CBS "Face the Nation" interviews during 2015: on Education

Bernie Sanders: Free public university tuition, like we had 50 years ago

SANDERS: I believe that it is absurd that, in a highly competitive global economy, we have got hundreds of thousands of bright young people who are qualified to go to college, but can't because their families lack the income. So, yes, I do believe that public colleges and universities should be tuition-free. Is this is a radical idea? Well, other countries around the world do that, because they know investing in their kids is good for their economy. So I do believe that we need a system, which is not free college education for all. It's free tuition in public colleges and universities. I think it is simple, it's straightforward. It exists in other countries and, in fact, 50 or 60 years ago, used to exist in the United States of America.

Donald Trump: Opposes Common Core

Trump bashed Jeb Bush on education, who Trump said was "in favor of common core."

"I thought Romney could do it," Trump, who backed the candidate during the last election, said. "I don't want what happened to Mitt Romney to happen again."

Jeb Bush: Common Core is not a federal takeover

On the political ticking bomb of Common Core, Bush answered that "Common is not a federal takeover." "What we should say in the reauthorization of the K-12 law is that the federal government has no role in the curriculum," Bush said. The political rift has grown so wide between the moderate Republican and the rest of the conservative base that some CPAC members planned a "walkout" of Bush. About a few dozen protesters, many of them wearing Rand Paul shirts, left at the beginning of Bush's segment, following a "Don't Tread on Me" flag.

In a closing "lightning"-style round of questions, Bush was asked what type of conservative he considered himself to be. His answer only proved the point: "A practicing reform-minded conservative," Bush said.