2014 MN Senate debate: on Education

Heather Johnson: Common Core is unconstitutional, and also underhanded

A: I do support school choice. Common Core was pushed through by unelected bodies and businesses, not in the legislation in accordance with our constitution. Not only was it unconstitutional, but it was underhanded. It was not led by parents and educators, I don't know anyone who doesn't think that parents and educators working together know better how their children learn. Educators who see these kids everyday should have a say in how they teach, not be given a curriculum and told that's how they're going to teach. I've been around the state and seen the private schools, they are flexible and have a variety of models, while including the curriculum that those educators developed directly. I have actually toured public, charter, and private schools--finding that private schools are more flexible in how they teach using a variety of different models to fit the class.

Jim Abeler: Oppose nationwide Common Core standards

Abeler: Strongly Disagree

Mike McFadden: Repeal federal Common Core education standards

He called for the repeal of the federal Common Core education standards for states and bashed so-called ObamaCare, but didn't call for a full-on repeal of the healthcare program.

Jim Abeler: Oppose Common Core's centralized federal oversight

"The current nationwide trend is to centralize federal oversight of education programs. Lured by the bribe of 'free' money, states are willing to implement Common Core's mediocre standards, give up state and local decisionmaking, and surrender private student information to national data banks. So far, Minnesota is still in charge of its education destiny. But for how long? Looking around, we see that many other states have submitted to an untested, experimental, one-size-fits-all model. Already we are hearing stories of buyers' remorse.

"To preserve the integrity of our K-12 system I have prepared legislation that would create a firewall between Minnesota state government and the federal government. I believe Minnesotans need to be allowed to run their own state."

Mike McFadden: Measure more; dictate reading lists less

A: One assignment I clearly want is a seat on the Education Committee. I've been very involved with inner-city education. What that's allowed me to see is, we can do better. We can achieve better results with a little bit more focus. I compare our results to similar results in the inner-city high schools, then I look at how much money we've spent on those schools. So, I want to focus on allocating our dollars to areas that work. I want to measure and do better in education. We have to do it; the status quo is not an option.

Q: What about "No Child Left Behind"?

Q: I don't believe the federal government should be dictating what second graders should be reading. I'd like to see some changes in simple things, such as, there is a program in Minnesota called "Minnesota Reading Corps." Their philosophy is, first you learn to read, then you read to learn. It's really simple: By third grade, you need to learn to read at a third-grade level.