Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush on Tuesday touted Republican gubernatorial nominee Asa Hutchinson's plan to offer computer science in each high school and helped Hutchinson raise money for his campaign.
During a news conference at the LISA Academy charter school in Sherwood, Hutchinson said he wants to offer computer coding classes at each high school so Arkansas will be a leader in technology education. Earlier this year, he said that he would work with the Legislature next year to pass a law making computer science classes count toward high school graduation credit in math and science.
Bush, the son of former President George H.W. Bush and the brother of former President George W. Bush, endorsed the proposal, saying, "I wholeheartedly support your efforts to try to bring education into the 21st century.
"Think of the power of that as it relates to a long-term commitment in terms of economic development for the state," he said. "Ten years ago, it might have been hard to do it. But today because of digital learning, virtual learning, look at the classroom right here, the possibilities are abundant to be able to fulfill that really serious and thoughtful campaign promise."
Asked whether he had any advice for Hutchinson regarding Common Core standards, Bush, a supporter of these standards, said states "need high standards whether they are called Common Core or the best Arkansas standards" for the nation to succeed.
"Whatever we have today need to be higher and they need be assessed faithfully, and we need to assure more than a third of our kids are college and/or career ready," he said. "We need to fix that. There is no single silver bullet. There are a lot of things that need to be done all at once. Higher standards are part of that whether they are Common Core or the best that Arkansas can deliver with the input of Arkansas teachers and administrators."
Hutchinson of Rogers said he agreed with Bush.
"We obviously want to review everything that we do with a new governor that comes in," Hutchinson said. "I want to include parents and teachers into that review. We might have to make adjustments. There might be Arkansas standards, but we want to have high standards and high expectations for our schools."
Democratic gubernatorial nominee Mike Ross of Little Rock has said that he would ask the education commissioner and the state Board of Education for "a full review of how to implement Common Core and whether or not we need to change parts of it."
The Arkansas Board of Education in July 2010 adopted the Common Core State Standards in mathematics and English/language arts, putting Arkansas among more than 40 states and the District of Columbia to adopt the same set of standards.
The new standards replaced Arkansas' old standards over three years' time, starting in kindergarten-through-second grades in the 2011-12 school year and finishing this year in grades nine through 12. Three states, including Oklahoma, have repealed those standards.
There has been growing national concern, especially among grass-roots conservatives, that the standards represent a federal takeover of state education, according to the Associated Press. The federal government has offered some incentives to states that adopt college- and career-ready standards such as Common Core.
Nationally, opposition to the once below-the-radar standards is multidimensional. They are the cause of a split in the Republican Party between the business-backed Chamber of Commerce (which favors the standards) and social conservatives concerned about the loss of local control in schools. Meanwhile teachers' unions, traditionally part of the Democratic base, have complained about a lack of training for teachers and other aspects of how the standards have been implemented.
Bush -- who said he'll decide whether to run for president in 2016 at the end of this year -- said that vouchers and public-private partnerships should be considered for Arkansas' schools.
Hutchinson said he's promoted educational choices for parents in the schools, but he "hasn't seen any voucher plan that works for a state like Arkansas."
Ross spokesman Brad Howard said later that Ross opposes vouchers because Ross "believes public money should be kept in public schools."
Ross said that while he's "on my Jobs First tour listening to and visiting with job creators and working families across Arkansas, Congressman Hutchinson continues to only listen to his Washington and Wall Street allies.
"This should concern voters because while my focus will be on Arkansas and growing the middle class, Congressman Hutchinson's focus will be on returning the favors from his out-of-state partisan allies," Ross said in a written statement.
During the past several weeks, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie have campaigned and spoken at fundraisers for Hutchinson in Arkansas. Romney was the 2012 Republican presidential nominee. Ryan was the 2012 Republican vice presidential nominee. Christie is the chairman of the Republican Governors Association.
Metro on 10/01/2014