Former Oklahoma representative J.C. Watts Jr. told a Greater Akron Chamber audience this morning that the presidential candidates need to campaign on education in a way that transcends the typical debate positions.

''So many Republicans will say the answer is parental choice in education,'' said Watts, a conservative African-American Republican who represented Oklahoma's 4th District from 1994 until 2002. ''So many Democrats will say 'more money.' That's kind of how the parties lock themselves into the education debate and you never talk about anything in between.''

Watts spoke on behalf of ED in '08, Strong American Schools, a national nonpartisan campaign aimed at getting the presidential candidates to make education a top issue on par with national security, the economy, health care and global warming.

''Those four issues usually pop up in every one of our presidential candidates platforms, their stump speeches,'' Watts said. ''It would be extremely difficult to execute on any one of those things without education. Trying to separate education from everything that we are as a nation would be about like trying to separate the water from the wet. You can't do it.''

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Eli and Edyth Broad Foundation are funding the effort, which focuses on three main concepts that supporters hope Republicans and Democrats can agree on in principle:

* Raising education standards to better compete in the global economy.

* Providing more classroom time for teaching and learning with longer school days and longer school years.

* Increasing pay and incentives, tied to performance, to attract and keep qualified teachers.

''There's just something wrong when rookie football players make millions and rookie teachers make a few thousand,'' said Watts, who gained national fame as a quarterback for the University of Oklahoma Sooners.

Akron Public Schools superintendent Sylvester Small said he's seen many politicians make promises about education, but then drop the issue once the election is over. He asked what would happen to the campaign after November.

Watts said the foundations funding the campaign have made significant investments in improving education and will continue to do so, although not necessarily with the formal ED in '08 structure. ''The Gates Foundation and the Eli Broad Foundation both are totally committed to education,'' he said. ''I don't think Bill and Melinda Gates are going to go away any time soon after Nov. 5.''

For now, the campaign is hoping to get the candidates to focus on those areas that have the best potential for agreement across party lines.

''We are falling further and further behind in education and we've got to get beyond the platitudes,'' Watts said after the presentation. ''We've got to get beyond Republican and Democrat and say how do we fix this so that we can have the right work force in the next 10, 20 years.''

(John Higgins can be reached at 330-996-3792 or jhiggins@thebeaconjournal.com.)