Common Core academic standards underscore division within Republican Party

WASHINGTON – To say that new academic standards have yielded strange bedfellows would be an understatement.

Republicans are fighting Republicans. Teacher unions are linking arms with tea partiers. President Barack Obama is working in tandem with big business.

When it comes to Common Core, forget the old allegiances.

Traditionally Democratic-leaning groups don’t like the standardized tests and are finding allies among small-government conservatives, who loathe the benchmarks adopted by 45 states and in the District of Columbia. The Obama administration and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce want more students leaving high school ready for college courses or their first jobs.

In some instances, the rift splits the White House from its liberal allies. And the standards have produced a clear line of demarcation for the GOP.

This is the third in a package of three stories exploring how teachers are incorporating Common Core State Standards, academic benchmarks adopted by 45 states and the District of Columbia, why those standards are being criticized and how they’ve created strange political bedfellows.