Standards mean very little. What matters is what actually goes on in the classroom. Even textbooks don't have as much impact as people like to think.
We're implementing Common Core here in North Dakota. It will cause some changes, but none I would regard as sweeping. In general, Common Core is at a higher level than what we had, but not inordinately so.
The trouble with Common Core that I see is that it is a purely "college prep" set of standards. For those heading in other career directions, there is nothing.
On the other hand, my hope is that Common Core will get teachers to focus on teaching their grade level material and teaching it well. I'm tired of teachers thinking that the best way to prepare students for the next level is to teach the next level, particularly as this tends to occur at the expense of truly mastering grade level material.