The Common Core issue is without question one of the biggest issues that grassroots conservatives and many Democrats, as well as Independent voters, seem to be in concert to abolish.
Senator Marco Rubio has also come out in opposition against the federal education standards, and now his friend and former Congressman David Rivera, is also weighing in with his opposition to “socialized education.”Rivera has recently jumped in the Republican primary race in Florida’s 26th congressional district, and attended the first candidate forum between the (5) Republican candidates vying to face Democrat Congressman Joe Garcia in November’s mid-term elections.
Up until Rivera got in the race, Miami-Dade School Board Commissioner Carlos Curbelo was enjoying the comfortable frontrunner status. Curbelo is still considered the top candidate in the race, considering that he has raised almost $1 million for his congressional campaign, and has scored several key political endorsements, including those of Representatives Mario Diaz-Balart and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, both Republicans who supported Rivera during his term in Congress.
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Curbelo has also landed former Governor Jeb Bush’s nod of approval.
But now Curbelo will face serious scrutiny over his support for Common Core. Congressman Garcia supports it, and now Curbelo has penned an op-ed in the Miami-Herald calling for the support of the controversial education and testing standards.
Here is what Curbelo wrote in the Miami-Herald:However, in order to win debates, and more important, elections, conservatives must brandish facts while ignoring scare tactics that yield irrational paranoia. Skepticism should not devolve into callousness, stubbornness, and the rejection of government in all its manifestations. Ours should be the belief that a limited and responsible government can contribute to the advancement of our nation and its people, and nowhere is that fact more evident or more critical than in the area of education.
That is why we should support the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for K-12 education. These standards were developed in states by educators and education experts from across the nation using international benchmarks, and together with quality implementation they can ensure that our children can compete with their peers both here at home and abroad.
The goal is to address two major issues our country is facing: the growing number of college students requiring remedial courses and the growing skills gap in our workforce. The CCSS do not indoctrinate children. They do not establish a national curriculum, and they do not threaten student privacy in any way. The CCSS do not require that teachers use any specific materials, books, or even teaching methods. In short, the CCSS are not part of a vast left-wing conspiracy to curtail parental rights and brainwash our children.-Carlos Curbelo
The only way to measure the potential damage that supporting Common Core could cause Curbelo’s congressional campaign will be on election day.
Both Rivera and Curbelo have significant name recognition throughout the district, and are expected to turn out their base of support.It will be interesting to see how Common Core issue, which has proven to be a sort of political Achilles Heal for many national congressional candidates over the past couple of years, will affect this congressional race.
Here is Rivera on Common Core:
