JACKSON, Miss. (March 4, 2016) – This year, several bills were introduced in the Mississippi legislature that would have rejected the Common Core education standards and replaced them with local and state alternatives. Unfortunately, they were killed by Republican House and Senate leadership without receiving so much as a vote or even a committee hearing.
Following is a rundown of bills that would have returned control of Mississippi to Mississippians and their fate:
HOUSE BILL 195
HB195 was introduced by Rep. Becky Currie (R-Brookhaven). It declared that the state would use “no standards that use the same model frameworks as such standards developed primarily by entities outside the State of Mississippi.” It also required public notice before a new education curriculum could be implemented, making it more difficult for Fed Ed pushers to re-brand Common Core under a different euphemism.
Unfortunately, the bill was killed in the House Education Committee. Rep. John L. Moore (R-Brandon) either refused to give the legislation a vote or a hearing as committee chairman.
HOUSE BILL 246
HB246 contained similar language to HB195. Introduced by Rep. William Arnold (R-Booneville), this bill would have removed the state from the Common Core educational standards and barred the state from joining “any consortium or any other organization when participation in that consortium or organization would cede any measure of control over any aspect of Mississippi public education to entities outside the state.”
The bill was killed in the House Education Committee. Once again, Rep. Moore either refused to give the legislation a vote or a hearing as committee chairman.
HOUSE BILL 1006
HB1006 was another bill introduced this year to terminate Common Core educational standards. Introduced by Rep. Ashley Henley (R-Southaven), the legislation would have protected the personally identifiable information of students from being exploited by banning any state expenditure of “funds, whether from federal Race to the Top grants, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds, or elsewhere, on construction, enhancement or expansion of any statewide longitudinal data system.”
Yet again, the legislation was killed in the House Education Committee. It was the same culprit, Rep. Moore, who either refused to give the legislation a vote or a hearing as committee chairman.
SENATE BILL 2547
SB2547 was the anti-Common Core bill introduced in the Mississippi Senate during 2016. Introduced by Sen. Michael Watson (R-Pascagoula), this bill would have allowed “parents or legal guardians of students enrolled in the school district to opt-out of Common Core aligned curricula, and to opt-out of sharing their child’s personal information with the federal government and other agencies and private contractors” by filling out a simple form offered by the local school board, also available online.
This legislation was died in the Senate Education Committee. This time, the guilty party was Sen. Gray Tollison (R-Oxford) who either refused to schedule the important bill for a vote or a hearing as committee chairman.
OVERVIEW
Although numerous chances to improve education for Mississippi children failed this year, all hope is not lost. The legislators who refused to uphold their oath to the Constitution and killed these bills are now more vulnerable than ever. Alert your community about who is jeopardizing your rights, Mississippians. From that point, the legislature can be remade with individuals with the backbone to protect your freedoms through nullification.
The process can be a long, hard and ugly one, but it can pay off. Many of the states that are currently passing several nullification bills each year were in Mississippi’s situation not too long ago. However, activists in those states steadfastly refused to give up and successfully pushed their legislators to do the right thing. That is the future that Mississippi can achieve, but it is going to take some grit and determination to get there. Will you join us and help make it happen?
