ahead of their students in ability and 10 times more money should be spent on training them.
"It's costly," said John Glenn. "It's far, far more costly if we do nothing."
But the panel's report did not advocate a pay increase - which many argue is needed to stop technology firms poaching teachers.
There have been similar problems in the UK. There is now a £6,000 training grant plus £4,000 "golden hello" for trainee teachers in secondary maths, science, modern foreign languages, design and technology or information technology.