In a 6-3 vote on November 10, the State Board of Education reaffirmed Alabama’s college and career ready standards based on the Common Core State Standards. The CCSS were created by a consortium of state governors and chief state school officers to ensure that students graduate from high school with the skills needed for success in college and the workplace. The State Department of Education used the CCSS to develop the Alabama College and Career Ready Initiative standards. A+ supports the Common Core State Standards and the state board’s decision to uphold them.
At the November 10th meeting, Gov. Bentley introduced a resolution to rescind the state’s commitment to the standards. Citing the standards as an example of federal overreach, Bentley said “education does not belong to the federal government. It belongs to the states.”
The school board, however, led by Vice Chairman Randy McKinney, was not convinced. Supporters maintained Alabama would retain complete control over the state’s curriculum and education goals. “From what I have been told, and from the research I’ve done on my own, these standards basically serve as a framework and local districts still create their own curriculum,” said board member Yvette Richardson.
Some school board members also criticized the standards’ opponents for conducting a deliberate campaign of misinformation. Huntsville representative Mary Scott Hunter said that the groups’ attempts to link the standards to President Obama and homosexuality distracted from the real issue at hand. Decatur representative Dr. Charles Elliott agreed, saying, “I haven’t received one email or letter from someone who said they were concerned with Alabama’s children.”
Click here to read Alabama news stories about the Common Core State Standards.
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