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Jeb Bush presidential campaign, 2016/Education
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 Jeb Bush |
Former governor of Florida (1999-2007) |
 Republican candidate: |
2028 • 2024 • 2020 • 2016 |
This page was current as of the 2016 election.
- Jeb Bush released an education plan on January 18, 2016 on the blogging site Medium. Bush wrote, “My plan is budget neutral and returns power to states, local school districts and parents. My plan requires a complete overhaul of a system from one that serves bureaucracies to one that serves the needs of families and students and is based on four conservative principles: 1) education decisions should be made as close to the student as possible; 2) choice of all kinds should be expanded; 3) transparency is essential to accountability; and 4) innovation requires flexibility.” He also wrote that he would accomplish his plan with four steps: First, “doubling support for charter schools; strengthening the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program; and making federal aid to low-income (Title I) and special needs students (IDEA) portable, so states can give scholarships directly to those students to attend the school of their choice;” Second, requiring “states to ensure every citizen receives a complete picture of student achievement, system progress and finances in their schools;” Third, “empower[ing] states with the flexibility to improve their schools, while ensuring the federal government does not interfere in academic standards, curriculum or content;” Fourth, giving “schools whose teachers achieve good results for low-income students more money, incentivizing and rewarding success.” He remarked in an accompanying video “Dr. King's vision for America was based on equality of opportunity. … Without a quality education there is no equality of opportunity. It is the civil rights issue of our time.”[2]
| "Governor Bush Reflects on 15 Years of the A+ Plan for Education." |
- On August 19, 2015, Bush called for “total voucherization” at an education summit in New Hampshire. He explained, “Let the suppliers come up with the creative solutions, have high expectations and accountability, and get out of the way."[3]
- On June 23, 2015, Bush wrote an op-ed for The New York Post advocating for school choice. Noting Hillary Clinton has "an outsize influence in New York politics," Bush criticized her for supporting Mayor Bill de Blasio, an opponent of charter schools. If elected, Bush said he would "reduce the power and authority of the federal Department of Education, sending more money and flexibility back to the states so greater school-choice opportunities can be made available to parents and their children."[4]
Common Core
- Jeb Bush's education foundation has advocated the Common Core State Standards Initiative. In October 2013, he said, "I understand there are those opposed to the standards. But what I want to hear from them is more than just opposition. I want to hear their solutions for the hodgepodge of dumbed-down state standards that have created group mediocrity in our schools. Criticisms and conspiracy theories are easy attention grabbers. Solutions are hard work. Be a problem solver."[5]
- At a GOP summit in New Hampshire in April 2015, Bush discussed Common Core and the federal government, saying, "We don’t need a federal government involved in this at all."[6]
- According to Politico reporter Marc Caputo, Bush did not use the term "Common Core" during a February 2015 educational policy speech. Bush said, “I’m for higher standards. And I’m for creating real restrictions of the federal government’s role in this. So you can alleviate people’s fears that you’re going to have some kind of control by the federal government of content or curriculum or even standards. I’m against the federal government being involved in demanding that assessments be done in a certain way.” Bush also called the public education system “government-run, unionized monopolies.”[7]
- In July 2014, Bloomberg Business reported, "Bush’s nonprofit Foundation for Excellence in Education in Tallahassee has stepped up its support of Common Core. Foundation director Patricia Levesque has written opinion articles defending the initiative, using student gains in Florida as evidence the educational model works."[8]
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term Jeb + Bush + Education
See also
Footnotes
- ↑ [http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/21/us/politics/jeb-bush.html?_r=0 The New York Times, " Jeb Bush Bows Out of Campaign, Humbled and Outgunned," February 20, 2016]
- ↑ Medium, "Restoring the Right to Rise Through a Quality Education," January 18, 2016
- ↑ CBS News, "Jeb Bush pitches 'total voucherization' at education summit," August 19, 2015
- ↑ The New York Post, "School choice is the best hope for New York’s kids — and America’s," June 23, 2015
- ↑ Tampa Bay Times, "Jeb Bush to Common Core opponents: 'conspiracy theories are easy attention grabbers,'" October 17, 2013
- ↑ Politico, "The New Hampshire GOP summit: 6 takeaways," April 19, 2015
- ↑ Politico, "Jeb's education talk omits the words 'Common Core,'" accessed February 19, 2015
- ↑ Bloomberg, "Jeb Bush Draws Tea Party Ire Touting Education Record," accessed February 19, 2015
