Posted on 12/31/2014 4:34:14 AM PST by HomerBohn
Jeb Bush's early entry into the 2016 presidential campaign has already turned the Obama administration's Common Core education standards into one of the hottest topics among conservatives ahead of the 2016 primary.
Bush, who had left office as Florida's governor by the time the standards were unveiled, doggedly supported them, both in his personal statements and through his nonprofit Foundation for Excellence in Education. The standards were and are controversial, facing ferocious opposition both from Tea Party conservatives and teachers unions.
The most dramatic political manifestation of the anti-Common Core movement occurred in the 2012 election in Indiana, where conservative activists helped install a liberal, union-backed opponent of Common Core as state educational superintendent, defeating an incumbent Republican who supported the standards.
Teachers unions have often opposed the creation of educational standards in principle, but Common Core often comes under fire from the Right because its compliant textbooks recommend strange methods for learning math that are perhaps not well-suited to children's formation in the subject. It has also given rise to reading lists that exclude timeless classics in favor of contemporary drivel.
But Common Core is not a method, nor a reading list, nor a curriculum. It is merely a set of national educational standards. And on those grounds alone, conservatives are right to view it with skepticism.
Education is a state and local issue. The oft-maligned principle of federalism was embedded in the Constitution for a reason. It defies common sense to suggest that bureaucrats in Washington are in a better position to dictate educational policy in rural Iowa than the locals themselves. The educational needs of different communities vary dramatically and will not likely be met by a one-size-fits-all policy from a federal government that already fails to manage its constitutional obligations properly.
Common Core is also a cautionary tale of how one manifestation of big government begets another. One incentive President Obama has used to spread Common Core has been to waive for those states that adopt it some of the burdens placed upon them by former President George W. Bush's No Child Left Behind law. Big government thus becomes leverage for big government. Conservatives are right to be skeptical, even if the Common Core standards represent an incremental tightening of whatever state standards existed before.
Moreover, Common Core seems a distraction in terms of solving America's education problem. Jurisdictions that have either legalized educational choice or allowed public charter schools to operate outside rigid government (and union) controls have discovered enormous parental demand and found much better ways of teaching. In educational reform, this is the most important step, not uniform national standards.
These objections do not automatically disqualify Jeb Bush or any other Common Core supporter from pursuing the GOP nomination. In fact, conservatives should be wary of pandering on this issue. Opposition to Common Core might in some cases be nothing more than a cheap, easy way for politicians to ingratiate themselves to teachers unions.
But state and local control of education is an important principle. At the very least, Republicans who seek the presidency and support Common Core standards should explain whether they respect limitations on federal power, and if so, how they would show that respect from the White House if they believe education is a federal problem.
Jeb is the favorite of those establishment Republicans responsible for a chunk of America's shameful deficit and the enlargement of an enslaving central socialist government. They have proven that they can work hand in hand with Progressives.
A sure way to lose in 2016 and to continue America's downward spiral is to promote Jeb.
Bush III? No way!
What’s an election about if it’s not about issues?
Education is a state and local issue.Education is a family issue.
Imagine, GHWB wanted to be known as “the education president,” and GWB put Ted Kennedy in charge of “no child left behind.”LCLB was so bad that when Obama told the states they could get out from under it by signing up for Rotten Core, most states signed up for it sight unseen.
The only way I would ever vote for Jeb Bush is if he were to run as a democrat against Chris Christie.
Jebbie is horribly wrong on at least two very important issues, Common Core being one of them. It doesn’t even matter to me if he means well, because Common Core gives the federal government powers it should not have. Should it stand, those powers will definitely be used against us by leftists.
Like his brother, Jebbie may try to make the federal government more efficient. He may honestly want to use Common Core to produce better students. That is a fool’s errand, because power once seized is rarely surrendered. Even if Jebbie controls Common Core for the best—a dubious prospect given the unassailable education bureaucracy—Jebbie cannot ensure a leftist administration won’t later user those powers in the worst possible ways, like to indoctrinate our students more than they already are.
“If we’re going to be the best country, and not just talk about it, we need to actually do the work to make it happen. Higher standards is a key element of that, and these standards, the Common Core State Standards, are clear and straightforward, they will allow for more innovation in the classroom, less regulation, they’ll equip students to compete against their peers across the globe.”
- Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush
http://highercorestandards.org/
Education is not a federal issue. It is a local issue. There should be no department of education. It should be abolished. No other solution deserves discussion.
I don't like Common Core. So I'm naturally suspicious of "Hour of Code". But negative reviews are rare. Maybe it's OK. But maybe not. In any case it is worth a look by Freepers.
Two things I find comical: Actors that become so simply because their parents were actors (e.g. the Fondas and the Sheens) and politicians that follow in the family business.
The only thing Jeb has going for him is his last name, and lets be honest, it takes very little actual ability or understanding of US Government and its function to get elected to public office. I would say Boxer and Pelosi prove that point sufficiently.
When I look at Jeb’s history, there is nothing there that would make me want to vote for him. Nothing.
One needs to go no further than No Child Left Behind to see how a poorly conceived and implemented plan can have disatorous effects. All NCLB has done is manufacture a system where teachers teach to a test and most of those tests suck. Total failure. That recent history justifies the skeptical nature of parents.
When we see complaints about Common Core we almost always see completely jacked up math problems. My question is are those math problems really common core or are they a product of current curricula that are able to say they are common core compliant. Neither of them excuse these insane curricula, but to be effective we need to know the difference.
I need look no further than the basic fact: it's sponsored by the central government's education socialists. It is yet another vehicle to expand Washington and to take over what is the province of local government.
This parasite has played with his toys entirely too long.
I thought I was sick of Bill Clinton, and indeed I was, but this Barry abomination is a fatal disease.
Islam is being taught in US schools through common core.
Allah in our schools ( Common Core )
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3241438/posts
See list of recent reports of Islam in schools here MA, MS, MD, TN, CA, etc.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/bloggers/3227490/posts?page=19#19
Why Did Hundreds of Common Core Implementers Meet in Dubai?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3222449/posts
http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/2014/11/02/why-did-hundreds-common-core-implementers-meet-in-dubai/
The big secret = Common Core is the indoctrination of Global Marxism!!!!
Common Core Not State Led – Here’s Proof
http://www.redstate.com/diary/littletboca/2014/10/24/common-core-state-led-heres-proof/
NO to BUSHES; CLINTONS; or OBAMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Common Core is a Trojan Horse for the liberal agenda.
It is and will be used to indoctrinate our children with Anti-American, Anti-Christian attitudes and ideas.
It is designed to do this from a Federal level, so there is no escape.
It will undermine Private schools and Home Schooling by making their Communist agenda mandatory.
To learn how to code takes some sort of mental discipline and CommieCore is not equipped to handle that kind of detail.
Well IMO Jebbie has announced too soon and chances are he will flame out.
Moreover, the authority over education is a terribly important and powerful authority to give to people of dubious motives, and it tends to attract the worst people in the world: Nazis, Communists, mandarins and conspirators of every stripe.
Remember what the Sufis always taught: Never hire for any job, the guy who wants it in the worst way. Thus the Sufis.
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