@MarcACaputo

Miami-Dade’s Republican Party voted overwhelmingly Tuesday night to oppose the Common Core education standards as an unconstitutional “inappropriate overreach” by the federal government.

The two-page resolution, part of a grassroots conservative revolt sweeping Florida and the nation, was partly a stand against President Obama as well as former Republican Gov. Jeb Bush, who helped build the Miami-Dade Republican Party and chaired it in 1984.

Bush, the “education governor,” has recently been a leading voice advocating for Common Core, a series of standards that are new national benchmarks outlining what students should know at each grade level in each topic.

Common Core does not prescribe specific teaching methods and reading lists.

But in today’s world of conservative Republican politics, the distinction is blurred between Common Core standards and the curriculum to achieve those standards. For many, there is too much Obama and too much big government involved.

And, according to the resolution approved Tuesday night by the Miami GOP, there’s lots of money to be made by those companies making Common Core-aligned curricula, software and tests. Republican Frank de Varona said Common Core had bad standards, wasn’t constitutional and could allow private companies to engage in “intrusive data mining” of children.

“There are sensors being contemplated to put them on children at public schools,” he said. “Sensors, cameras, looking at your face... a bracelet to measure your blood flow. It sounds like 1984 George Orwell kind of stuff.”