Who Supports, Opposes The Common Core?

Elle Moxley / StateImpact Indiana

Common Core opponents rallied in January at the Indiana statehouse.

Earlier this week we told you why opponents of new education standards fully adopted by 45 states have found less traction in Florida than in Indiana, Alabama and other states.

The standards, known as Common Core State Standards, will allow Florida to compare students performance to other Common Core states and students around the globe.

Our colleagues in Indiana — as part of our “Core Questions” series — answered a reader question about who supports and opposes the Common Core and why.

There are three top reasons why people support the Common Core, StateImpact Indiana’s Elle Moxley writes:

• They want stronger standards for states that didn’t have them before.
• They want nationally comparable data that explains not just how students in Indiana are doing compared to, say, neighboring Ohio, but how the United States compares to other countries. Comparing data across state lines, they argue, requires uniform academic standards.
• They want standards that prepare students for college and careers, something Redelman says wasn’t happening under the old Indiana standards.

Common Core opponents are more organized and have had more success than in Florida.

The most vocal members of that opposition are two moms, Heather Crossin and Erin Tuttle, who lead a group called Hoosiers Against the Common Core. They preferred Indiana’s former standards and objected to nationally-crafted standards.

Another group — typically more liberal on the political spectrum — would give teachers more autonomy over their classrooms. Let the professionals teach and minimize state and federal requirements, such as testing, they argue.

A final group is academics who question whether the Common Core State Standards will achieve their goal: To make sure high school graduates are prepared for college-level work or a career with a salary which could support a family. Bill Evers at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University is a member of this group.

You can read the rest of Moxley’s post here.

Have a question about the Common Core or new testing? Send an email to florida@stateimpact.org with “Core question” in the subject line and we’ll get you an answer. You can also send us a message on Twitter @StateImpactFL or on our Facebook page.