Florida's implementation of "Common Core standards" for math and English Language Arts could cost taxpayers as much as $780 million -- could, but shouldn't, says a national education think tank.

As a follow-on to No Child Left Behind, the "Common Core" is the latest effort to lift educational standards by aligning K-12 curricula across America. A total of 45 states, including Florida, have signed on.

With states and districts spending money on new textbooks and professional development, the attendant costs could range from less than zero to some $12 billion nationally, estimates the Thomas B. Fordham Institute.

Florida's added costs could run as high as $780 million, Fordham forecasts. But the state could actually save $67 million if it took a more conservative tack.

"Using a 'business as usual' approach, Florida would spend $780 million -- a net increase of $530 million over what it's spending now [for related instructional activities]," said Amber Winkler, Fordham's vice president for research.

Alternatively, the state could adopt a "bare bones" strategy and spend $67 million less than current outlays.

The "bare bones" plan, as described in a Fordham report, utilizes an all-online approach, open-source instructional materials, annual computer-administered tests, and online professional development via webinars and modules.  

"We don't advocate that," Winkler said.

Instead, Fordham recommends a hybrid model that combines business as usual with some of the digital components of the bare-bones regimen.

Under the hybrid plan, Florida would expend $318 million, or $68 million more than current outlays.

Winkler is quick to caution that all these figures are estimates, but she says one thing is perfectly clear: "States and districts have options without breaking the bank."

Advocates of the Common Core standards point to potential efficiencies via cross-state collaboration. And if the program works as planned, fewer students will require expensive remediation programs in college.

Diane Leone, a Jacksonville area resident who has served on various education boards for the past dozen years, said Florida spent $123 million in remedial instruction for incoming college students in 2007-2008.

"The numbers have only gone up from there," Leone says.

She is encouraged that the Common Core assessments are designed to reduce the need for remediation.

"The governors are concerned about it, so it's in there," Leone said.

Jamie Mongiovi, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Education, said the state will spend $3.5 million in initial employee training at Common Core State Summer Institutes.

She said the money will come out of federal Race to the Top funding, as well as money received from the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC).

Mongiovi said Florida has not completed its overall cost projections for the Common Core, but she said the down payment will be well worth it.

"The Common Core State Standards present a tremendous opportunity for Florida to deliver education in innovative ways that are more effective and may produce cost savings to districts since states are currently collaborating and sharing resources for professional development, assessments and instructional materials in ways that were previously not possible," she said in a statement.

"The improved rigor and quality of the standards and the opportunity for collective purchasing and open sharing is rapidly driving up the quality of what is being produced and ultimately purchased."

Critics -- who come from both the left and right ends of the political spectrum -- aren't so sure.

Diane Kepus, a conservative activist in Central Florida, asks, "Why is the federal government so intent on controlling the education of our children, and with something that is going to be harmful to them, just as NCLB and teaching to a test has been? This is not changing."

Kepus believes that the bottom line for Common Core is "hiring more people for whole new departments."

Beyond that, Kepus and others have questioned the seemingly philanthropic motives of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which has contributed more than $100 million toward setting up the Common Core.

"His money has given legs to the National Governors Association  and the Council of State School Officers," Kepus says.

Gates, the founder of Microsoft, has become a strong advocate for education-reform initiatives, including merit-pay programs for teachers. This hasn't gone over well with the teachers' unions or some members of the rank and file.

"They're establishing the conditions for a dynasty of Microsoft domination of public and private institutions, with public capital flowing into his control," said one teacher, who declined to be identified.

Fordham maintains that the Common Core -- if sensibly funded -- can bring cost-effective improvements.

In their report, Patrick J. Murphy of the University of San Francisco and Elliot Regenstein of EducationCounsel LLC, point out that since states already invest billions annually in professional development, testing, textbooks and other expenses in connection with existing standards, "proper forecasting" of Common Core costs should “net out” the sums that states would spend anyway.

Winkler said taxpayers should, at some point, expect their states to specify the costs involved in Common Core, and to be leery of initiatives that demand costly "high-tech" purchases.

"We did not include infrastructure costs for technology in our study. We consider this the cost of doing business in the 21st century," Winkler said.

Mongiovi predicts that instructional improvement will come along with the deal.

"The Common Core standards are driving the marketplace as states are collectively demanding higher quality and more rigorous educational materials. The
marketplace is responding -- this will only improve with time," she said.



Contact Kenric Ward at kward@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 801-5341.