Governor Criticizes School Plan

Governor Mike Huckabee is criticizing former Senator David Pryor`s plan to fund the Clinton School of Public Service with state money. Pryor is the dean of the new school, which is part of the University of Arkansas system and is being built along with the Clinton Library. The school hopes to start offering new graduate classes in 2005. Even before Pryor was named dean of the school, the university system said in February that it would ask the Legislature for 1.1 million dollars in 2004/2005 and 1.5 million dollars the next year. But Huckabee expressed surprise at the plan after a luncheon yesterday and complained that the state couldn`t afford it. He said the state had already put enough money into the school. Records show the state has spent 1.6 million dollars on the project since 1997. Huckabee said he thought the school would be self-sustaining, and Clinton Foundation president Skip Rutherford said it would be. He said the request for more money was made by the University of Arkansas, not the Clinton Library or foundation, which spent Four million dollars to renovate the main school building.