After South Carolina governor Nikki Haley signed H3893 into law, social media blew up with tantalizing headlines that Common Core standards had been eradicated. Unfortunately and unsurprisingly this would be an overstatement much like the cheering choruses heard after Indiana and Oklahoma passed anti-Common Core legislation.
These bills don’t actually end Common Core. A different name for a state-run program with “college- and career-ready” standards to qualify for federal funding in essence is still an implementation of Common Core.
So it all comes back to money. Funds the federal government took and now flaunts in the faces of state legislatures have proven to be an irresistible bait.
Common Core will only go away “when lawmakers learn to turn away federal cash” says The South Carolina Policy Council. Every state remains dependent on hundreds of millions of dollars from the federal government since accepting waivers from No Child Left Behind.
Then does this mean it’s no use fighting Common Core? Surely not. Longtime Tenth Amendment Center fans look back with pride on early successes such as state resolutions expressing reverence to the 10th Amendment and Bill of Rights in 2008-9. Symbolic and token actions can lead to real nullification.
The recent news of revulsion to Common Core should strengthen the resolve of all tenthers or any American. But these are simply not enough, and hardly even a start to the Constitutional mission of nullifying Washington, D.C.’s usurpation of our communities’ responsibilities.
