STORM LAKE, Iowa - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton used a personal tone, laughter and heavy doses of President Bush-bashing trying to connect with a crowd of Iowa teachers Tuesday night.

At the Iowa State Teachers Association summer conference here, Clinton ripped into the Bush administration's education priorities and pledged to provide the resources and respect that she said teachers need to do their jobs.

"It would help if we had a president who actually supported education," she said to loud cheers, while pledging to use the bully pulpit of the White House to help teachers.

She steered clear of the Iraq war, which has dominated the early presidential contest. And even here, that's an issue that could trump all others when it comes to deciding the Democratic presidential contest, said Adam Zellmer, 25, a third- year teacher.

"So far, we're not sensing support of just one candidate" on the education issue, he said.

Clinton said that under the White House-backed No Child Left Behind Act, some school districts have cut music, arts and physical education programs to spend more time fitting the curriculum to mandated tests.

Some schools even have eliminated recess, Clinton said, adding that she didn't know how schools could function without that.

"One of my theories of child rearing is: Keep them exhausted," Clinton joked, prompting laughter in the crowded ballroom.

Although Clinton voted for the No Child Left Behind Act in 2001, she voiced concerns about the funding levels at the time.

"The money does not follow the mandate," she said Tuesday.

In 2003, she was one of 17 Democrats who opposed a failed amendment that would have blocked enforcement of the act until additional Title I funding was provided. She later joined the majority vote to increase funding in 2006.

The Iowa appearance was one of a series of events this week in which Clinton has sought to focus on education and children's issues, setting aside her recent spat with Democratic rival Sen. Barack Obama over diplomacy in the Middle East.

Obama's wife, Michelle, is scheduled to address the Iowa teachers later this week.

Clinton spoke about meeting a young mother who did not know how important it is to read, sing and speak with her young children as a way of building skills long before school days.

She said the mother told her, "Why would I talk to her? She can't talk back."

Clinton joked that when she was a young mother, her daughter, Chelsea, probably would have liked to tell her: "Enough of the talking . . . "

Clinton said some of the things candidates are expected to say to teachers' groups, talking about higher pay and smaller class sizes.

She asked for a show of hands from those who spent money out of their own pockets to pay for school supplies - and virtually every hand went up. In response, she promised more federal resources.

"She has definitely shown us she has a knowledge of education and what our needs are," said Joanie Heitzman, a school nurse from Dubuque. "She has the experience, and she has done a lot of personal work on education."