A bill that would render Common Core implementation void has moved past an important Indiana Senate committee last Wednesday.
The bill’s text mentions that Indiana’s education standards will instead align with those that have been constructed within the state. Senate bill 91 (SB91) reads, in part:
“Academic standards adopted by the state board after June 30, 2010, are void. The academic standards in effect on June 30, 2010, are in effect until the state board adopts college and career readiness educational standards.”
The bill’s author, (Scott Schneider, R-Indianapolis), has framed the bill as one that would destroy Common Core standards. Schneider stated: “This is the legislature speaking finally about this issue once and for all. Indiana is going to write its own standards.” Schneider is among a group of legislators that believes Indiana wisely crafted academic standards that are more relevant and superior to Common Core. When a strong backlash against Common Core occurred last year in Indiana, a chief reason for opposition was that the initiative was too closely affiliated with the interests of the federal Department of Education.
Arne Duncan, the federal Secretary of Education, has framed Common Core curriculum as a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the Federal Government to create incentives for far-reaching improvement in our nation’s schools.” Unfortunately for Duncan, the Hoosier state is starting to make it known that it does not see this “opportunity” as one that one that is particularly beneficial. Surely, the state is becoming persuaded that “far-reaching improvement” can only come from its own education standards.
Indiana adopted its own education standards in 2010, which Schneider and many other legislatures view as preferable to the Common Core standards initiative.
Aligning with the principles of the Tenth Amendment, Indiana recognizes that it can embark upon its own path on this issue rather than to adopt national education standards. Schneider astutely notes: “The consensus of the state is that we are moving beyond Common Core.”
SB91 now moves on to the full state senate for consideration where it will need to pass by a majority vote before the house has an opportunity to concur.
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