Lake County Republican Party Forum Will Duke Out Common Core

The Republican Party of Lake County will be hosting a forum Thursday evening to discuss the pros and cons of the Common Core State Standards.

The free public forum will be held at 7 p.m. at the Tavares Community Center in Tavares. Another forum will be held in Clermont in July.

The Common Core State Standards is a U.S. educational initiative set to ensure students are prepared for college and beyond by focusing onEnglish and Language Arts and literacy in history/social studies, science, technical subjects standards, and mathematics.

Panel members speaking on the pros of Common Core will include former Lake County School Board member Jim Miller and Khori Whittaker, director of external affairs for Jeb Bushs Foundation for Floridas Future. Panel members who will speak on the cons of the Common Core will be Marion County REC chair and lobbyist Randy Osborneand Vance Jochim, writer of a local Lake County blog, FiscalRangers.com.

A video of the event will be posted on the YouTube channel "FiscalRangersFlorida,"which features other videos from Commissioner of Education Tony Bennett and Common Core speaker Diane Kepus.

The Florida Department of Education has wasted no time in preparing teachersonhow to approach the Common Core State Standards in the classroom. Common Core is set to be fully implemented in Florida's schools beginning in the 2014-2015 academic year.