A bill that would replace the current national Common Core program for Indiana schools with a state developed program was the focus of a House of Representatives education committee Tuesday.
Senate Bill 91, authored by Sen. Scott Schneider, R-Indianapolis, would create higher education standards for the state in response to the alleged mediocrity Common Core standards have brought to schools.
“I think the important thing is that with this bill we’re moving beyond Common Core, and we’re actually saying that we’re going to write Indiana’s standards in Indiana with the input of educators from Indiana,” Schneider said.
For Schneider, it’s the capstone of two years of discussion on the issue, moving towards what the Indiana Department of Education wants its standards to look like, similar to the ones adopted in 2009, but never implemented.
“We’re moving forward. We’re going to avoid Common Core with the standards that were adopted. We actually had adopted standards in 2009 which were lauded by a lot of folks nationwide, and also certified college and career-ready,” Schneider said.
The new plan will include elements from a variety of sources, including standards developed in the 2009 plan as well as guidelines from the current Common Core. The goal is to create a plan that will embody the best traits in order to put together the best plan for Indiana students.
Despite support from several lawmakers, teachers and school corporations, some legislators fear the measure is just another attempt to change the education standards in Indiana, something Representative Kreg Battles, a math teacher himself, said hurts students in the end.
“Every time we change these standards we’re changing the test and there’s a two or three year minimum ramp up time so we figure out the rules of the game as high school instructors. And so that first year the scores potentially are gonna drop,” Battles said. “What I’m hearing my colleagues say is, ‘Figure out what the heck you want. We’re tired of you changing the rules of the game on us, constantly… again third time in potentially a nine to 10 year period. Figure out what you want, stick with it, fine tune it.’ And, that would be my request not so much as a legislator, but as a teacher.”
But John Barnes, Director of Legislative Affairs for the Department of Education, responded to the claims saying the key is to have the “very best standards.”
“The thing that I know is that the superintendent, from the very beginning, has said, ‘I’m not for or against common core. What I am for, is having a set of standards that match what Indiana wants and that is approved and something that the people of the state of Indiana can live with and really want,’” Barnes said.
An education panel will release a preliminary draft of the new standards on February 19th.. It will be available on the DOE website for public comment for 30 days. Public hearings are scheduled for March in Sellersburg, Indianapolis and at Plymouth High School.
Antonio Cordero is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.
