Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R) was the target of a Twitter campaign on Friday launched by Common Core opponents, who want Pence to know they’re not buying his claim that he is the first governor to repeal the Common Core standards.
As the IndyStar observes, Pence appeared to be aiming for a 2016 presidential run in Dallas on Friday as he attended Americans for Prosperity’s Defending the American Dream Summit, which is considered to be an essential event for White House hopefuls.
Pence’s claim that he repealed the Common Core standards landed him hundreds of tweets throughout the day from Common Core opponents who say he betrayed his citizens, and add his replacement standards are remarkably similar to the Core.
“Our goal is to get [Pence’s] attention so he’ll be motivated to go back to Indiana and address the sloppy Common Core rebrand that was done there,” wrote Shane Vander Hart at Truth in American Education.
Sample tweets recommended by Vander Hart included, “Hoosier parents #DeserveBetter than junk standards thrown together instead of a real plan to #StopCommonCore,” and “@GovPenceIN your Common Core rebrand violates free market principles, your state #DeservesBetter.”
Pence’s replacement standards are so similar to the Common Core that the Obama administration granted Indiana a one-year extension of its No Child Left Behind waiver, at the same time that it rescinded Oklahoma’s waiver – a state in which Common Core was fully repealed in June.
Parent organizer of Hoosiers Against Common Core Heather Crossin said governors such as Mary Fallin (R) of Oklahoma and Bobby Jindal (R) of Louisiana are exhibiting more leadership than Pence.
“It is apparent that since Gov. Pence is considered to be contemplating a presidential run, he will have to start answering to the nation about what occurred in [Indiana] on Common Core. It’s moved far beyond Hoosiers,” Crossin wrote in an email. “As a Republican candidate seeking the Oval Office, he will have a hard time explaining that with a Republican supermajority and an appointed [State Board of Education], tweaking and rebranding Common Core was the best he could do.”