Megyn Kelly Presses Jeb Bush on Common Core Critics: 'Are They Wrong?

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) was pressed by Fox News host Megyn Kelly on whether critics of the Common Core educational standards have standing for complaints.

"They say it makes no sense, it forces teaching to the test," Kelly said during an interview that aired Monday night. "They say kids are in tears over it. Are they wrong?"

"Common Core means a lot of different things to different people," responded Bush, a likely 2016 presidential candidate. "So they could be right based on what's in front of them. I respect people having a view, but the simple fact is that we need higher standards."

Bush said that he believes the standards should be entirely state-driven and that the federal government should "play no role in this."

"If we don't have high standards and assess to them faithfully, we get what we have today, which is about a third of our kids being college and/or career ready," Bush said.

Kelly pressed Bush, noting that most likely GOP voters do not have a favorable view of Common Core.

"How are you going to get the GOP base onboard with this, since they are overwhelmingly against it?" Kelly asked.

"I'm going to tell people what I think, which is that high standards are better than low standards," Bush said. "And I'm going to show them the record in Florida where we led the nation in terms of learning gains."

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