LIKE THE FUSS OVER FLOURIDATION & INCANDESCENT BULBS:

The Common Core education standards have become a lightning rod in many of the states where they have been rolled out. But that controversy has largely avoided the place where they have been in effect the longest.

Kentucky is in its fourth year of testing linked to Common Core State Standards, at a time when most other states are counting the tests for the first time. While students here were slow to show improvement, scores on standardized tests have begun to pick up. Pushback from teachers unions, which has been fierce in a number of states, has been minimal here.

"At the end of the day, we put our political hatreds aside," said Gov. Steve Beshear, a Democrat who championed the tougher standards. 

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