Florida Drops 'Crazy Math' And Eliminates Common Core Education Standards For B.E.S.T.

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Governor Ron DeSantis has officially eliminated Florida's Common Core education standards and replaced it with B.E.S.T.  B.E.S.T. stands for Benchmarks for Excellent Student Thinking.

Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran has recommended the new set of standards be formally adopted on Feb. 12.

"Florida has officially eliminated Common Core. I truly think this is a great next step for students, teachers, and parents," said Governor Ron DeSantis. "We've developed clear and concise expectations for students at every grade level and allow teachers the opportunity to do what they love most – inspire young Floridians to achieve their greatest potential."

DeSantis signed an executive order in January 2019 to cut Common Core standards in Florida schools. He said there needs to be other ways to measure success and "not just teaching to a test." He also put an emphasis on making Civics education a priority in Florida.

He said, B.E.S.T. standards "create pathways for students that lead to great college and professional outcomes and parents will now be able to reinforce what their children are learning in the classroom every day. Florida's B.E.S.T. Standards were made by Florida teachers for Florida students, and I know they will be a model for the rest of the nation."

B.E.S.T. standards include changes to the way students learn math and American history and offers a reduction in testing.

It employs a back-to-basics approach in the early grades and makes it understandable for teachers, parents, and students, according to the Department of Education.

Florida is now the first state in the nation with an English, language, and arts booklist spanning grades K-12, according to Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran.  In addition, Civics will be embedded into language arts lessons at every grade level and there will a civics book list integrated across all grades.

Corcoran also said, "Florida is a state has that dropped the crazy math" which was a roadblock for parents to help students at home.

B.E.S.T. standards in math provide students the flexibility to show their unique 'strategy' for problem solving, and focus on the correct ANSWER, not only the method.

"Florida has completely removed ourselves from the confines of Common Core," said Corcoran.

Click here to read more about the Florida B.E.S.T. Standards including the benchmarks and quick facts.

When adopted, the language-arts curriculum is expected to be updated for the 2021-2022 year, and the math curriculum would be updated for the 2022-2023 year, according to the Department of Education.