We were doing a little more homework on Mr. Ahlquist and read an article written by Kevin Richert in Idaho Education News. After reading the article and listening to a one-hour interview with Mr. Ahlquist, we once again need to question Mr. Ahlquist about his platform on Common Core.
In June, the Associated Press’ Kimberlee Kruesi reported that Ahlquist wanted to repeal the standards which were adopted by the 2011 Legislature and launched into Idaho classrooms in 2013. Later in June, in an interview on the Point of Personal Privilege Podcast, Ahlquist said the implementation of the standards was “horrific” and discussed his frustrations, but in that interview, Ahlquist stopped short of calling for a repeal.
On Tuesday afternoon, Kruesi sent out the following quote on Twitter from her Ahlquist interview, and provided the full quote to Idaho Education News: “Common Core needs to go away completely. I think it’s failed. It’s failed my family. It was not the right answer for Idaho.”
Running as a republican conservative, Tommy Ahlquist needs to be pushing to repeal the Idaho Core Standards, but where has he been for the past 3 years that we have been fighting its implementation? We even presented a resolution signed by 30 plus organizations representing 25,000 citizens asking for a hearing on Common Core and personally presented it to Education Committee Chair Reed DeMordaunt and the legislature. They said there would be no hearing on common core.
Tommy says he has a problem with the rollout of the standards. I’m not quite sure what he means when he says he has a problem with the rollout but he isn’t pushing for repeal. Then we get clarification that he thinks Common Core has failed and has to go. Either you are for common core or you’re against it. This candidate seems to enjoy sitting on the fence. He can’t say in one breath that common core is a problem but he doesn’t want to get rid of it and the next day say he is against it and it has to go. Keeping the common core standards flies in the face of the Republican National Committee and the Idaho Republican Committees stance to get rid of common core
We don’t know about you, but we want a candidate who is clear about what he is for and against and who doesn’t give the electorate a lot of double speak. We personally feel that is what we have been getting from Mr. Ahlquist. We are aware that Mr. Ahlquist has never been a politician although he has spent a lot of time with a good many of them because of his business. The position of Governor of our state is not an apprenticeship—it puts you in charge of a $3.5 billion budget and management of our state. I only hope he is a quick study should he be elected.
“We Get the Government We Deserve”
