“Neither.”
That’s what Jeb Bush said when asked who would be better on education: Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton?
But that’s OK, he says, because education is mostly a state and local issue.
“Thankfully it’s one of the policy areas, if you’re not passionate about making education reform a national priority, which neither are, then the role of the presidency is — they’re not the chairman of the national school board. They’re not 50 states or where the policy’s made,” Bush said in an interview with The 74’s Matt Barnum.
“Neither are going to be helpful, I don’t think, because it’s not a priority, but that’s OK, because the fight has to be state by state,” Bush said.
Under Presidents George W. Bush and Obama, education increasingly became a federal issue. Legislation and programs like No Child Left Behind, Race to the Top and, eventually, waivers from No Child Left Behind’s penalties, increasingly gave the federal Department of Education more power.
But that changed in the Every Student Succeeds Act, a bipartisan law signed in December 2015. That law began to roll back the federal role in education, giving more power to states and local governments.
Who’s Bush going to vote for? “I’m not going to talk about that,” he replied when asked.
During an accompanying event at the conservative Manhattan Institute, Bush joked about Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson becoming president.
“If I did get a call several weeks after the election, what would I tell President Johnson? I mean president whoever,” Bush joked.
Jason Russell is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
