President Clinton came up with a fine idea the other day in a speech to the American Federation of Teachers’ annual convention — quell school violence by restoring respect and discipline in the classroom.

Then, continuing a pattern all to familiar in this president who just cannot leave well enough alone, Mr. Clinton proceeded to slather on the lard. By the time his 38-minute AFT address ended, his fine idea, a clarion call from the bully pulpit to give school boards, administrators and teachers the backbone to stand up to disruptive students and litigious parents was smothered by the din of peripheral issues, feel-good proposals and politics.

Federal mandates for school uniforms, higher salaries, smaller classes were tossed into the mix. So, too, were federal funding for school renovations, expanding Americorps and a plan to put 100,000 new teachers to work. And it won’t do, of course, merely to have the U.S Department of Education pick up the phone to find out which school districts have succeeded in reducing school violence and to tell other school districts how it’s done; this calls for a national conference on Oct. 15, a high-profile event too late to help at the start of a new school year, but just in time for the November election.

It’s a shame, really, that a president blessed with a gift of gab not seen in decades squanders it so. In past times of crisis, America has been fortunate to have had leaders able to deliver powerful messages of inspiration eloquently and consistently: Lincoln abolished slavery not by leading a cavalry charge, but by making the sanctity of the union an undeniable truth for which men willingly gave their lives; FDR led the nation out of the Great Depression not by swinging a pick, but by speaking words of hope and resolve to those who did; JFK promised to put a man on the moon, but that promise was kept by those with the know-how to build rockets and by those with the guts to ride them into space.

Today, teachers and students are afraid to go to school, administrators are afraid to reassert control. The greatest service President Clinton could perform would be to give them courage. Instead, he gives the nation a hodgepodge agenda that will deliver nothing but a partisan debate on whether students all dressed in white shirts and tan trousers will behave better, on whether teacher salaries, class size and remodeling projects are federal or local concerns, on who pays for 100,000 new teachers and where they’ll come from. The battle for the schools is being lost. A general is needed, a public-relations flak shows up.

AFT President Sandra Feldman did no better. At a time when her profession needs all the help it can get, she chose to introduce the president with a venomous attack upon all who dare question his character. Highly productive — if antagonizing a Republican-controlled Congress is the objective.

Two ironies here. First, challenger Bill Clinton defeated incumbent George Bush in 1992 by pounding away at one message — the economy. Thanks to that single-mindedness of purpose, he won, even though the economy was markedly improved by election day. He’s got the job, the nation’s facing a momentous challenge, and now he’s all over the map.

Second, it’s hard to remember the last time President Clinton did something that wasn’t being done for the kids, the last time he was photographed anywhere but in a sea of young smiling faces. Here’s something he could do for the kids — quit acting like he’s running for something and lead.