This is a repost of my weekly Da Tech Guy Column: Rubio On Education Puts Jeb To Shame

By A.P. Dillon

The first Republican debate was more entertaining than it had a right to be.

While a historic number of people watched it, they were likely doing so to see what came out of Trump’s mouth next. Those folks were probably not disappointed.

I was watching for how the candidates reacted to a few key issues. One of them is education — specifically Common Core.  I was not disappointed.

The question on Common Core was fired right at Jeb Bush, who dodged it without the words “Common Core” ever crossing his lips. It was artful, but to those of us engaged in the fight against the Core, it was predictable and highly disingenuous.

First, it should be noted that Arne Duncan has attacked parents and insulted millions with his ‘white suburban mom‘ rhetoric. Jeb Bush and John Kasich prefer to utilize Unicorns to smear parents with.

Second, Jeb Bush’s promotion of Common Core runs in contradiction to his claim he is a proponent of school choice. Common Core is the opposite of choice, sir.

The question on Common Core was then redirected to Sen. Marco Rubio. I was a bit surprised that they didn’t toss it to Kasich. After all, Kasich is in this race to take Common Core heat off Jeb and hand him Ohio.

What Rubio said in his response effectively stapled Bush’s position on Common Core to Bush’s own forehead:

Well, first off, I too believe in curriculum reform. It is critically important in the 21st Century. We do need curriculum reform. And it should happen at the state and local level. That is where educational policy belongs, because if a parent is unhappy with what their child is being taught in school, they can go to that local school board or their state legislature, or their governor and get it changed.

Here’s the problem with Common Core. The Department of Education, like every federal agency, will never be satisfied. They will not stop with it being a suggestion. They will turn it into a mandate.

In fact, what they will begin to say to local communities is, you will not get federal money unless do you things the way we want you to do it. And they will use Common Core or any other requirements that exists nationally to force it down the throats of our people in our states.

This response isn’t just applicable to Common Core or the Department of Education. There are examples of this mandate machine we call the Federal government in every sector of our lives now.

The lengths to which the federal government has gone to ensure control over the states to date is Orwellian. And this control seeking behavior is increasing.

Rubio didn’t stop with Jeb Bush on education either, he took a clean shot at Hillary Clinton and “free” college this week. From a press release from his campaign site:

“Hillary Clinton’s higher education plan is Obamacare for college. Clinton’s plan doubles down on the outdated system that’s created skyrocketing tuitions and degrees that don’t lead to jobs. Rather than modernize our system by embracing new innovations, Clinton will raise taxes and pour more money into a broken system. 

Good to see Rubio taking aim at Clinton on this topic. This is yet another example of where another federal mandate could be created funded by our own tax dollars.

Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton now have another thing in Common beyond donors — Rubio has called them both out on education. Clinton, like Bush, also is a supporter of Common Core.