Trump slams America's schools and vows to kill one of the most controversial aspects of US education
Business Insider By Abby Jackson
In a video he uploaded to Facebook on Tuesday, Donald Trump vowed to end controversial nationwide education standards known as Common Core.
"Common Core's a total disaster," he said. "We're going to end Common Core."
Since it was adopted in 2010, the Common Core has been attacked by some opponents for supposedly imposing a one-size-fits-all approach to education in America. The goal of Common Core was to raise education standards across the US.
Trump's position against the standards isn't surprising, as there is near-universal opposition to the Common Core among Republican politicians.
Last year saw even bolder rhetoric against the Common Core with backlash against the standards on both sides of the aisle. Former Republican proponents of the Common Core, like New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, flipped their stance and condemned the standards.
And in New York State, parents banded together in 2015 to boycott the standardized tests linked to the Common Core, and succeeded in a 20% opt-out rate. That has given pause to once staunch advocates of the Common Core, like New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who's a Democrat.
Vitriol for the Common Core has become so high that some states have even rebranded the standards.
In the video, Trump also took a swipe at what he described as America's failing education system by saying the US is rated "28 in the world" in terms of education and that it lags behind what he called "third-world countries."
That proclamation is nearly identical to comments he made in June when he officially threw his hat into the 2016 presidential race and took a swing at public education.
"Twenty-five countries are better than us at education," he said in June. "And some of them are like third-world countries."
Watch below for the full video.
