The AP (3/24, Barrow) reports that the Common Core Standards have become “a political tempest fueling division among Republicans,” noting that former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and the US Chamber of Commerce “hail the standards as a way to improve student performance and, over the long term, competitiveness of American workers.” However, “many archconservatives” and Tea Party figures “decry the system as a top-down takeover of local schools.” The AP adds that Democrats “to a lesser extent” must also deal with divisions over the standards, with teachers unions “upset about implementation details.”