Attention to Common Core will be most visible during the presidential primaries, according to experts.  The key to that is Bush, a longtime supporter of improving educational standards in his time as Florida governor from 1999 to 2007.  As conservative opposition to Common Core has grown, Bush has been forced to defend his stance. "Raising expectations and having accurate assessments of where kids are is essential for success, and I'm not going to back down on that," Bush said during a congressional fundraiser in Iowa in March, according to The Associated Press.  That position has put him at odds with most other likely opponents.  Take Jindal, the Louisiana governor, for example. After initially supporting the standards, Jindal sued the Obama administration in August over Common Core, claiming that the federal grants to states related to the Race to the Top program were unconstitutional because they forced states to adopt the standards. (Program grants were for general standards improvement, although much of the money distributed was related to Common Core.)  Like Jindal, several other big names initially supported Common Core—or gave it tacit approval—but have now turned against the standards or backed away from them. Examples include Wisconsin Gov. Walker, New Jersey Gov. Christie and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.  Besides Cruz, other likely candidates who are against Common Core include Kentucky Sen. Paul, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and former Texas Gov. Rick Perry.  "They're all sort of moving away from it," said Neal McCluskey, associate director of the Center for Educational Freedom at libertarian think tank Cato Institute. "I don't think you want to be called a flip-flopper, but even worse is to be associated with a policy that people really don't like."
Common Core has quickly become a political hot-button, especially for Republican hopefuls trying to distance themselves from Jeb Bush.