Given the different economic policy approaches of the two candidates for the 2000 presidential election, Vice President Al Gore and Texas Governor George W. Bush, the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies analyzed and assessed the plans put forth by both candidates, focusing on the expected impacts on African Americans. Six analyses were prepared as background for this summary document, covering each candidate's tax plans and Social Security, health care, education, and employment proposals. With regard to education, the most significant difference between the Bush and Gore plans is Bush's proposal to institute a federal voucher program. As structured in his current set of proposals, the federal program would focus on Title I students. States would be given 3 years to improve "low-performing" Title I schools, and if they did not make significant progress in closing the achievement gap, parents would be given the option of transferring the child to another public school or receiving an amount equivalent to the pro-rata share of Title I funds and an equal amount of state or local funds to enroll their child in a private school. The average value of this "voucher" is estimated to be about $1,500. Other proposals in the Bush education plan are based on approaches he used in Texas. The focus there, as in federal proposals, is on improving basic reading and mathematics literacy at the elementary level and strengthening programs in mathematics and science at the secondary level. Gore's education program will strengthen or expand programs that have been funded under the Clinton administration. Like Bush, Gore embraces school choice, but only within the public school system. The educational programs of both candidates are quite similar, unlike other areas of public policy. This similarity may result from the limits of federal policy in education rather than from the candidates' philosophies of government. The analyses of Social Security, health care, and employment proposals are included. (SLD)