Jeb Bush last week expressed his support for a Senate proposal opposing any nudge by the federal government to get states to adopt the Common Core education standards, but a past statement by Bush presents a more nuanced vision of the federal government’s role in pushing states on education.
The non-binding Senate measure, which promotes prohibiting the federal government “from mandating, incentivizing or coercing states to adopt the Common Core State Standards,” passed the Senate last week. The former Florida governor and likely presidential candidate hailed the Senate measure for “ensuring states’ autonomy when it comes to adopting high standards that are right for their students.”
But in an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” in September 2011, Bush seemed to hold the opposite view. During a discussion on education reform, host Joe Scarborough asked Bush, “Does the answer come from Washington, or does it come state by state?”
“I think (Education) Secretary (Arne) Duncan and President Obama deserve credit for putting pressure on states to change, particularly the states that haven’t changed at all. They’re providing carrots and sticks, and I think that’s appropriate,” Bush responded. “But these things have to happen at the state level for policy changes.”
Although Bush did not explicitly mention Common Core, his remarks came after Duncan and Obama made adopting the standards among the criteria for states to receive Race To The Top funding — a signature education proposal in Obama’s first term.
Responding to the Washington Examiner, Bush spokesman Tim Miller pointed to a Wall Street Journal op-ed written by Bush in June 2011, in which he expressed support for Common Core as a state-based initiative: “It is the states’ responsibility to foster an education system that leads to rising student achievement.”
“His view now and his view then was that the federal government should not have any authority or involvement, directly or indirectly in standards or curriculum,” Miller added. “That should be driven by the states.”
This is not in particular dispute among Republicans, and even Sen. David Vitter R-La., who sponsored the Senate amendment, has expressed a similar view. Whether Bush supported and supports federal incentives for states to adopt the Common Core standards, or sanctions if they do not — the “carrots and sticks” — is another question.
Earlier this year, in a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference, Bush said the president had overstepped with the Race To The Top funding.
“This president, and this Department of Education, there’s a risk that they will intrude, and they have as it relates to Race to the Top,” Bush said.
In a statement Friday, Miller suggested Bush is in alignment with Vitter, who opposes tying Common Core adoption to federal Race To The Top funding as the Obama administration has done.
“Gov. Bush applauds Sen. Vitter and Republicans in the U.S. Senate for ensuring states’ autonomy when it comes to adopting high standards that are right for their students,” Miller said. “As Gov. Bush demonstrated through his leadership in Florida, states have always been more effective at addressing policy challenges in our schools.”
Bush’s support for the Common Core standards has presented a challenge as he prepares to run for president, with the standards having become a hot issue among conservative Republicans who fear a heavy-handed federal government role in education policy.
