Posted by Mary Grabar on September 10, 2015 @ Selous Foundation
Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee surprised many conservatives by
sending a mailing asking them to “Endorse Mike’s Pledge
to Kill Common Core.” It reads, “I, Mike Huckabee, pledge allegiance to God,
the Constitution, and the citizens of the United States: As President I will
fight to kill Common Core and restore common sense. Education is a family
function—not a federal function.”
Huckabee then came out with another mailing in which he vowed not only
to kill Common Core, but to abolish the Department of Education.
Huckabee declared his candidacy in May. Reporters and commentators
questioned the motivations for his shift on Common Core. At the Daily Caller, Blake Neff called Huckabee’s
“strong, total condemnation” a “relatively new trait” and questioned the
governor’s explanation: “the unexpected involvement of the Obama
administration.” In January, at National Review Andrew Johnson noted that
Huckabee had publicly praised Common Core standards that he claimed were
developed by governors and state education officials. A blog called “The Truth about Mike Huckabee” basically
repeats these claims but in a heightened, defensive style, stating, “It is
important to note that The National Governor’s Association Common Core IS NOT
the same as the Common Core associated with the Department of Education Grants.
If you take the time to research this topic you will see that one of many
differences is that the federal government requires those who administer the
grant project meet certain diversity guidelines, which is completely foreign to
the work done by the National Governor’s Association. These are two completely
different programs, begun by different organizations, with different
implementation and operational objectives.”
Huckabee’s defense does not stand up to scrutiny. Neff pointed to
Huckabee’s 2011 book A Simple
Government,
in which Huckabee endorsed the role of the
federal government, writing, “I fully endorse the new federal program Race to
the Top, which has states compete for additional education funds, allowing them
to decide what reforms to enact, rather than having specific reforms imposed on
them from above.” This was two years after the Race to the Top program required
that states agree to adopt the federal Common Core guidelines as part of the application
process.
As he contemplated his presidential run, Huckabee knew that his
“complicated history with Common Core” could be the reason he’d lose a
significant portion of the evangelical base that supported him in 2008,
according to Johnson. Conservatives already had a problem with Huckabee’s
record as governor that included increases in taxes and pardons for criminals.
Furthermore, Huckabee’s efforts continued in 2013 and included sending a
letter to Oklahoma lawmakers ahead of a vote to dump Common Core in that state;
he encouraged them “to resist any attempt to delay implementation.” That year,
Huckabee also told the Council of Chief State School Officers to “rebrand”
Common Core, and not “retreat.”
The authors of Common Core Report: Grading the 2016 GOP Candidates
(by American Principles in Action and Cornerstone Policy Research Action) write
that Huckabee’s “rebrand advice to the owners and supporters gut-stabbed the
national grassroots movement right when it was gaining traction.” Rebranding,
or renaming, the Common Core standards, while making superficial changes, has
been a favorite strategy of politicians and bureaucrats trying to fool voters and
legislators who really are trying to kill Common Core in their states.
Huckabee claimed his comments were “misconstrued.” By December of 2013,
Huckabee was using his Fox News show to outline his
concerns about “what Common Core has become” – a divisive issue. He encouraged
“activists on both sides of the issue to move past Common Core,” and “argued
for a renewed, broader effort to improve education,” according to Johnson.
What is the federal government’s role, and specifically a president’s
role, in improving education? On his campaign site
page Huckabee pledges to abolish the Department of Education, while
insisting, “We must demand results, accountability and success for every child
in every classroom. I oppose watering down our education standards or
automatically promoting every student.”
The rationale behind federal education programs, including the No Child
Left Behind initiative of the George W. Bush administration, is precisely the
demand for “accountability.” NCLB was built on the false notion that every
child can achieve “success” and that it is the federal government’s role to see
to it. Indeed, the current education reauthorization spending bill is called the “Every Child Achieves Act” (ECAA). Common Core
was hustled through on such pretexts of accountability and standards.
The Common Core Report: Grading the 2016 GOP Candidates
gives Huckabee a “C,” in spite of his “checkered past.” (Grades range from “A-”
for Ted Cruz and Rand Paul to “F” for Jeb Bush.)
Raising his grade is Huckabee’s “forceful general argument” of late
about the problem of special interests currying the favor of the federal
executive branch, which then puts mandates on the states. State departments of
education, state boards of education, and governors then become “supplicants”
to the U.S. Department of Education.
Real Clear Politics puts Huckabee in ninth
position in a field of 15 candidates. Four major polls show him garnering four
percent of the support. It appears that Huckabee will not be the candidate who
ends the system of “supplication” to the Department of Education. Let’s hope we
get one, nevertheless.
Mary Grabar, Ph.D., has taught college English
for over twenty years. She is the founder of the Dissident Prof Education Project, Inc., an
education reform initiative that offers information and resources for students,
parents, and citizens. The motto, “Resisting the Re-Education of America,”
arose in part from her perspective as a very young immigrant from the former
Communist Yugoslavia (Slovenia specifically). She writes extensively and is the
editor of EXILED. Ms. Grabar is also a
contributor to SFPPR News
& Analysis.
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