Anti-Common Core activists have been quiet in recent months, but the groups are gearing up to stick it to politicians supporting the controversial standards and their implementation in Florida.
One group, Florida Parents Against Common Core, has taken aim at Rep. Ritch Workman, R-Melbourne, and recent ad which says Workman lead the fight to abolish Common Core.
Workman will battle Rep. Debbie Mayfield for Florida’s Senate District 17 and recent ads have touted his accomplishments as a state representative.
Among tax cuts and ethics reforms, pro-Workman ads also say he lead the fight to abolish Common Core.
“There are two kinds of people in this world: those that talk a lot and those that actually do a lot,” the ad says. “Ritch Workman is a doer.”
Anti-Common Core groups don’t agree with that message, however, saying Workman is misleading voters and misrepresenting his position in the fight against the national education standards.
Laura Zorc, who heads FPACC, wrote a letter to voters in Indian River and Brevard Counties where SD 17 runs, advising them that it wasn’t Workman, but Mayfield who led the fight against Common Core in Florida.
“Election season is here and it’s typical for many politicians to claim that they are against Common Core, but as a leader in the fight, I can tell you that many candidates are lying to the voters,” wrote Zorc. “[Mayfield’s] opponent in the race for Florida Senate, Representative Ritch Workman, is among those who are misrepresenting the facts.”
Her words ring true across many anti-Common Core groups in Florida, all of whom have continuously supported Mayfield with various bills and policies she has sponsored and supported in the Florida House.
“Representative Debbie Mayfield who is now running for State Senate has been with us from the very beginning,” wrote Zorc, who told Sunshine State News Workman’s claims to be a leader in the fight against Common core were “just not true.”
Zorc mentioned a 2013 bill (HB 25) Mayfield filed to stop the implementation of Common Core in Florida as part of why Mayfield had been so instrumental in the fight against CCSS. Because of her bill, local anti-Common Core activists found a friend in Mayfield. She was often their closest legislative confidante in pushing various Common Core and standardized testing-related bills.
“Because of HB25 filed by Debbie Mayfield in 2013 the voice of the parents became stronger,” Zorc wrote. “HB25, was a driving force that opened up conversation between parents, the Governor and the Legislature.”
Mayfield’s bill was the beginning of a cascade of criticisms of the Common Core Standards, with voices eventually growing so loud that the Florida Department of Education eventually held public hearings on the standards and rebranded CCSS entirely.
Only two state lawmakers, Zorc contends, truly lead the way for halting Common Core in Florida -- neither of which are Ritch Workman. Only Mayfield and Sen. Greg Evers, R-Baker, who sponsored Mayfield’s bill in the Senate, were the ones who spearheaded reform in the Florida Legislature.
“Republican leadership in the Florida House punished Debbie for standing up to them. But she refused to back down. Debbie Mayfield was the only legislator who did not cower. Instead, she fought hard, alongside parents to stop Common Core in Florida," wrote Zorc, urging voters not to believe "false political ads."
Reach Allison Nielsen at allison@sunshinestatenews.com and follow her on Twitter @AllisonNielsen.
