Common core?
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Indiana becomes first state to back out of Common Core standards. "Indiana's governor on Monday signed legislation withdrawing the state from the Common Core, making it the first to officially dump math and reading standards that have been adopted by nearly all the states. The law directs the state board of education to create its own learning goals before July 1....Supporters of the new Indiana law cite an effort to maintain local control, with some also arguing the Common Core is weaker than Indiana's old standards. The Common Core's proponents played down the move, saying Indiana still could keep large sections of those standards in place. But others said Mr. Pence's move could embolden other governors, especially given that Indiana was among the first to adopt the standards, in 2010....The Common Core has come under attack recently in at least a dozen states by an unlikely coalition of conservatives, who see them as an intrusion into local control, and teachers-union leaders, who say their implementation has been botched." Stephanie Banchero in The Wall Street Journal.
Already the standards were paused, which was giving some teachers headaches. Here's why. "Even before Governor Mike Pence signed today's repeal, Indiana lawmakers had already voted to pause Common Core implementation. And that left teachers like Shank feeling confused, because those new standards to replace the Core, they haven't been written yet. And she wondered, does a pause mean she shouldn't follow the Core in the meantime?...And today, that pause became a full stop. What that means for the rest of this school year is unclear. State education officials have until July to adopt new expectations for students."Elle Moxley in NPR.
Republicans are also experiencing a different kind of headache over Common Core. "More than five years after U.S. governors began a bipartisan effort to set new standards in American schools, the Common Core initiative has morphed into a political tempest fueling division among Republicans. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce leads establishment voices -- such as possible presidential contender Jeb Bush -- who hail the standards as a way to improve student performance and, over the long term, competitiveness of American workers. Many archconservatives -- tea party heroes Rand Paul and Ted Cruz among them -- decry the system as a top-down takeover of local schools....To a lesser extent, Democrats must deal with some teachers -- their unions hold strong influence within the party -- who are upset about implementation details. But it's the internal GOP debate that's on display in statehouses, across 2014 campaigns and among 2016 presidential contenders." Bill Barrow in the Associated Press.
Long read: Taxpayers subsidize private schools that teach creationism. "Public debate about science education tends to center on bills like one in Missouri, which would allow public school parents to pull their kids from science class whenever the topic of evolution comes up. But the more striking shift in public policy has flown largely under the radar, as a well-funded political campaign has pushed to open the spigot for tax dollars to flow to private schools. Among them are Bible-based schools that train students to reject and rebut the cornerstones of modern science. Decades of litigation have established that public schools cannot teach creationism or intelligent design. But private schools receiving public subsidies can -- and do....Many of these faith-based schools go beyond teaching the biblical story of the six days of creation as literal fact. Their course materials nurture disdain of the secular world, distrust of momentous discoveries and hostility toward mainstream scientists. They often distort basic facts about the scientific method -- teaching, for instance, that theories such as evolution are by definition highly speculative because they haven't been elevated to the status of 'scientific law.' And this approach isn't confined to high school biology class; it is typically threaded through all grades and all subjects." Stephanie Simon in Politico.
Explainer: Science lessons from the Bible. Politico Pro Staff.
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