Evan McMullin: Eliminate Federal Common Core Mandates

Evan McMullin, a former CIA officer and chief policy director for the House Republican Caucus, announced his candidacy for President yesterday. His campaign website discusses education:

Local control, expanded opportunity and a return to fundamentals are vital to reforming our failing education system. The markets and economies of the future will require more than one-size-fits-all curricula, and we must expand opportunity for every student by providing more options for the charter and magnet schools which bring out the best in our kids. We should eliminate Federal Common Core mandates that take power out of the hands of teachers.

He also had an interview with National Review where he discussed a return to federalism.

Domestically, McMullin cast himself as an advocate of federalism and of congressional power, pledging to sign, if elected, the REINS (Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny) Act, which would grant Congress more oversight of significant executive-branch regulations. He also said he would respect states’ rights to make political decisions with which he disagreed.

“I’m talking about states having the ability to chart their own course to a greater degree, which may mean Vermont does something absolutely wild that Utah wouldn’t want to do,” he said, adding that neither Trump nor Clinton would challenge the increasing consolidation of executive power.

“What about Donald Trump makes you think he is comfortable giving power to anyone? Hillary? Absolutely not. . . . We have to let the competition of ideas and democracy play out among the states. At the federal level it’s a monopoly of power. . . . There’s no real competition, and that’s part of why we have the problems we have now,” McMullin said.