abandoning common core. two big names are behind it. chris christie and former florida governor jeb bush, two of the most talked about contenders for the republican presidential nomination in 2016. to the right, common core represents a heavy overreach of the federal government. to the left, groups like the nea and aft believe it is teaching to the test and we are left with a political rorschack test. they have to risk being a flip-flopper or feel the wrath of of the tea party and two educators on the left. is common core an issue that will resonate for voters in 2016 and beyond is this i want to welcome lindsay layton, a national education reporter with the washington post in our d.c. newsroom. here in new york former vermont republican governor jim douglas who believes common core gets a bad rap. also a member of the bipartisan
this time it was different. that s why this attempt really had a lot of success until this point. it grew out of the nga and the chief state school officers. two organizations that represent state officials. so it came tr are the states. that s why it really moved very quickly. it started before, as you said, before obama was elected. the work began in 2007, that time frame. this attempt came from the states. that s are true. so rob, running for governor of new york, you didn t let your kids take this test. they did a trial run in new york this year. this is an yood idea, the common core has its roots. the nga, lots of republican governors. why is it a big deal to you and why is it a big deal to republicans? i m hearing so much from republicans on this. i don t think it s just republicans. this is not in a neat box.
requirements. schools were failing if they didn t make yearly progress and dumped a lot of federal money into state and local expense. that sounded like a federal intrusion into public education. the they wanteded to push back so it was a state-based initiative. we are all hearing from employers around the country. they just don t measure up. we are 30th in the world in standardized test scores. we have to do better. seems like when we come up there is always a push-back. when i was listening to rob and hearing some of the concerns typically raised by the teacher s university i don t know about the test. i know your position has been you are supportive of the idea of the common core. the implementation in new jersey is what you have a problem with. is that right? right. we have had standard this is new jersey for decades. standards are nothing newment
about how it successfully has gotten states to raise standards. so governor douglas, what i see here, if the position is having the idea of drafting common core standards is standards is good, the key is that each state has to implement it the right way, and if each state can implement it the right way, then this is a good thing for the country. if that s sort of what you re saying, the threat i m seeing is this has become a test for conservatives, almost the way that meeting medicaid under the affordable care act. is there a threat now that that pressure, just within the republican party, and we can talk about what s going on in the democratic party too, but particularly in the republican party makes it impossible for governors to institute this thing? well, we ll have to see what happens. lindsay is right that when they started talking about it, it didn t help from a political standpoint. but the message will be rebutted more successfully in the future. the u.s. chamber of commer
i talked to parents very concerned about this. as a parent i am concerned. i have two big issues with the federal government moving this along with dangling money, picking the company that will write the test which you need to formulate baseded on the test. preparing just for the test on the english and language arts. another three weeks on math many. for kids falling behind, they are pulling them out of the enrichment classeses like music, art, gym and other things to teach to the test. i m concerned about this. let s remember this has never been tested itself. this is a huge experiment. i believe even bill gatess said we ll find out if it works in ten years. the thought that my kids are little lab mice who will be lab rats through the school district is a concern to me. the expense for this because the federal money is drying up will be massive on a local level. governor douglas, you were a