New Jersey governor and likely Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie is for the first time definitively calling for an end to Common Core in his state, the Associated Press reported.
Common Core, the controversial K-12 math and English standards, has been a thorny issue in New Jersey. After having been on the fence about the matter in the past, Christie finally declared Thursday that the system isn’t working for the state.
AP Photo/Mel Evans
This is a strong departure from 2013 when Christie said, “We are doing Common Core in New Jersey and we’re going to continue.” But in Iowa and in New Hampshire this year, he talked about having great concerns about how the standards are affecting schools.
Christie was set to talk about Common Core during a speech Thursday at Burlington County College, according to excerpts released by his office ahead of the speech, the AP reported.
Christie is expected to ask the New Jersey education commissioner to convene a group of parents and teachers to come up with a replacement for the standards that are state specific. But he will reaffirm his commitment to testing for measuring student and school performance. Christie's education commissioner has been a Common Core supporter.
Most other Republican candidates for president are opposed to Common Core. This week, both former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and former New York Gov. George Pataki name-checked ending Common Core in their announcement speeches. Another likely candidate, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, has sued the U.S. Department of Education, alleging that states have been pressured to adopt the standards.
But former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who has yet to formally declare, and Ohio Gov. John Kasich, another potential candidate, are both strong supporters of the Common Core State Standards, which were developed by the National Governors Association and Council of Chief State School Officers.
