Former Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Penn., spoke out against the Common Core educational standards Friday while addressing the Conservative Political Action Conference.
“Put parents back in charge, not the government,” Santorum said. “Back in 2012, I wasn’t for Common Core. And today, I’m still not for Common Core.”
Later, during a question and answer session, Santorum was asked, “What is the best way to dismantle Common Core?”
Santorum replied, “I think we’re starting that. I think we have a bill, that I’m in support of, that Sen. David Vitter has introduced in the Senate, that from the federal level would put the brakes on Common Core. I think it’s important that, since the federal government, through … the Obama administration’s programs to provide all sorts of money for states to adopt Common Core, that we should cut off that money and give the states the flexibility to use that money as they see fit, not how Arne Duncan sees fit.”
Arne Duncan has served as the Secretary of Education since Obama took office in 2009. Under Race to the Top, the federal government gave states taxpayer funding for adopting Common Core and other education reforms preferred by the Department of Education. The Obama administration also pressured states into adopting Common Core by attaching the standards to waivers from No Child Left Behind’s burdens.
Earlier Friday, Donald Trump told CPAC attendees that Common Core is bad and criticized Jeb Bush for supporting it. Trump and Santorum join Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie as politicians who criticized Common Core at CPAC.
