2014 Iowa Senate Debates: on Education

Joni Ernst: Eliminate Department of Education but keep Pell Grants

Doug Butzier: Vouchers for school choice are a good start

A: Absolutely. It would be a good start at getting the Government out of the classroom and out of the business of educating our children. There is no constitutional authority on which the Department of Education exists.

Matthew Whitaker: Common Core is one-size-fits-all, top-down solution

Common Core is becoming a wedge issue within the Republican primary. Opponents have pointed out that Common Core standards were pushed out into the states without legislative grants of approvals through a competitive grant program, Race to the Top, that wasn't authorized by Congress in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Sam Clovis: FactCheck: Common Core originated with governors, not feds

Clovis said about the Common Core: "One of the most important tenets of a conservative platform is parental local control of education. Unelected national bodies [such as the federal Department of Education] establishing education policy for the entire country is the opposite of local control. Establishing national standards, employing unproven testing, and administering suspicious assessment processes while conducting privacy-invading data mining runs counter to common sense governance and proven conservative principles."

Sam Clovis: Common Core is federal overreach in spending and control

Over 40 states, including Iowa, accepted Common Core standards when the federal government offered grants and No Child Left Behind waivers as part of Obama's Race To The Top stimulus spending. Bevin continued by saying that the outlandish expense alone is reason to oppose this federal overreach in education. "Establishing national standards, employing unproven testing, and administering suspicious assessment processes while conducting privacy-invading data mining runs counter to common sense governance and proven conservative principles."

Joni Ernst: No federal involvement in Common Core standards

Whitaker also opposes the Common Core. "The Federal government does not belong in education," Whitaker said. He described the Common Core as a "one-size-fits-all, cram-it-down-your-throat" reform. He said that lawmakers should be focused on school choice instead.

Matthew Whitaker: Common Core is cram-it-down-your-throat reform

Whitaker also opposes the Common Core. "The Federal government does not belong in education," Whitaker said. He described the Common Core as a "one-size-fits-all, cram-it-down-your-throat" reform. He said that lawmakers should be focused on school choice instead.