So you want to be an ‘education president’?

Washington has a very short attention span. Although the new Congress has been in place for just a couple months, pundits and politicos are already looking ahead to the next big thing. Like a fickle teenager, Washington has decided the new Congress is “over” and instead is focusing on the 2106 presidential race.

For the next 20 months, this town will be speculating and prognosticating on all things presidential. Throughout that time, we’ll see potential candidates come and go, their personal and professional lives dissected and discussed by the media and its social media handmaidens. Some issues will likely loom large on the campaign trail (the economy, immigration, and health care), and others will remain at the margins. No one ever really knows if one issue or which issue will rise above all others and capture the public’s attention.

Many education types in Washington are already asking whether the Common Core could be that issue. Ever since Jeb Bush revealed that he is contemplating a presidential bid in 2016, there has been speculation on whether he will cave to the more conservative members of the Republican Party and abandon his support for the Core. Conservative Republicans — perennially uncomfortable with federal involvement in education — could fight back hard against Bush, setting the stage for a major education showdown leading up to 2016.