Jeb Bush, the Common Core, & 2016
by Frederick M. Hess • Apr 7, 2014 at 9:29 am
Cross-posted from Education Week
Cross-posted from Education Week
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A "Jeb Bush for President" boomlet is heating up, and for good reason. Amidst what's shaping up to be a crowded field of intriguing candidates, he may offer the most impressive package of accomplishment, gravitas, people skills, policy smarts, and ready-made political machinery. That's why Bush has been gettingclose attention of late from national columnists like George Will.
For those interested in schooling, a potential Jeb Bush candidacy is an altogether good thing. Keep in mind that, for more than a decade, Jeb Bush has been the Right's unquestioned champion of school reform. During his two terms as Florida's governor, he earned a reputation for his ambitious, transformative education agenda. Since leaving office in 2007, Bush has extended his legacy. He launched the influential Foundation for Excellence in Education. He has been the go-to mentor for GOP governors on education and a leading proselytizer for digital learning. Bush's knowledge of education dwarfs that of anyone else in the field. Even if you disagree with him, a Jeb Bush candidacy ensures that education will get its fair share of attention.
Now, all that said, a Bush candidacy could also face a fascinating complication from the Common Core. Will noted this last week, when he observed that Bush's bold stance on the Common Core and on immigration reform could put him crossways with the GOP base. What to make of all this? Especially in a crowded field where small advantages or disadvantages could turn out to matter a lot? Well, we can look back to recent GOP contests for some insight.
In the run-up to 2008, Mitt Romney's record on health-care reform was thought to be a hole card that would give him a record of conservative-minded accomplishment in the primaries and a patina of can-do bipartisanship in a general election. Things looked profoundly different in 2012, after Obamacare turned a seeming asset into a primary-season liability. Romney ultimately had to spend a lot of time and energy trying to mend fences with the base.
Bush could face something similar with the Common Core. If he runs, it's long been assumed that his support for accountability and choice would be a big boost in the primaries and that Florida's track record would be a major asset in a general-election bid. Yet in the past year or two, Bush's firm support for the Common Core
