Could Common Core be the defining issue in the 2016 Republican presidential primary race?

The benchmarks, created by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers, outline what students should know at each grade level. They have been adopted in 43 states and the District of Columbia.

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At first, Common Core had bipartisan support, as well as buy-in from the teachers union and the business community. Advocates said the new standards encouraged critical thinking and problem-solving.

But critics began to surface in 2013 as the benchmarks were rolled out in classrooms across the country. Tea party activists and conservative pundits pointed out that the Obama administration had provided an incentive for states to adopt the standards — and derided the initiative as a federal takeover of education, akin to Obamacare. Other critics said the movement would stifle creativity in the classroom.

The pressure led several state legislatures to jettison Common Core. Florida solicited public input on the benchmarks and, after making a series of small changes, rechristened them the Florida Standards.-TB Times

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In addition to the incentives that the Obama administration provided states if they adopted Common Core, the underlying “evil” that the anti-Common Core lobby has been sounding the alarm on has been the educational standards “data-mining” efforts.

Here is what the actual Department of Education has listed on their website about the Common Core data grab:

“The Common Core of Data (CCD) is a program of the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics that annually collects fiscal and non-fiscal data about all public schools, public school districts and state education agencies in the United States.

The data are supplied by state education agency officials and include information that describes schools and school districts, including name, address, and phone number; descriptive information about students and staff, including demographics; and fiscal data, including revenues and current expenditures.”- U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education

 

Let’s not forget about past use of iris scans to identify students by the Polk County, Florida school board:

One of these intrusive data-mining tactics Common Core is employing are the iris scans of students, like the ones conducted as several schools in Polk County, Florida. Yes, iris scans, which conservative author and pundit, Michelle Malkin says are “essentially optical fingerprints, which the school intended to collect to create a database of biometric information for school bus security.

But while potential 2016 GOP presidential candidates like Senator Marco Rubio and Gov. Bobby Jindal oppose the higher education standards, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush continues to push the standards.

“There are critics of Common Core Standards from both ends of the ideological spectrum… “I know there are some in this room. I respect those who don’t share my views. What I can’t accept are the dumbed-down standards and expectations that exist in almost all of our schools today.”-Jeb Bush, American Legislative Exchange Council conference in August 2013

As the 2016 Republican presidential primary race begins to kick into first gear, Common Core is expected to the proverbial “straw that broke the camel’s back” issue that will stifle the potential presidential campaigns of Jeb Bush and anyone else that supports the education standards.

By supporting Common Core, is it fair to say that Jeb Bush and others are in support of President Obama’s failed 2009 Stimulus Act, as well as the dreaded and job-killing healthcare law better known as Obamacare?

Common Core will be on the ballot in 2016, and conservative voters will ultimately have that last say on whether Common Core lives or dies.