School choice, Race to the Top, and the government’s responsibility to educate the children of illegal immigrants were among the education topics touched on in the Sept. 7 debate featuring eight announced Republican presidential hopefuls.
The event, held at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, in Simi Valley, Calif., and sponsored by MSNBC and Politico, included U.S. Rep. Michele Bachman, of Minnesota; Herman Cain, former CEO of Godfather’s Pizza; former House Speaker Newt Gingrich; former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman; U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, of Texas; Texas Gov. Rick Perry; former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney; and former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, of Pennsylvania.
SOURCE: MSNBC, Photos by Jae C. Hong/AP
I liked very much the fact that [Race to the Top] talked about charter schools. It’s the one place I found to agree with President Obama. If every parent in America had a choice of the school their child went to, if that school had to report its scores, if there was a real opportunity, you’d have a dramatic improvement.
I think the [school funding] reductions we made were thoughtful reductions, and the fact of the matter is, Texas has made great progress in the 10 years that I’ve been governor. … I stand by a record from what we’ve done with the resources that we’ve had.
Nobody has mentioned the fact that [illegal immigrants] qualify for benefits … you know, the welfare benefits. We shouldn’t have to give—the state of Texas shouldn’t be forced to provide free health care and free education.
