Let's Change The Name Of The CCSS To "Common Cuomo Core New York State Standards"

There has been so much negativity and opposition to Common Core arising around the country that some states are thinking about changing the name of the Common Core State Standards to something else even as they keep the standards themselves mostly intact.

Florida, for example, has changed the name of the Common Core State Standards to the "Florida Standards," making some 37 clarifications to the standards and 2 deletions.

In reality, the Common Core State Standards remain in effect in Florida, they simply have been "rebranded" to seem like something else.

In New York State, there is a growing parent-led movement against the Common Core, composed of people on the right, middle and left, a movement that has gotten so intense that even CCSS-supporting New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo has realized that he can no longer keep imposing the CCSS onto the state via his budget or backing up the SED to do the same via their policies without some modifications.

Thus he has named a "Common Core panel" to look into the problems that many parents and teachers have raised over the Common Core, though as I posted Friday, the panel is almost totally composed of CCSS supporters so it's difficult to see exactly how the findings this panel comes down with will satisfy much of the criticism and opposition parents and teachers have had over the Common Core.

The truth is, by naming a Common Core panel full of Common Core supporters to look into possible modifications to the Common Core while not losing the Common Core as the state's standards, Cuomo is doing what Florida and some other states have done over the CCSS problem - making slight modifications to the standards without really changing anything of import around them.

I predict the Cuomo CCSS panel will suggest a slower timeline of CCSS implementation, a slight delay in the use of CCSS tests for high stakes (though with a firm deadline on that delay), and suggestions for how districts can increase CCSS professional development for teachers so that they can be ready when the CCSS implementation is complete.

In short, the Cuomo CCSS panel will offer modifications to the CCSS implementation that the leaders in the State Senate and Assembly have already called for while ultimately reaffirming New York State's commitment to the CCSS.

Once this plan is released, I suggest we "rebrand" the Common Core Standards in the state to something else, so we can pay homage to the slight modifications made to the state's education reform agenda.

Since it was Governor Cuomo who rigged the CCSS panel full of CCSS supporters who are sure to reaffirm NY State's commitment to CCSS while offering mostly meaningless compromises to CCSS critics and opponents, I propose we rename the Common Core State Standards the "Common Cuomo Core New York State Standards."

After all, these will be his standards, imposed through his budget, reaffirmed through his CCSS panel, and forced into teachers through his APPR teacher evaluation system.

He ought to own these standards as much as staunch CCSS- supporters like NYSED Commissioner King or Regents Chancellor Tisch do.

Then he can run for president in 2016 hawking the Common Cuomo Core New York State Standards as the bestest thing in education since chalk was invented and tell people around the country how he got rid of Common Core and made it into something so much better.

Sure the name Common Cuomo Core New York State Standards is unwieldy and makes almost no sense, but what better emblem can you have for the Common Core Standards than that?