Florida’s unpopular Common Core standards are officially ‘eradicated’

Common Core in Florida is over.

The state Department of Education in a statement on Friday said the controversial set of academic standards “has been officially eradicated from Florida classrooms.”

Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran said he is recommending that the state Board of Education next week adapts Common Core’s successor, Benchmarks for Excellent Student Thinking, also known as BEST.

The Common Core standards were first proposed a decade ago by associations of governors and state education chiefs, and they were embraced in Florida by former Gov. Jeb Bush. The standards were adapted by 45 states and the District of Columbia, but they have come under criticism in the past decade.

A broad coalition of conservatives, liberals, parents and teachers found fault with Common Core for different reasons. Those included a belief that the federal government was intruding into local decisions, there was too much focus on testing, it took up too much classroom time and it was too costly.

After taking office last year, Gov. Ron DeSantis promised to get rid of Common Core.

The new standards in Florida emphasize American history and civics at all grade levels, adds instruction on financial literacy in high schools, focuses on correct answers as opposed to methods in math and emphasizes classic literature and primary sources, according to the Department of Education.

“We’ve developed clear and concise expectations for students at every grade level and allow teachers the opportunity to do what they love most — inspire young Floridians to achieve their greatest potential,” DeSantis said in a statement.