Editor's note: This post was first published on Flypaper on July 21, 2015.
John Kasich announced today that he’s running for president. The current governor of Ohio is the sixteenth Republican to join the crowded GOP primary, dwarfing the five-person field on the other side of the aisle. He’s also the twenty-first subject of our Eduwatch 2016 series chronicling presidential candidates’ stances on education issues.
Kasich entered politics in the late 1970s, when he was elected to the Ohio Senate. He moved on to the House of Representatives in 1983, representing the state’s Twelfth Congressional District until 2001. After taking a break from public life, he returned to take Ohio’s helm in 2011. During his time as the state’s sixty-ninth governor, Kasich has made education a priority, and his efforts have produced some positive results. Here’s a sampling of his views:
1. Common Core: “[The idea behind the standards was for] students in every state to be given the opportunity to compete with every other student….I want kids to jump higher….I’m going to make sure, at least in my state, that standards are high and local control is maintained….Now, some may call that Common Core. I don’t really know, but I’m telling you the way it is in my state.” July 2015.
2. Common Core–aligned curricula: “The curriculum to meet those standards…is set by local school boards….It is not set by Barack Obama, it is not even set by John Kasich; it is set by local school boards. And we have parental advisors that work with the school board.” July 2015.
3. The Common Core conversation: “Now, on this whole business of Common Core, it’s like it’s radioactive: You mention that and everybody all the sudden doesn’t listen anymore.” July 2015.
4. Charter schools: “We need charter schools. We need them. Okay?” February 2015.
5. Charter school governance: “At times Ohio hasn't provided enough guidance and oversight for charters. We're changing that by cracking down on charter school sponsors who turn a blind eye to their failing schools. We're going to give better schools to better sponsors, and we will ban them from sponsoring new schools if they're not doing their jobs. We'll ban them. For sponsors who struggle but who show promise, we'll incentivize them with some facility upgrades.” February 2015.
6. Career and technical education: “Parents, technical and vocational education is okay. It's good. It's good.” February 2015.
7. The federal role in education: “We don’t want the federal government driving K–12 education....” March 2015.
8. Education funding: “You know, education funding is not about buildings, equipment, or adults, and I'll tell you one more thing that it's not about: It's not about a state printout. It's not about getting some state printout to look at whether you got a minus or a plus. It's about distributing precious resources as best as we can to be in a position where kids can all have an equal chance.” February 2015.
9. Flexible accountability: “We're going to give the districts flexibility on teacher evaluations, cut back red tape, and high performances for schools…if we've got high-performing schools, let's not hassle them. Let's give them freedom to do whatever they want to do.” February 2015.
10. College affordability: “With lower costs and a freeze on tuition, more students can afford college, hopefully finish without the huge debts.” February 2015.
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That’s it for John Kasich. And it may be it for new candidates—at least for a while. In the meantime, read what the other twenty hopefuls have said about education. And stay tuned to Eduwatch 2016 as we move on to more substantive coverage of the forthcoming election.
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Read what Hillary Clinton, Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Bernie Sanders, Ben Carson, Carly Fiorina, Mike Huckabee, Rand Paul, Rick Santorum, George Pataki, Martin O'Malley, Lindsey Graham, Lincoln Chafee, Rick Perry, Donald Trump, Chris Christie, Scott Walker, and Jim Webb have said about education.
