Jeb Bush and National Education Reform

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Jeb Bush, former Florida governor and brother of President Bush, has become a surprisingly prominent voice for education reform. Using his two foundations and array of political connections, his agenda is based on three principles: give every public school a grade from A to F, offer students vouchers to attend private school, and don’t let children advance to fourth grade unless they know how to read.

As governor, Bush made education overhaul in Florida a priority. He voted against limiting class size, and battled teachers unions, calling it “foolhardy” to suggest that teachers unions are “somehow going to be in the vanguard of efforts to raise student achievement.” He has since been working to expand merit pay and phase out tenure for teachers in the state through his Foundation for Florida’s Future.

Bush’s biggest supporters are governors and legislators within his own Republican party; although he has voiced cautious support for President Obama’s education agenda. He appeared recently with Obama at a Miami high school, and at a conference in Washington with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.

Bush’s Foundation for Excellence in Education promotes his agenda nationwide, and receives financial backing from Bill and Melinda Gates, Eli and Edythe Broad, and the Walton foundations.

You may access the article in the Washington Post here.

Read more about Jeb Bush’s education reform efforts in a recent New York Times article.

Read more about Bush’s Foundation for Excellence in Education online here.