Over the past few years, the teachers’ unions and allegedly conservative legislators have been screaming about how Common Core was bad. They were joined by “concerned parents” who are not only concerned about Common Core, but also about chemtrails and fracking in St. Tammany Parish.

The Lousiana Department of Education, reacting to the opposition, instituted a review and comment period about Common Core. It turns that most commenters don’t have a problem with the current standards.

As Louisiana education officials prepare to dive into a wholesale re-examination of the Common Core academic standards, they have a lot to consider. Almost 30,000 comments on Common Core have come in via an Education Department website, officials said Monday (Aug. 10), and all but about 2,500 comments OK’d the existing guidelines.

Schools are entering their third year of using the mathematics and English benchmarks, which are shared with about 40 states. But opposition from some teachers and parents led lawmakers andEducation Superintendent John White to start a comprehensive review.

The input mostly came from a dedicated corps: About 720 people contributed, which averages to 41 comments each. Sixty percent of the comments came from teachers, one quarter from parents. (Contributors were allowed to identify themselves in only one category.) Only a handful of comments came from people who said they did not live in Louisiana.

One part of the standards, the math section, has drawn most of the negative comments.

But so far, the most negative feedback appears to be on algebra I, algebra II and high school geometry. Those had the highest proportion of comments suggesting changes to the standards. The Southern Regional Education Board is preparing a summary report for the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Without seeing the comments, I really can’t address whether those are targeted at the standards or how they’re being taught. Most examples that have made the rounds on the internet appear to have nothing to do with Common Core per se but have more to do with the idiocy that’s coming out of education departments at the universities.

While the Common Core standards are gone as a result of the compromise agreed by the Legislature this year, it appears that what opposition there is to the standards was more vocal than numerous. But that’s not stopping Common Core opponents from targeting education reform supporters on BESE.

A group calling itself “Flip BESE” is targeting 5 out 8 current members for defeat. It calls itself “anti-Common Core/pro-public education” which means they’re likely a front for the teachers’ unions.

Given the lack of actual outrage on Common Core, the opponents will have a tough time winning control of BESE.