Marshall Criser III has not yet been officially sworn in as Florida's state university system chancellor, but he's already touched a nerve of some opponents of the Common Core State Standards in the Sunshine State.
In a new press release, Florida Stop Common Core Coalition, an organization that has been vocal against the national education standards, said it was "disappointed" over Crisers imminent appointment because he has no academic experience and has worked in the business community for his entire career.
Criser's support for the Common Core State Standards also came under fire.
"[Criser] is a huge proponent of the Common Core standards which he misleadingly called in a recent op-ed 'The Florida Standards,' our version of the Common Core State Standards, as if there is any difference," read the press release from FSCCC. "The truth is that the state of Florida made a conscious decision to adopt the copyrighted Common Core standards word for word in 2010. There is no Florida version of the Common Core."
In the op-ed, Criser referred to "Florida's Standards" as standards that the Sunshine State adopted with 44 others a few years ago. Although Criser did not directly name the Common Core State Standards in his piece, Florida hopped onboard with CCSS with the exact same number of states three years ago.
Dr. Karen Effrem, co-founder of FSCCC and president of Education Liberty Watch, said she had great concerns with Criser's support of the standards.
"I am appalled and deeply concerned that the new leader of Florida's university system would support Common Core when even the principal architect of the math standards, Jason Zimba, has publicly admitted, [Common Core is] not only not for STEM, it's also not for selective colleges,'" she said. "If Florida wants to continue its nation-leading economic recovery, it will need to actually educate its students, instead of merely training them in the low-level, psychosocial workforce skills embedded in the Common Core."
Criser's comments drew additional criticism for supporting "academically inferior standards."
"Our state is headed for serious academic and economic trouble if the incoming university chancellor supports these untried, academically inferior standards. Florida's students have already made great strides both nationally and internationally without Common Core," said Randy Osborne, director of education for Heartland Research and lobbyist for Florida Eagle Forum. "We don't need trained workers. We need educated citizens. Florida deserves better."
The standards have come under fire in recent months as the Florida Department of Education ramps up its efforts to have them fully implemented in Floridas schools by the 2014-2015 academic year. Critics of the standards have expressed concerns over the possibility of government overreach and data mining associated with the standards.
Criser, president of AT&T Florida, is expected to be sworn in as the new chancellor of the state university system at the Florida Board of Governors meeting in Miami this week. The states former chancellor, Frank Brogan, left his position at the State University System of Florida at the end of September for a similar position in Pennsylvania.
Reach Tampa-based reporter Allison Nielsen atAllison@sunshinestatenews.comor follow her on Twitter at@AllisonNielsen.
