WASHINGTON — The public school system run for the Department of Defense to educate children of active duty military and civilian department families in the United States and around the world has started to implement new standards that look remarkably like the Common Core. But it’s calling them by a different name.

Thomas M. Brady, director of the Department of Defense Education Activity – the umbrella agency responsible for department schools in the United States and abroad – told the Military Times that the process has just begun, and that it will take several years to implement what is being called “College and Career Ready” standards in schools around the world. The Department of Defense Education Activity operates 172 schools in 11 countries, seven states, Guam and Puerto Rico, according to the Department of Defense’s website. The schools educate about 74,437 students, the website says.

The standards, according to the website, are “based in large part on the Common Core State Standards,” but the name was changed because the brand has become so controversial in the United States over the past several years.

Some Republican governors pulled their states out of the core initiative or renamed the standards. U.S. News & World Report, in an article this year, quoted Paul Peterson, a professor of government and education policy at Harvard University, as saying the name change makes sense.

“The words have become tainted by the debate,” Peterson said. “I expect to see more of this kind of rebranding happening – many states are already thinking along these lines.”

The Common Core has become highly controversial, with opponents coming from all points on the political spectrum. Some have complained that the initiative was pushed on states by the federal government, while others have criticized some of the standards as developmentally inappropriate.


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