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Jacksonville education leaders hope cutting Common Core won't cause chaos in classrooms

For nearly a decade, Florida schools have been teaching Common Core.

On Thursday, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed an executive order to ditch those education standards and find new ones.

“I think that it would be a win,” said Jacksonville mother Tiffany Clark.

Clark said her two high schoolers would be happy to see Common Core go.

“They want their success to be based on their true abilities,” said Clark.

Jacksonville Public Education Fund President Rachael Tutwiler Fortune said the organization was caught off guard by the governor’s executive order.

“Oh, it was a surprise. Absolutely,” said Tutwiler Fortune.

She said she hopes the change to education standards won’t cause curriculum chaos.

“I would say that the timeline – which basically, the governor has said he’s asked the commissioner to provide a recommendation, some alternative standards within a year. So, thankfully, that is not tomorrow. But at the same time, it is still an aggressive timeline,” said Tutwiler Fortune.

She said much of the controversy surrounding Common Core is political and points out there have been some positive changes in local schools since its implementation, like increased graduation rates.

Since there are a lot of unanswered questions about what the new standards will look like, she said it’s important for teachers and parents like Clark to get involved in the process.

“I really do believe that our community here in Duval County and even around Florida, parents need to make sure that they’re on the forefront and they voice their opinion on this,” said Clark.

Duval County Public Schools spokesperson Tracy Pierce said the district has to be patient and see how the process unfolds.