Brickbats to Gov. Rick Scott

Brickbats to Gov. Rick Scott for bringing more uncertainty into the state education system by playing politics with the upcoming Common Core educational standards scheduled to go into effect next fall. He pulled out of a consortium of state officials working to write standard tests for the curriculum. In a letter to State Board of Education Chairman Gary Chartrand, Scott said he wanted the state to develop a test that “meets the needs of Florida students, parents, teachers, not the needs of the federal government or other states.” He has asked the State Board of Education, which adopted Common Core in 2010, to revisit the standards in a series of public meetings on how they might be strengthened. He noted in the letter to Chartrand that the issue had become politicized by fears of involvement by the federal government.