Bush defends school choice at summit

In one of his first formal outings since onetime rival Donald Trump won the presidency, Jeb Bush went before a friendly crowd Thursday.

The former Florida governor, one of more than a dozen Republican presidential candidates who Trump easily defeated for the GOP nomination, gave the keynote address to kick off the National Summit on Education Reform — sponsored by the Foundation for Excellence in Education, which Bush founded and chairs.

During his speech and a question-and-answer period that followed, Bush showed a sense of self-effacing humor about his presidential bid.

“It is good to be here at the ninth-annual summit. I actually planned not to be here this year,” Bush said to laughter and then applause. “I hoped to be pursuing a different kind of public service.”

Bush talked about the importance of making the moral case for issues like school choice, and defining success by more than just personal achievement.

“Politically, the challenge in this really kind of crude environment is to go beyond being against what’s not working and being for things that will work, that will lift people up,” Bush said. “And I tried that and totally failed, miserably. I mean, like, belly flop — bam.”

Bush showed his wonky passion for school choice, an issue that defined his education legacy in Florida and to which he’s devoted much of his post-gubernatorial life. He chided school districts as part of a Star Wars-style “Empire” and tied the need for education reform to the malaise that powered Trump’s rise.

“There’s a reason why people are anxious,” Bush said. “There’s a reason why they’re angry. The basic institutions in their lives don’t work the way they used to work 30 or 40 or 50 years ago.”

Bush said some workers lack the skills or knowledge to compete in an economy where jobs can increasingly be turned over to machines. He cited research showing that half of the jobs that Americans do today could be in danger of at least partial automation over the next decade.

He also advised those who support expanded school choice to try to make sure programs are robust enough to “build a constituency.”

Bush said the Florida Supreme Court could spark outrage if it eventually decides to strike down a vouchers-like program being challenged by the Florida Education Association teachers union. More than 90,000 families — many low-income and minority — use the program.

“To take that away is going to be hard to do, irrespective of what the Supreme Court does . ... Governors come and go. Legislators come and go. But moms and dads don’t,” Bush said.

Bush also found some hope in the incoming Trump administration. The president-elect tapped Betsy DeVos, a wealthy former chairwoman of the Michigan GOP and a board member of Bush’s foundation, as his choice for education secretary.

“I’m so excited,” Bush said. “President-elect Trump made an extraordinary choice with Betsy DeVos.”