Indiana Gov. Mike Pence signed a bill to reconsider Common Core national education standards and analyze its costs.
“My only bias is that we’re going to do education the Indiana way,” he told WIBC FM. “We’re going to set our curriculum for Indiana in Indiana.”
Common Core lists what every child must know in K-12 math and English. Forty-five states traded their state standards and tests for it. House Bill 1427 would require a cost analysis and public hearings before the state continues putting it into place. Currently, Common Core operates in Indiana’s kindergarten and first grade classrooms.
Sitting on the Bill
In five days in April, nearly a thousand Indianans and a coalition of 55 organizations signed a letter to Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, requesting that he stand against Common Core.
They also asked Pence to replace state board of education members, which the governor appoints, with ones who oppose the Core.
“We were outspent and outmanned, but the will of the People prevailed which proves the system can work,” said Erin Tuttle, co-founder of Hoosiers Against Common Core, in a statement.
Editor’s note: This short story will be followed with coverage of what this new law means for the near future. Image by WIFU Public Radio.
Joy Pullmann is a research fellow on education policy for The Heartland Institute and managing editor of The Federalist, a web magazine on politics, policy, and culture.
