Accusing the Bush administration of short-changing American schools, Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama proposed on Tuesday an $18-billion-a-year education plan that aims to make preschool education more affordable, pay teachers better and put a national priority on teaching science.

Unveiling the plan at a packed high school theatre in New Hampshire, the Illinois senator also pledged to pay the expense of a college education for Americans who commit to a lifetime of teaching.

He said the plan would be financed in part by cutting other federal programs, boosting federal revenue and tapping savings from ending the Iraq war. It would also require a five-year delay in the multibillion dollar Constellation program managed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to return astronauts to moon by 2020, according to a memo provided by Obama’s staff.

It includes a $10-billion “Children First Agenda” to provide care, learning and support for families with children up to five years old, and grants to help states pay for the program. Funding would also be boosted for needy children.

A “Presidential Early Learning Council” would coordinate the effort, he said. Child care tax credits would be expanded to strengthen day-care programs. .A new Service Scholarship program would recruit teachers for overcrowded and struggling school districts. All schools would be accredited to see which produced the best and worst teachers, and a mentor program would be expanded to match new educators with more experienced teachers.

But unlike rival Democratic presidential contender, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, Obama stopped short of calling for the scrapping of the Bush administration’s signature No Child Left Behind law signed in 2002. But he said the policy had serious flaws, lacked proper funding and had demoralized and stigmatized students and teachers.

“That’s what is wrong with No Child Left Behind and that is what we must change in a fundamental way,” he said in the speech at Central High School in Manchester, the largest city in the state that holds the first presidential nominating primary.

(Photo: Democratic presidential candidate U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) shakes hands with a member of the audience following a speech about education reform in Manchester, New Hampshire November 20, 2007. REUTERS/Brian Snyder (UNITED STATES) )