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Republican Presidential Candidates Fumble Over What to Do About Common Core

Republican Presidential Candidates Fumble Over What to Do About Common Core

Common Core made an appearance in last night’s Republican presidential debate.

Presidential hopefuls Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and John Kasich answered questions about their stance on the standards- which are typically dismissed by the Republican party as being correlated to Department of Education overreach.

Kasich was asked by CNN debate moderator Jake Tapper why he referred to the work done by Ohio grassroots conservatives as “hysteria” last year. The groups were fighting the implementation of the standards in the state.

Kasich- like many Republican candidates- reinforced his belief that he is in favor of local control of education while still standing behind the high standards he supports.

“Well, look, all I’m in favor of in Ohio is high standards,” Kasich responded to Tapper. “First of all, let me tell you, I would take 125 federal education programs, put them in four buckets, and send them back to the states. OK, I’ve been working on this for many, many years,” Kasich said.

“Secondly, Jake, in our state, the state school board sets the standards...And we want high standards because we have not always had high standards, unfortunately. They set the standards and the local school boards develop the curriculum.”

When Tapper prompted Donald Trump to elaborate more on his intentions for Common Core, Trump reiterated his belief that Common Core represents “education through Washington, D.C.” and he instead supports local education.

Tapper responded:

"The Common Core standards were developed by the states...States and localities voluntarily adopt them, and they come up with their own curricula to meet those standards. So when you say education by Washington D.C., what do you mean?”

Trump won applause from the audience after arguing that Common Core initially started as a local endeavor but is now being managed by the federal government.

But like The Daily Caller points out the reality is actually the opposite. The Every Student Succeeds Act, makes it illegal for the federal government to intervene in or promote standards like it had previously done in the early implementation of the Common Core. In other words, it would be illegal for the future president to force states to repeal the standards as well.

The candidates’ fumbles further highlight the disconnect between what Common Core Standards actually are and how the public perceives them.

Article by Nicole Gorman, Education World Contributor


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