Blink and you may have missed it, but former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore joined the very, very crowded field for the Republican nomination, just in time to be featured on stage during the “undercard” or “pre-show” debate. (You know, the one that Donald Trump isn’t in.)
Gilmore served as governor of Virginia from 1998 to 2002, where he helped implement the “Virginia Standards of Learning” put in place by his predecessor, George Allen, also a Republican. Those standards are still on the books in the Old Dominion State, which never adopted the Common Core State Standards.
Gilmore pledged to hire 4,000 new teachers and proposed new spending on K-12, asking for a nearly $250 million increase in his very first biennial budget to help cover teacher salary hikes. He asked for new money for a math tutoring program and to expand a state-wide literacy initiative, and for more than $40 million to put more computers in schools.
Gilmore ran for president in 2008. That same year he also ran for Virginia’s Senate seat, losing by a wide margin to former governor, and now Sen. Mark Warner, a Democrat.
What are Gilmore’s edu-views these days? Good question! Google couldn’t find a campaign website for him.