As the presidential election of 2016 draws ever
closer, yet not nearly fast enough it seems, I have been studying the
Republican candidates.
Following
is my list of candidates whom I’ve been keeping an eye on and their “grades”
pertaining to their stance on Common Core. This list is by no mean exhaustive
and is only focusing on the Common Core and education reform.
Jeb Bush: F
Jeb Bush is making a
lot of money off of the Common Core. He started a foundation called Foundation for Excellence in
Education and has been the biggest cheerleader for Common Core since before we
even know what it was. Jeb Bush quote on Common Core: “I’m not going
to change my position because there’s four people in the
front row yelling at me.”
John Kasich: F
Mr.
Kasich is a proponent of the Common Core. As recently as January of this year
he had this to say: “The Common Core was written by state education superintendents and
local principals. In my state of Ohio, we want higher standards for our
children, and those standards are set and the curriculum is set by local school
boards,” Kasich said on “Fox News Sunday.” “Barack Obama doesn’t set it, the
state of Ohio doesn’t set it. It is local school boards driving better
education, higher standards, created by local school boards.” He claims that he asks people who speak out
against the standards for reasoning and they have none. I think he’s asking the
wrong folks. Kasich also likes to bash Bobby Jindal for his position, as it has
changed from pro to against. He did recently pull Ohio from the PARCC
consortia, which is good.
Bobby Jindal: C
Bobby
Jindal is a conundrum to me. He supported vouchers for Louisiana as that
state’s governor, but vouchers are squishy for me. They mean government control
over whatever entity takes that voucher, including private schools. He also
supported the Common Core until he saw the Obama administration make a game out
of states adopting the standards and sees it as a way for the feds to take
greater control of public education. He is currently behind a lawsuit against
the federal government for the Common Core.
Scott Walker: D-
Governor
Walker, according to many conservative WI constituents, is the king of
public/private partnerships. Common Core is a huge public/private venture.
People in his own state are frustrated with his support for the controversial
education reform. As with many other candidates, his position is shifting. He
now says he would repeal it.
Mike Huckabee: D-
Mr.
Huckabee’s support for the Common Core has surprised many of his ardent fans
who thought he was more conservative than he is on this issue. He took a lot of
public posturing against his stand for many months. He finally came out
saying that the Common Core needs to die. And by die he meant “rebrand,
rename” and carry on.
Chris Christie: C
A
telling couple of quotes. In 2013 he said: “We’re doing Common Core in New Jersey, and we are
going to continue. This is one of those areas where I have agreed more with the
president than not and with [Education] Secretary [Arne] Duncan,” he said.
But last Thursday (June 2015) he changed his tune. “We must reject federal
control of our education and return it to parents and teachers,” Christie said.
“We need to take it out of the cubicles of Washington, D.C. where it was placed
by the Obama administration and return it to the neighborhoods of New Jersey.”
Rick Perry: C
Rick
Perry says he is against Common Core. His state, Texas, doesn’t have anything
in it named Common Core. However, it is following the 21st Century
Skills drum that is another name for it. Now, again, this is not an exhaustive
resource and I would advise anyone to do their own research on these
candidates’ views on education and any other topic before voting.
Dr. Ben Carson: B-
Mr. Carson says he wants to overturn Common Core. He is a big fan of school choice. And on the
surface, someone who wants to overturn Common Core and supports school choice
might seem great. However,
school choice can be a wolf in sheep’s clothing. I believe Ben Carson is a very
intelligent man, probably smarter than any of the other people running, and he
hopefully would be open to taking advice on education from many places and he
would see the possible danger of school choice. Don’t get me wrong, it can be
done right, but it would take a tremendous amount of dedication.
Donald Trump: B
Donald
Trump has said that Common Core has got to go. And he’s right. But I don’t
think he knows why he’s right. Which means he needs a major crash course on
education before he does anything. There’s a lot of money to be made on
education and he’s a big business guy…which gives me a very slight pause.
Marco Rubio: B-
Rubio
has come out swinging against Jeb Bush (his former governor) and his position
on Common Core. However, he speaks a lot about better-trained employees for the
future. Which makes most CC Warriors cringe. Even if a state repeals CC it will
most likely still have the standards that prepare kids for the 21st Century Skills the powers that be want. Common Core under a
different name, still smells janky.
Carly Fiorina: B
Ms.
Fiorina has said education is important but we need to get the federal
government out of the business of setting education curriculum, standards, etc.
Technically, the feds don’t control curriculum. The candidates need to become
better acquainted with this issue so they know exactly what role the feds are
playing and why they need to stop.
Ted Cruz: B+
Ted
Cruz has said he will repeal every word of Common Core. Problem with that?
There is no bill to repeal. And even if there was, you’d still end up with
states like Oregon who go ahead and stick to what the feds suggest no matter
what. Mr. Cruz needs a little more education on Common Core and then hopefully,
being a proponent of states’ rights, he would do the right thing.
Rand Paul: A
Rand
Paul has been the only voice against Common Core from the very beginning. At
this point, Mr. Paul would probably abolish the United States Department of
Education altogether. Which, contrary to the progressives’ chant that
this would be throwing the baby out with the bathwater, some of us would see as
a refreshing change. Now, again, this is not an exhaustive resource and I would
advise anyone to do their own research on these candidates’ views on education
and any other topic before voting.
http://politichicks.com/2015/08/where-do-the-gop-candidates-really-stand-on-common-core/
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