Both Kasich and Bush have supported Common Core educational standards in the past, although Kasich avoided providing a direct yes or no answer about whether he still supports the standards while onstage Wednesday.
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Jeb Bush, a leading proponent of the education plan now often derided as “Obamacore”, tempered his language on the issue before the crowd at Londonderry High School in Londonderry, New Hampshire.
All six candidates echoed each other on a wide range of K-12 reform issues, especially the importance of state and local control.
Teachers’ unions can be allies in efforts to improve education “if we work together”, said Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who backed off anti-union legislation after it was overturned by a statewide referendum.
“I mean, why not allow total voucherization?”
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said again they deserve “a punch in the face”.
Despite her background running a technology company, she says new technology is not the “silver bullet” in education. He says that when it becomes clear that something isn’t working, it only makes sense to change course.
Christie is also strongly defending his reversal on the Common Core standards, which he had once supported. They lay out what students should know how to do in kindergarten through senior year of high school in English and math. By 2011, more than 40 states had adopted the standards.
“It’s not like pornography where you know it when you see it, but clearly low standards – you know it. That’s what most states have had”, he said, later adding that the “commonality” of standards is “not as relevant as the highness of them”.
Bush said that the federal government could act as a partner in reform, providing schools with funding if they showed results.
Yes, I would absolutely expect Common Core to be a highlight of this forum.
The Summit will be moderated by former CNN anchor and founder of The 74 Million, Campbell Brown, and sponsorship for the Summit comes from the AFC, chaired by Betsy DeVos, a longtime education activist, most notably involved with the Republican party.
Earlier Wednesday, he secured the endorsement of former New Hampshire Republican state legislators Doug and Stella Scamman, whose farm hosted Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign launch.
Scott Walker is using an education forum for Republican presidential contenders to tout his labor union-clashing credentials.
“I think that’s a tough one, because what would happen to all the schools the children were pulled out of?” said Sweet, who said she is undecided about the presidential election, which is more than 14 months away. “I worry that we get so focused on preparing people for a career that we forget to feed their souls and build their character”. And the 55-page report is evidence that for many conservatives, it’s not enough for the candidates to merely qualify past support or argue in favor of higher standards. Each candidate will get about 45 minutes to answer questions and defend their records.
Kasich, like Bush, distanced himself from Common Core. “One of the first initiatives that we did was between the police and the board of education, for safe school passage zones”, Christie said.
Unions reward seniority, not excellence, said Carly Fiorina, the former Hewlett-Packard CEO who has surged after her early-August debate performance.
Bush went on to say the federal government should have “nothing to say” about the standards – a move that earned applause from the audience at the education summit sponsored by the American Federation for Children, which backs school choice and the education site, The Seventy Four. Instead, he has pushed for a broader definition of higher standards. But he appeared to struggle slightly when asked how to determine whether a state has high standards if all states set their own.
The senators are co-sponsors on a bill to protect state and local school districts from federal intrusion.
Still, he said, education would benefit from the elimination of teachers’ unions.
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“I’ve got tire marks on my forehead”. You can see the gashes here.
