Chris Christie: ‘I Have Grave Concerns’ About Common Core

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) told a crowd in West Des Moines, Iowa, on Monday that he has “grave concerns” about the Common Core standards and the way the initiative has been implemented.

The Des Moines Register reports Christie said he especially has concerns about “the way the Obama administration has tried to implement it through tying federal funding to these things, and that changes the entire nature of it from what was initially supposed to be a voluntary type of system that states could decide on their own.”

At the end of January, NJ.com reported that the commission ordered by Christie in his own state to study student testing announced that New Jersey schools could be testing students too often.

In a preliminary report, the Study Commission on the Use of Student Assessments in New Jersey recommended that a research study be conducted to determine the extent of testing in the state and how much time students and staff spend preparing for student assessments.

The commission, however, has yet to even address the Common Core standards or the new federally funded PARCC exams about which Christie said he has “concerns.”