The ongoing war, mounting oil prices, an uncertain economy. There’s no shortage of topics for the candidates vying for the U.S. presidency to focus their attention on. But billionaire Bill Gates wants to make sure the runners keep their eye on education.

Through his charity, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Microsoft chairman has announced it will be donating $30 million, or half of the operational budget of Strong American Schools, a bipartisan group that is leading the Ed in ’08 campaign (www.edin08.com). Senior Editor Del Stover wrote about the campaign in this month’s issue of ASBJ (“Will Ed in ’08 Succeed?” at www.asbj.com/MainMenuCategory/Archive/2008/January/WillEDin08Succeed.aspx).

Former Colorado Gov. Roy Romer is heading the movement, which will start in earnest in March, though its 125 employees and consultants have already produced a hefty action-packet on education reform, attended nearly 700 forums, and received support for some of its initiatives from 12 of the major candidates. The cash infusion from Gates will allow the campaign to ramp up its efforts and target contested states and pivotal voters like Latinos and moms. The Broad Foundation is another major contributor to the campaign.

Education has been a top priority for Gates for some time now. Since 2000, The Gates Foundation, which with more than $60 billion is arguably the largest charitable foundation in the world, has funneled $3.4 billion into education reform and scholarships.

Although he is accustomed to getting his way, it will be interesting to see whether Gates’ wealth will be able to drive education to the forefront of the presidential campaign and most importantly, the next president’s agenda.

Naomi Dillon, Senior Editor