Rep. Bahr: We need to put the brakes on Common Core

One of the bills I filed this first full week of the new session is HB 1490 is often referred to as the “Anti-Common Core Bill.” 

This bill prohibits the adoption and implementation of the Common Core State Standards by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and nullifies any actions already taken and requires any state
education standards adopted and implemented to have the approval of the General Assembly.

In 1993, the Show-Me Standards began in Missouri. At that time, it was a requirement by statute that if 70% of the State Standards were changed, the General Assembly had to be notified and consulted about the changes.

 Unfortunately, this statute was for that year only. In 2009, unknown to the General Assembly of Missouri, Governor Nixon signed a Memorandum of Agreement with a private consortium turning over the writing of Missouri’s State Standards to an outside group. This group known as the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) now determines the educational standards in the state of Missouri. The contract signed by Governor Nixon, the state board of education limits how much we can change the standards and collects data on our children to give to the federal government. I believe it was short sighted to sign this contract without the input of the citizens of Missouri. Parents and taxpayers should have had the right to see what the standards were and make a knowledgeable decision on whether this program was good for our children.

In addition, Common Core requires computer assessments. There are many problems with this requirement because not all school districts have broadband or computer for all their students (beginning at 3rd grade). This creates an unfunded mandates to the local school districts. It is against the Constitution of Missouri for us to require unfunded mandates of local agencies. 

There are many other reasons to be wary of Common Core, we need to put the brakes on its implementation and ensure all stake holders have a chance to decide the best educational standards for our children.