Jeb Bush Says Students Would Be Better Moderators

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Jeb Bush is still grousing about last week’s debate on CNBC, telling students near Milwaukee on Monday that they ask better questions than some moderators.

The Republican White House hopeful, who is preparing for Tuesday’s debate on Fox Business, visited a charter school in Waukesha with Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker to talk about school choice. The event broke no new ground, although it did allow Bush, a former Florida Governor, to talk about one of his favorite topics.

“We must empower parents to make more choices,” Bush said to students and parent who joined a Hispanics for School Choice forum at La Casa de Esperanza.

Toward the end of the otherwise dull event, Bush thanked the students who were asking him questions about school vouchers, graduation rates and Christian education.

“Those three questions, they’re better than the moderated debate questions. Just saying,” Bush said to chuckles. “If you’re free tomorrow night, maybe you can come by the arena.”

CNBC has faced unrelenting criticism of their debate, which at times became chaotic as candidates shouted over each other. Fox Business has pledged to be the anti-CNBC debate when moderators meet the candidates in a Milwaukee theater.

For their part, Bush advisers are hoping the Fox Business debate forces candidates to offer serious policy proposals beyond vague statements in support of free markets. Bush, a policy wonk who has found it tough to convert brains to votes, stands to shine at such a forum if given a shot.

More importantly, advisers say, it leaves open a chance for Bush’s rivals to be shown as inferior on the intricacies of policy.

Read Next: Who Lost the Republican Debate? The Media

See Jeb Bush's Life in Photos

Jeb Bush Life in Photos
George W. Bush and Jeb Bush, Jan. 1, 1955.Sygma/Corbis
Jeb Bush Life in Photos
From left to right: Doro, Marvin, Neil, and Jeb Bush, fall 1963.George Bush Presidential Library
Jeb Bush Life in Photos
From left to right: Doro, George, Jeb, Marvin, George W., Neil, and Barbara Bush, 1966.George Bush Presidential Library
Jeb Bush Life in Photos
Jeb Bush (center) was the varsity tennis team captain during his senior year at Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass., 1971. Seth Poppel/Yearbook Library
Jeb Bush Life in Photos
George Bush and his four sons, Neil, Jeb, George W. and Marvin in 1970. Bob E. Daemmrich—Sygma/Corbis
Jeb Bush Life in Photos
Jeb and Columba Bush on their wedding day, Feb. 23, 1974.George Bush Presidential Library
Jeb Bush Life in Photos
Jeb Bush loudly applauds his father, Republican presidential hopeful George Bush, at a campaign rally in Concord, N.H. on Feb. 28, 1980.Frank Lorenzo—Bettmann/Corbis
Jeb Bush Life in Photos
Vice President George Bush holds a fish with his sons George W. and Jeb during a family vacation in Kennebunkport, Maine in Aug. 1983.Cynthia Johnson—Getty Images
Jeb Bush Life in Photos
From left to right (without children): Neil and Sharon Bush, George W. Bush and wife Laura, Barbara and George Bush, Margaret and Marvin, Bobby Koch and Dorothy, Jeb and Columba, are seen in this Bush family photo taken in Kennebunkport, Maine on Aug. 24, 1986.Dave Valdez—White House/Sygma/Corbis
Jeb Bush Life in Photos
Jeb Bush plays cards with his son while riding in a recreational vehicle, Nov. 8, 1993.Christopher Little—Corbis
Jeb Bush Life in Photos
Jeb Bush is interviewed at a Miami Radio Station, WIOD, Mar. 1980. He went on to become Governor of Florida in 1999.Tim Chapman—Getty Images
Jeb Bush Life in Photos
George W. Bush and Jeb Bush at the Republican Governors' Convention in New Orleans, 1998. Nina Berman—SIPA
Jeb Bush Life in Photos
Texas governor George W. Bush celebrates good news with his brother, Florida governor Jeb Bush, while watching the presidential election returns, prior to being elected as President of the United States, inside the Governor's Mansion in Austin, Nov. 7, 2000. Brooks Kraft—Sygma/Corbis
Jeb Bush Life in Photos
Republican governor of Florida, Jeb Bush, studies his laptop watching vote returns for his reelection his wife Columba Bush and his parents, former President George Bush and first lady Barbara Bush in Miami on Nov. 5, 2002.Joe Burbank—Orlando Sentinel/MCT/Getty Images
Jeb Bush Life in Photos
Republican nominee for President, Mitt Romney, campaigns around Florida with Governor Jeb Bush, left, Senator Marco Rubio, right, and Congressman Connie Mack, left back of head, in Coral Gables, Fla. on Oct., 31, 2012. Melina Mara—The Washington Post/Getty Images
Jeb Bush speaks at CPAC in National Harbor, Md. on Feb. 27, 2015.
Jeb Bush speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Md. on Feb. 27, 2015.Mark Peterson—Redux for TIME

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Write to Philip Elliott / Waukesha, Wis. at philip.elliott@time.com