Romine: Missourians "justifiably alarmed" about Common Core Standards

In his weekly newsletter, Sen. Gary Romine, R- St. Genevieve, writes about steps the Senate has taken to deal with public concerns about the Common Core Standards that are being implemented in Missouri school districts.

In recent weeks, I’ve heard from numerous constituents concerned about the implementation of Common Core Standards in Missouri schools. For those unfamiliar, the Common Core Standards Initiative is an effort to create a single set of educational standards for English language arts and mathematics for kindergarten through 12^th grade. This program was created by groups representing the nation’s governors and education commissioners. To be clear, the federal government was not involved with the creation of this initiative.

The Department of Education and Secondary Education has quietly implemented these standards into school curriculums over the last few years without proper vetting by the General Assembly. Many citizens are outraged.  They see this as taking away local control from school districts and they’re rightfully concerned.  We’re being led down a road that eventually ends in national standards, which rob our state and local governments from the power to establish the educational policies that work best for their area.

Last week, the Senate Education Committee passed Senate Bill 210, which deals with the Common Core Standards. Under the bill, DESE would be required to hold public meetings in each congressional district on the standards, with parents and school employees notified about the meeting at least two weeks in advance. The bill also requires the department to perform a fiscal analysis of the projected costs of implementing the standards and prepare a report that clearly lays out what information is collected under the program and if any government entity collects or receives that data.

I believe one of the biggest problems with the Common Core Standards is little information has been given.  People read in the newspaper or hear from word of mouth that their local school has agreed to what looks like a set of national standards created by the federal government and they’re justifiably alarmed.

These meetings would allow parents to get valuable information on how this initiative would affect their children. We also need to know how much implementation would cost. Some have estimated the costs at around $350 million to $400 million. We don’t know if those figures are accurate, though, because we have yet to see a study on the price tag associated with adhering to these standards. Senate Bill 210 would give the public and the Legislature the information they need to make an informed choice. The bill now goes to the floor for possible debate.