Common Core Moving Closer to Repeal in NC with Your Help

For those who say I’m only one person or my one vote doesn’t matter what can I do?

You can, if nothing else, make phone call as we asked (Bill to STOP Common Core in Jeopardy) and those that did made all the difference.

When on June 19, 2014 the Education Committee Chairman stood to introduce SB812, he mentioned the 350+ calls his office received opposing the bill that would do little to remove Common Core other than, change the name.

As we reported (North Carolina House Passes Bill to Withdraw from Common Core) about the passage of the much stronger bill HB1061 on June 4^th we told you the SB812 would be heard in committee and that it needed to be stopped.

In a move, that I hope will not backfire on the committee and HB1061 the committee had prepared an amendment in secret prior to the committee meeting and did not inform the Senate bill’s sponsor. That amendment gut SB812, replaced the language with HB1061’s language and passed 27-17.

In a statement from Representative Pittman (one of the main sponsors of HB1061), he explained what happened at the committee meeting:

“when bill drafting sent us the Proposed Committee Substitute (PCS) gutting the language of SB812 and replacing it with the language of HB1061 on Wednesday, they asked, as they always do, if we wanted them to send it on to Sen. Tillman, etc. Before I saw the message, Rep. Speciale had already responded, “No.” So, I responded that I thought we ought to send it to Sen. Tillman, as is customary, but that I would defer to the others involved. So, while I intended to have the PCS sent to Sen. Tillman on Wednesday, it was not sent to him because one of us had objected. I certainly understand Sen. Tillman being upset about this; but I do not think that was my decision. If you listen carefully, at a certain point, Sen. Tillman states that the Governor, the Chamber of Commerce, and others are against Common Core and have been from the beginning. I shook my head when he said this, because all the folks he named are adamantly in support of keeping Common Core. He responded by pointing at me and saying, ‘Yes sir,’ meaning that he was right, when he was not saying what is actually fact. I can only surmise that he was so upset that he didn’t realize his error. Sen. Tillman is very displeased with this outcome today, and I expect it to be unpleasant when we get to conference. However, I hope we can work things out. I actually like some of his bill, and hope we can merge some of his language into what we passed today.”

Now that both bills strip Common Core from North Carolina schools after the 2014-15 school year and replace it with North Carolina standards, block complying with federal grants that require Common Core and block the data mining imbedded in Common Core they will meet in Conference Committee.

This is where we need your help again, we need you to call the House Speaker Representative Thom Tillis (919-733-3451) and request the he send only the strongest voices (Rep. Pittman, Speciale, Horn, Holloway and others) for stopping Common Core as the House members on that committee.

The Governor and the Chamber of Commerce along with numerous other organizations are pushing hard to derail the bills to repeal Common Core in the state and it is time for the phone calls and emails to go out again in support of HB1061.