Romney Confused About Federal Government’s Role in Education, Again

It isn’t the first time.  Over the weekend, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney interviewed with former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee on his Fox News show “Huckabee.”  Governor Huckabee asked Governor Romney to discuss what, if any, positive things have come out of the Obama administration.  Romney answered, ““I also think that in the area of education, Secretary Arne Duncan is saying, ‘Look, let’s reward school systems that reward teachers for doing a good job, that remove bad teachers, that test kids to see how the kids are doing.’  That, I think, is a positive thing.  By the way, not everything that Arne Duncan is doing do I agree with.  So, for instance, this national core curriculum they are pushing and trying to get states to take that on.  I don’t like a national curriculum.  I like states to be able to draft their own curriculum.”

I’m glad that Romney is in disagreement with the common core state standards, though I’d even prefer states not involve themselves in such matters.  The more local the better.  However, he affirmed, like he did in an interview with Neil Cavuto back in 2010 that there should be a federal role.  So can we expect continued federal government overreach and largess under a Romney administration, albeit a little smaller?

We definitely see a pattern here as this is the second time that Governor Romney has expressed such a sentiment.  He clearly believes there should be a federal role.

Emmett McGroarty, the executive director for the Preserve Innocence Initiative of American Principles in Action agreed with Romney that accountability for schools is good, but his statement raises a different question.  “Accountability is good, but the question is:  Accountability to whom? Should teachers and schools be accountable to the federal government, which is the goal of President Bush’s No Child Left Behind and President Obama’s Race to the Top programs, or should they be accountable to parents?”

I say parents.  The federal government has no constitutional role in education.  It’s disappointing that Governor Romney doesn’t quite fully grasp that.