Oklahoma Lawmakers Repeal Common Core

by Bethany Monk, CitizenLink: The Oklahoma Legislature passed a bill that would repeal Common Core state law. The legislation would be the most thorough removal of the initiative from any state adoption in the nation. Gov. Mary Fallin is expected to sign it.

Jennie White, president of Restore Oklahoma Public Education, said repealing it would help students thrive.

“We all want high standards for our children,” she said, “but we especially want parents involved in the process of educating their children.”

Common Core, created in 2010, offers a series of guidelines showing what children should know about math and English from kindergarten to graduation.
Many education experts, including White, point to one of the initiative’s major flaws: It leaves parents out of the equation. What we need, she said, is local control.

“Common Core was putting a wedge between parent and teacher, teacher and administrator, and all but neutering school boards,” White said. “Local control of education has been proven time and time again to be the best system for ensuring students the best possible educational results.”

The initiative was created by National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and the Council of Chief State School Officers.

The change in Oklahoma leaves 43 states, the District of Columbia, four territories and the Department of Defense Activity that are under Common Core. The Sooner State joins those that are not: Alaska, Indiana, Minnesota, Nebraska, Texas and Virginia. But several states that originally adopted the standards have begun taking steps away from the movement.

Oklahoma HB 3399 would replace Common Core with a framework of standards to be written by Oklahomans over a two-year period. In the interim, schools will return to the state’s previous standards and tests. It would also prohibit the state Board of Education from gaining any control over the state standards or tests.

White is “gratified and thankful” lawmakers carefully researched Common Core.

“Had so many members not maintained an open mind and reviewed our research, there would have been no way to have passed this kind of comprehensive bill,” she said. “We now humbly ask Governor Fallin to sign HB3399 into law and eagerly await the date we can celebrate with her, this tremendous win for public education in Oklahoma — and across the nation.”
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Read “How is the federal government involved in the Common Core?”
Watch the trailer for “The Building Machine,” a documentary about Common Core.
Read “Common Core Standards Leave Parents Out of Education Equation.”

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