Ohio Governor John Kasich … took off the gloves this past week and implied that opponents of Common Core are liars.
Written by Steve Byas – THE NEW AMERICAN
A line of division among the potential Republican candidates for president seems to be developing in the controversy over Common Core “education standards.” Former congressman and present Ohio Governor John Kasich (shown on left), a possible presidential hopeful next year, took off the gloves this past week and implied that opponents of Common Core are liars.
This puts Kasich in the same pro-Common Core boat with former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey. In opposition to the radical education standards are fellow governors Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and Scott Walker of Wisconsin, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, and U.S. Senators Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, and Marco Rubio.
Speaking on Fox News Sunday, Kasich did not allow that his fellow governors who oppose Common Core were just wrong, or perhaps misinformed; he contended rather that they are playing politics with the issue. “These are governors who helped create Common Core,” he insisted. But with a presidential election looming and the Republican grassroots up in arms against Common Core, Kasich claims they are telling Republicans what they want to hear.
Jindal of Louisiana has filed a lawsuit in federal court, arguing that the federal Department of Education is making an effort to nationalize the curriculum with incentives such as President Obama’s Race to the Top, which are now tied to states’ acceptance of the controversial Common Core standards. “I’ve asked the Republican governors who have complained about this to tell me where I’m wrong,” Kasich said. “Guess what — silence.”
Kasich had already been removed from the short list of viable contenders by many Republican activists because of his expansion of Medicaid in Ohio under ObamaCare. Additionally, back during the Clinton administration, Kasich was one of 42 Republicans who voted for Bill Clinton’s ban on assault rifles. He also favors granting U.S. citizenship to illegal aliens. And, now, Kasich supports Common Core.
“The Common Core was written by state superintendents and local principals,” Kasich claimed, dismissing concerns that it is a part of a federal takeover of the curriculum in the schools. He even insisted that the standards were established by “local school boards.” Kasich was adamant: “Barack Obama doesn’t set it; the state of Ohio doesn’t set it. It is local school boards driving better education, higher standards, created by local school boards.”
So, who is telling the truth? Is it Kasich, who argues that Common Core is not part of a federal takeover of public education, and that it is not a national curriculum? Or is it his opponents, in and out of public office, who are just as adamant that the standards were not written by “local school boards,” but rather are a major element of the effort to create a national curriculum?
Proponents of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) contend that they were created by the states. They usually give as an example that the standards were written by the National Governors Association (NGA), and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). The names of these two organizations certainly make it sound as if it is the states that are responsible for the standards, and not the federal government.