PHOENIX – Common Core opponents suffered what could be labeled a “strategic loss” yesterday in the Arizona Senate.

The Associated Press reports, “A few key Republican senators joined with Democrats on Wednesday to defeat a bill that would have prohibited Arizona from using” the nationalized, one-size-fits-all learning standards known as Common Core.

The final vote was 18 to 12.

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The repeal effort was led by Republican Sen. Al Melvin, who is hoping to be the GOP’s gubernatorial candidate in the fall. It’s unclear if current Gov. Jan Brewer, who is a Common Core supporter, will run for reelection, or even if she’s eligible to do so.

Melvin believes Common Core opens the door for bureaucrats in faraway Washington D.C. to influence what gets taught in Arizona classrooms. It’s a concern that a growing number of voters, and citizens throughout the nation, seem to share.

“Many citizens, I think the majority, have fundamental problems with Common Core and its implementation in the state  and believe that we, as a state, can do a far better job in this area than the federal government dictating to us,” Melvin said, according to YumaSun.com.

Melvin conceded to a TV news reporter that even if his repeal legislation – Senate Bill 1310 – had passed the Senate and the House of Representatives, Gov. Brewer would have likely vetoed it. But the lawmaker told 12 News the vote forced his fellow legislators to go on the record about Common Core, and that will help voters figure out who they want to support in the upcoming primaries and eventually in the November general election.

He clearly thinks candidates who support Common Core will face strong resistance from voters.

“I wouldn’t want to be in their shoes, frankly,” Melvin told News 12.

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If Melvin is correct and Arizonans vote an anti-Common Core governor and a few more likeminded legislators into office, the Grand Canyon State could eventually jettison the nationalized learning standards from its classrooms, and replace them with homegrown ones.

A Common Core repeal is still a longshot in Arizona, but after Wednesday’s defeat, opponents of this latest K-12 experiment may have laid the ground work for a surprising victory in 2015.