Ryan Ekvall of the Wisconsin Reporter (part of Watchdog.org) reports that two Republican lawmakers will meet in private to decide whether or not they will pursue a legislative study of the Common Core State Standards.
That the lawmakers will meet in private is perhaps apropos given the under-the-radar way in which Common Core, the set of national academic standards, is being implemented in Wisconsin…
…More than 100 anti-Common Core crusaders showed up to a legislative hearing — the only legislative hearing on Common Core to this point — in May. The session resulted in more questions than answers, but state Rep. Dean Knudson, R-Hudson,led a budget motion to hit the pause button on Common Core…
…Knudson’s budget motion required the Department of Public Instruction to implement academic standards that meet the “college and career readiness” threshold for the state to qualify for a federal flexibility waiver. It also required DPI to keep standards adopted prior to July 1 – namely, English and math Common Core standards.
And the motion required DPI to consult with the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau to estimate the fiscal costs of both fully implementing Common Core standards and discontinuing the implementation of the Common Core. That report is due by Sept. 1. The fiscal bureau told Wisconsin Reporter it has started working on those estimates.
Knudson’s motion also requested that the Joint Legislative Council, co-chaired by Sen. Luther Olsen, R-Ripon, and Rep. Joan Ballweg, R-Markesan, establish a committee to study Common Core standards and report the findings of the following by Nov. 1…
…It’s the squishy legislative lingo “request” instead of “require” that has activists concerned.
Ed Perkins of the Fox Valley Initiative, an Appleton tea party group, said he and other anti-common core activists thought they had won the opportunity to have Common Core vetted publicly in Wisconsin.
Read the rest. Since the Common Core was implemented in private Wisconsin taxpayers deserve sunshine on all things Common Core from here on out.
Photo credit: Vijay Kumar Koulampet via Wikimedia Commons (CC-By-SA 3.0)
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