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Alex Goldstein (DPC)
617-367-2010
Baker admits to not knowing facts behind push to improve educational standards; stands alone with Pioneer Institute
Wednesday - July 21, 2010 - In yet another affirmation that Republican Charles Baker is solely interested in scoring cheap political points on the issue of the national Common Core standards and the Patrick-Murray administration's reasons for supporting it, Baker told WBZ-TV this morning, "I don't know what it's about but on some level I don't care."
This comes on the heels of Baker's continued attempts politicize education policy in an attempt to hide his own proposals, which would gut education funding and jeopardize Massachusetts #1 ranking in student achievement. In an op-ed yesterday, Baker admitted that "many experts in the education community tell me the federal standards are pretty good. They also point out that President Obama's Education Secretary Arne Duncan is a committed reformer." (Daily News Tribune, July 20,2010)
But that hasn't stopped Baker from trying to distort the facts. In his effort to show "independent" support for his stance, Republican Charles Baker has enlisted the support of the Pioneer Institute, an organization which he founded with his father and which he served as executive director until 1990. Baker also served on the board of the Pioneer Institute from 1998-2004.
While Baker continues to trot out the Pioneer Institute as independent support for his baseless accusations against the Patrick-Murray administration, campaign contributions have poured in, with Charles Baker and Richard Tisei taking in nearly $15,000 in campaign contributions from Pioneer Institute's board and officers. (Link)
Baker's rhetoric has not fooled voters about his tax proposals, which would cut as much as $2.5B from the state budget, devastating school funding and continuing his attack on public education. When Baker was in charge of the state budget, he proposed huge cuts in education funding. Additionally, Independent candidate Tim Cahill is already on the record proposing deep cuts in local aid. Instead of discussing these proposals, both Baker and Cahill continued their intentionally misleading political rhetoric and attacks, while facing a bi-partisan chorus of leaders in the business and education communities that spoke out in support of the Patrick-Murray administration's efforts to continue to improve the educational standards in the Commonwealth (Link). Today, the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education voted unanimously to approve the proposal, further indication of the proposal's widespread support.
Governor Patrick has been crystal clear that Massachusetts would not agree to the national standards unless they were as high or higher than our current standards. Governor Patrick remains firmly committed to the MCAS as a graduation requirement, and as an accountability measure to ensure the success of our students.
