When Republicans won majorities in statehouses across the nation, many newly-elected leaders assumed it would be the end of the Common Core standards. However, even states with conservative majorities have seen almost no real policy change regarding the standards. In an article for Education Post, conservative communication strategist and Executive Director at the Collaborative for Student Success, Karen Nussle, says that these repeal efforts have amounted to “more fizzle than spark.”

When it comes down to it, Nussle explains, people actually like what the Common Core does, but have been misled about what it is. Much like Americans who support the health care policies of the Affordable Care Act yet rail against “Obamacare,” recent surveys show that most Americans overwhelmingly support Common Core principles when polled without using the label by name. Nussle writes that “[a]mong Republicans, support for Common Core more than triples, from 22 percent to 71 percent, when the Standards were polled without employing the moniker ‘Common Core.'” Furthermore,

Opponents of Common Core pushed for repeal of the standards without offering an alternative set of academic standards that will adequately prepare kids for success after high school. This has put lawmakers in the unenviable position of either having to revert to an inferior set of academic standards, or produce a new set of standards from whole cloth.

It is virtually impossible to produce a set of K-12 academic standards that both bear no resemblance to Common Core, and adequately prepare students for college and career.

About halfway through the legislative session, policymakers continue to find that higher public education standards are a popular concept. And while they might not like the brand, the Common Core is an excellent set of academic standards.

Read the full article here.