Senator Tillman is pressing the Academic Standards Review Commission (ASRC) on their assigned task, “writing new standards” and not just ‘tweaking’ and renaming them. He also mentions the SBAC, which North Carolina HAS NOT withdrawn from despite the legislature choking off their funding.

The SBAC is only one big issue. I would encourage Senator Tillman to get up to speed fast on DPI’s plans to renew our ESEA waiver which has implications for more rounds of Common Core.

See the excerpt from this newsletter below.

Common Core – N.C. Cuts Ties

Legislation passed in 2014 severs North Carolina’s ties to Common Core standards. Repeal and replace have no double meaning. They are clear. Lawyers, some slicker than a mountain trout, may try to convince you otherwise. There are those who are trying to convince the Standards Commission (who are charged with writing new standards) to take the path of least resistance and keep the Common Core standards. For appearance sake, they may tweak and rename some of them. This kind of “whitewash” will not fly. I don’t believe the legislature nor, the public will stand for a meaningless “warmed over,” “half-baked,” set of standards – certainly not the people I’ve heard from.

I sincerely hope the Standards Commission will act in good faith and do what the legislation calls for. There is a lot of work required to do this job and to do it right. I will do all I can to ensure the Standards Commission has the tools they need to do the work. There is a lot of interest in the work of the commission. A progress report to the legislature early in the long session may prove beneficial to all interested parties. We’ll see…

Note: Regaining local control of education in North Carolina is essential. Don’t ever forget; standards dictate what’s taught. What’s tested is dictated by the standards – and what’s tested is driven by Federal testing (PARCC/Smarter Balanced). This is the Common Core North Carolina has severed its ties with. More and more, states are doing the same thing. Is there any wonder why? Education belongs to the states – NOT anywhere else. We’ll see…

I’ve always been a proponent of local control of education. The more flexibility we can give local school systems in funding and in decision making the better. Federal intervention seldom, if ever works. Less state control will result in better results. DPI may have a role in education in NC but not to the extent it currently has. We’ll see…