Republican Sen. David Vitter says education improvement, particularly at the ends of the age and grade spectrum, will be a top priority if he’s elected governor in 2015, though his stance on Common Core remains unclear.
“I definitely support strong, stringent standards; standards that allow us to compare how our kids are doing relative to kids around the country,” Vitter told the Baton Rouge Press Club today. “But I also want to make sure we retain our autonomy” over curriculum decisions, he added. He said he hopes to delve into deeper discussion on education issues at five roundtable leadership forums he’s hosting in August, one of which is specifically geared toward improving K-12 education.
Vitter also refrained from taking a strong position on the potential for an expansion of Louisiana’s Medicaid program today, but insisted that reform must precede expansion.
“I think first and foremost we need to reform and improve Medicaid, and we need to do everything necessary to do that, not just focus on whether we expand or don’t expand a fundamentally broken system,” he said. “Could more federal resources help to do that? They could if it’s done right and if it’s done in a constructive way.”
When asked about a controversial bill aimed at killing a New Orleans-area levee board’s lawsuit against 97 oil and gas companies that Gov. Bobby Jindal has now signed into law, Vitter also straddled the fence. Though he sympathizes with concerns about the loose criteria under which the board sued companies, Vitter said he plans to read the bill carefully “with the possible unintended consequences in mind.”
Other top priorities for Vitter will be attacking the state’s litigation climate and corruption issues so as to continue to improve what he calls Louisiana’s most pro-business environment in his lifetime, as well as stabilizing the state budget and funding for higher education.
In closing, Vitter emphasized his pledge to seek no political office beyond his current bid for governor.
“If elected, this will be my last political job, elected or appointed, period,” he said. “I’m not running for governor as a stepping stone.”
