On Friday, at the urging of Gov. Ron DeSantis, the Florida Department of Education released the proposed Florida B.E.S.T. (Benchmarks for Excellent Student Thinking) Standards for English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics as Common Core has been officially removed from classrooms across the Sunshine State.
These new standards are a result of the governor’s continued opposition to Common Core. At the start of last year, DeSantis issued an executive order “outlining a path for Florida to improve its education system by eliminating Common Core and paving the way for Florida students to receive a world-class education to prepare them for jobs of the future.”
Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran recommended that the State Board of Education formally adopt these standards on February 12.
“Florida has officially eliminated Common Core. I truly think this is a great next step for students, teachers, and parents,” said DeSantis at the end of last week. “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. These standards create pathways for students that lead to great college and professional outcomes and parents will now be able to reinforce what their children…learn in the classroom every day. Florida’s B.E.S.T. Standards were made by Florida teachers for Florida students, and I know they will be a model for the rest of the nation.”
“Governor DeSantis made it very clear that we had to reimagine the pathway to young Floridians becoming great citizens, and we’ve done exactly that with the B.E.S.T. Standards,” said Corcoran. “Florida will be the first state in the nation with an ELA booklist that spans grades K-12, the first state in the nation with a civics booklist embedded in its ELA standards, and a state that has dropped the crazy math. Florida has completely removed ourselves from the confines of Common Core.”
The Florida B.E.S.T. Standards can be read here.
