Rubio vs. Jeb on Common Core: ‘I’m Very Concerned’ About Dept. of Ed.

“I support curriculum reform. I think we need to have the best curriculum possible. When I was the speaker at the floor of the House, we passed standards and improved Florida’s curriculum. My concern, not just with Common Core, but in general, is that we all of the sudden create some standard that the federal government uses as a requirement to impose on the states.

One thing is to say if you do things a certain way, we’ll incentivize it. Another thing is to say, if you don’t do it this way, we’re going to penalize you by cutting funding. And while that’s not what they’re doing today, that’s where the federal government always winds up.

So I’m very concerned, as many Americans are, that something like Common Core could be used by the federal Department of Education to one day impose restrictions on schools, when in fact education is primarily at the K-12 level, a state and local responsibility.”