Ted Cruz said that – if elected president – he would direct the U.S. Department of Education to end Common Core and, ultimately, he would abolish that department altogether.
Cruz was asked during the CNN debate in Miami Thursday night to comment on rival John Kasich’s remark that Common Core is local school boards developing local curriculum to meet higher standards.
He responded:
The Obama administration has abused executive power in forcing Common Core on the states. It has used Race-to-the-Top funds to effectively blackmail and force the states to adopt Common Core.
Now, the one silver lining of Obama abusing executive power is that everything done with executive power can be undone with executive power, and I intend to do that.
“Beyond that, though, Jake, I intend to work to abolish the federal Department of Education and send education back to the states and back to the local governments,” he added.
Cruz said he supports school choice, the expansion of charter schools, homeschooling, school vouchers, and scholarships.
Some charter schools have been effective in achieving student success, but others have been examples of cronyism and corruption as a result of arrangements between politicians and private businesses. Former GOP contender Jeb Bush was a major supporter of charter schools and school vouchers.
School vouchers have been the least conservative means of bringing about school choice. Vouchers allow taxpayer dollars to follow the child to the private or charter school of his choice, and while that sounds “conservative,” the reality is that it is not only the money that follows along with the child, but also increased government regulation. For some years now, conservative and libertarian education policy experts have warned against voucher systems in favor, instead, of tax-credit scholarships and education savings accounts, which are less likely to drag the regulations and mandates of government schools into the private arena.