Lyndsey Layton at the Washington Post reports that the name “Common Core” has become so toxic in some states that officials are calling it something else. This is known as old wine in new bottles.

She writes:

“Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) used an executive order to strip the name “Common Core” from the state’s new math and reading standards for public schools. In the Hawkeye State, the same standards are now called “The Iowa Core.” And in Florida, lawmakers want to delete “Common Core” from official documents and replace it with the cheerier-sounding “Next Generation Sunshine State Standards.”

In the face of growing opposition to the Common Core State Standards — a set of K-12 educational guidelines adopted by most of the country — officials in a handful of states are worried that the brand is already tainted. They’re keeping the standards but slapping on fresh names they hope will have greater public appeal.

At a recent meeting of the Council of Chief State School Officers, one of the organizations that helped create the standards, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee (R) urged state education leaders to ditch the “Common Core” name, noting that it had become “toxic.”

“Rebrand it, refocus it, but don’t retreat,” said Huckabee, now the host of a Fox News talk show and a supporter of the standards.”

This report stands in sharp contrast to the post by Vicki Phillips of the Gates Foundation on Andrew Rotherham’s blog “Eduwonk,” which claimed that the Common Core has great “momentum” and is unstoppable. Rotherham noted that his organization has received funding from Gates to promote Common Core.

There is a distinct smell of failure in the air.