A bill that would ban Common Core Standards in Arizona has passed through two house committee votes as of February 23.
SB 2190 passed through Arizona’s House Education Committee on February 18 by a 5-2 vote, and then passed the House Rules Committee by a 6-1 vote on February 23. The bill would not only remove any prior implementations of Common Core, but also prevent the state from adopting the standards in the future.
Heartland Institute Research Fellow Heather Kays testified before the Education Committee on February 18 in support of repealing and replacing Common Core.
“Education is not enumerated as a federal power in the Constitution, which means that the issue of education and curriculum is left to the states,” said Kays. “Law prohibits a national curriculum. Common Core supporters argue that curriculum is not the same thing as standards. That’s an argument of semantics as standards very clearly and directly affect curriculum – defining what students need to know means defining what they will be taught.”
Kays also expressed doubts that Common Core standards raise the academic bar.
“Teachers and curriculum experts all over the nation agree that Common Core standards are of subpar quality,” she said. “Educators and child psychologists have questioned the developmental appropriateness of the standards.”
Chris Neal ([email protected]) writes from New York, New York.
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