Jeb Bush has quit the presidential race in defeat partly because he spurned the voters’ anger and worries about the one-size-fits-all Common Core education program, large-scale immigration and political dynasties.
Emmett McGroarty, education director at American Principles Project, highlighted the importance of the Common Core program in a statement;
Let Governor Bush’s fate be a lesson for all politicians – voters want to see politicians not only oppose Common Core but actively work to eliminate it and return control of education to local and state government. Politicians – and it doesn’t matter which party – who fail to fight Common Core will be severely handicapping themselves on Election Day.
From the start, Bush ignored the GOP’s base, partly because he expected his huge pile of donations would pull and push voters into his column. “I kinda know how a Republican can win, whether it’s me or somebody else – and it has to be much more uplifting, much more positive, much more willing to be … ‘Lose the primary to win the general’ without violating your principles. It’s not an easy task, to be honest with you,” he said in December 2014.
The Washington Post also noticed this unusual strategy, saying that Bush “had been a strong supporter of educational reform adopted nationally, known as Common Core, and wrote a 300-page book outlining his views on comprehensive immigration reform — views that put him at odds with many Republicans.
McGroarty savored the win. “From the very beginning, Governor Bush’s stubborn support for the low-quality Common Core standards permanently damaged his credibility with voters – and not just with conservatives but with voters across the political spectrum,” McGroarty said.
Common Core is not just about a set of standards, but about a federal education reform that has been championed by political and education elites as well as special interests in Washington, D.C. At the same time, states have relinquished their constitutional authority to a federal government that is in league with private interests hoping to gain from the initiative.
Among Republican candidates remaining in the 2016 presidential race, only Gov. John Kasich has been an avid supporter of the Common Core standards and has referred to grassroots efforts fighting against the standards as “hysteria” and a “runaway internet campaign.”
In February of last year, Kasich perpetuated the myth that Common Core is a local education initiative.
“That is not something that Barack Obama is putting together…it’s local school boards developing local curriculum to meet higher standards,” he said. “I cannot figure out what’s wrong with that.”
Kasich has also dismissed concerns of parents about student data collection and sharing, and, last fall, his campaign was hit by a charter school data-rigging scandal.
The Ohio governor earned a grade of F on the Common Core Report Card generated by American Principles in Action.
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