SALON

Wednesday, Feb 27, 2013 4:30 AM UTC

Jeb, George P. Bush talk education in Texas

By

Topics: From the Wires, ,

Jeb, George P. Bush talk education in TexasGeorge P. Bush, left, talks to guests prior to making the opening statements at the Texas Business Leadership Council, Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) (Credit: AP)

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and his rising-political-star son, George P. Bush, spoke together Tuesday in Texas on education issues, and both men resisted efforts to get them to talk in detail about future political plans.

The elder Bush, who is often mentioned as a possible contender for president in 2016, told an education forum organized by the Texas Business Leadership Council, “I urge you to be big and bold, and if people get offended, so what?”

“Politics can’t always be like mamby-pamby land,” said Bush, who said America’s public schools have for too long been organized to best suit the “economic needs of adults” such as unionized teachers and school administrators, rather than students.

Bush was governor from 1999 until 2007 and trumpeted the overhaul of Florida public schools implemented under his watch.

He said public schools here and elsewhere have become “a public, unionized monopoly” and that the only way to weaken it is to expanded school choice while tightening teacher evaluation standards and limiting tenure.

George P. Bush, meanwhile, originally had been scheduled to introduce his father Tuesday, but said that doing so was “very emotional” and instead delivered a short warm-up speech.

He has announced plans to seek statewide office in Texas next year. He hasn’t said which one but said he’s leaning toward land commissioner — though he’s been mentioned as a possible contender for attorney general or even governor.

His mother, Jeb Bush’s wife, is from Mexico and both men speak Spanish. But the younger Bush has been especially celebrated by Texas Hispanics who hope he can help the party connect with the state’s Hispanic voters. Hispanics are Texas’ fastest growing demographic but also overwhelmingly support Democrats.

Jeb Bush refused to comment on his son’s future except to say he was proud of him.

“Now I know what my Dad feels like,” Bush, whose father is former President George H.W. Bush, said after the event.

“It’s incredibly emotional. It’s pride and no trepidation because he’s been involved a lot,” Bush said of his son. “He’s been engaged in helping others, so he knows the ropes, he knows what it’s like, he knows what he’s getting into.”

The elder Bush has been seen by many nationally as a more moderate GOP voice. “The last two or three election cycles, we’ve been against things rather than for things,” Bush said following his speech.

But pressed on whether he should run for president to make sure those ideas are heard, he replied: “I have no idea what I’ll be doing four years from now. It’s way too early to speculate.”

More By Will Weissert.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 0 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: Chekhov's story mirrors Russia's own

Recommendations