Common Core

Alabama Legislator Sponsors Common Core Withdrawal Measure.

WVTM-TV Birmingham, AL (4/24, Jackson) reports that Alabama state Sen. Scott Beason has sponsored legislation to withdraw the state's participation in the Common Core Standards, quoting him saying, "This one size fits all, top-down approach is not going to improve education in the long run. And they will eventually see that. I do not what to have a dumb downed education system, where things become centralized." The piece also cites a local superintendent who supports the standards.

Alabama Educators Protest Plans To Shut Down Common Core.The AP (4/24) reports that some 300 educators and business leaders "gathered on the Capitol steps" in Montgomery, Alabama, "to show their support for the Common Core standards," noting that the gathering "was in response to bills pending in the Legislature that would repeal the standards adopted by the State Board of Education in late 2010. Critics say the standards will lead to the nationalization of public education and take away local control of public schools."

 

Common Core Repeal "Dead" This Session.The AP (4/24, Rawls) reports in a separate article that state Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh said that such legislation "is dead for this session but could come back next year." The piece quotes Marsh saying, "Anything with Common Core, as far as I'm concerned, is off the table." The piece notes that Marsh's announcement followed the protest in Montgomery. "The leader of event, state Superintendent of Education Tommy Bice, applauded Marsh's announcement."

Papers Defend Common Core.

In a "StateImpact" article, NPR (4/23, Mack) reports that several recent "exasperated editorials" in the New York Times and other publications urging critics of the Common Core Standards to "knock it off." Noting that criticism of the standards has been rising in recent weeks, the article notes that the New York Times editorial "summarily dismisses the parents and activists who are outraged by the Common Core."