With two frontrunners noticeably missing, GOP presidential hopefuls took up the issue of education and continued to call for scaling back, or eliminating, the federal role in K-12 schools.

Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, and Herman Cain joined the Education and Election 2012 Presidential Forum in New York last night, sponsored by the College Board and News Corp. Missing were former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Texas Gov. Rick Perry.

Highlights, according to roundups at the Huffington Post and FoxNews: Cain called his opponents’ calls to shut down the U.S. Department of Education “premature.” He also came out in support of merit pay for teachers. Bachmann thinks the feds have gone too far in offering student loan help. Gingrich praised Race to the Top, but not a move toward “national standards.” And Santorum used the forum to get a dig in at Perry, who’s considering ditching future debates.