So, this past week, Scott Walker called for the Wisconsin legislature to repeal Common Core. It was a straightforward request. The answers he’s getting back are less straightforward. In fact, we’re seeing pro-Core talking point parroting going on. See if these excuses sound familiar:

Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, said in a statement that while there may be support for repealing the Common Core, “developing new standards that satisfy everyone’s concerns will be much more difficult.”

And Sen. Luther Olsen of Ripon, the Republican chairman of the Senate Education Committee and a Common Core supporter, said the Legislature can’t repeal the standards because they were adopted voluntarily by school districts across the state. 

 

“I believe 90 percent of the schools are going to say, ‘Madison you go do what you want to do, we’re going to continue with the Common Core,’” Olsen said. “I have to believe people in this state have a lot more faith in their local school board than they do the Legislature in Madison.”

 

If the Legislature mandated standards too different from Common Core, it would hurt high school students taking college placement tests tied to the standards being used by most states, Olsen said.

 

“This is much more serious than this monkey business around saying we can do better,” Olsen said.
-Madison.com 7/18/14

The first excuse is ‘OH NOES, WHAT DO WE REPLACE IT WITH?!’

The answer is SOMETHING BETTER WHICH WISCONSIN CAN CONTROL. Somehow, your state school board and educational system managed before Common Core, it can do it again and do it better.

The second excuse is ‘BUT..BUT… PLACEMENT TESTS!’

The answer is THE FIX IS IN. The SAT, ACT, GED… all aligned to Common Core. Where have these legislators been, under a rock? States are going to need their own tests. Also, since when did states begin allow a college placement test to dictate your K-12 programs? You think testing pushback from parents is bad now, just keep using that excuse and wait for the fun to start.