Fulfilling a campaign promise, Florida governor Ron DeSantis announced Thursday that the state would move towards dropping Common Core-like standards and overhaul the curriculum used in public schools.
"We stuck with Common Core then we re-branded it … it's all the same. It all needs to be looked at, it all needs to be scrutinized," DeSantis said during the announcement, the Miami Herald reports.
Common Core, a set of standard for English and math classes for children from kindergarten to 12th grade, was adopted by Florida in 2010. The state later adjusted the standards used for Common Core and rebranded the state-wide curriculum under the name Florida Standards.
DeSantis' executive order, which he signed on Thursday, challenges Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran to find a new curriculum in language and math for Florida's public schools.
Corcoran will have until 2020 to "come up with a roadmap" for Florida to adopt new standards, DeSantis said.
"This is gonna be a process that is gonna take the balance of this year and then we will go to the legislature next session and want to get that done," DeSantis said. "We don't want to dillydally, but at the same time, we want to do it right."
Florida's legislature will have to approve any changes, which wouldn't happen until next year's session that will begin in January 2020. If the legislature approves the change, Florida will then be tasked with creating new standardized tests for students, which can be a time consuming and costly maneuver, the Orlando Sentinel reports.
Common Core has long been criticized by some teachers and parents who found the standards inadequate and the curriculum confusing. While some believe that using Common Core is required by federal law, each state actually determines what curriculum and testing it will use in public schools. Between 2010 and 2012, 45 states adopted the use of Common Core, but several states have dropped or tweaked the standards since approving them.
"You would have situations where the parents did not like some of the curriculum, I mean they had trouble even doing basic math to help their kids. With Common Core, a lot of people just didn't feel like anyone was listening to them, and I think that's a big, big problem," DeSantis said.
Corcoran agreed with DeSantis, saying that Common Core "needs to be scrutinized," and that Floridians had been stuck with the standards for too long.
DeSantis' executive order also enlists Corcoran to "streamline some of the testing," to make Florida the most literate state in the country and to make education more civics-based. However, Florida students already are required to take civics courses. In middle school, students take a civics course and a standardized test. In high school, students must take a U.S. government course and U.S. history course that includes a standardized test.
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