The question is not whether Georgia lawmakers should pass Senate Bill 167, the anti-Common Core legislation pending before them. At this point, the question is: Why bother?
As passed by the state Senate, the bill would essentially pry Georgia out of the Common Core standards for student learning, which were created several years ago at the behest of governors led by our own Sonny Perdue. But it would also bar Georgia from using any standards set by the federal government, any group of states or any “third party.”
Not to worry, SB 167’s sponsors tell me. The bill isn’t intended to force our state to go it alone in deciding what kindergarteners through high school seniors need to know in math and language arts. We could still adopt standards from elsewhere; a revision of the bill will make that clear.
Well, what about the part of the bill that could lead schools for years to come to use science standards based on what was known back in 2010?
Yeah, comes the sheepish reply, don’t worry about that, either. The revised bill will fix that.
OK, but SB 167 also prohibits any student assessments “designed to test national standards or rebranded national standards or [which are] based on any standards established by a consortium of states or a third party.” Doesn’t that rule out national college-entrance exams such as the SAT and ACT, which are moving toward Common Core?
No, no, no, I am reassured. That’s a misinterpretation. The revised bill will clear things up.
Then there’s the portion of the bill concerning student privacy. Various technology companies have warned it is overly restrictive and could create unintended consequences for digital learning, while only barring the collection of data that isn’t even being sought.
Relax, I’m told. Lawmakers have heard those concerns loud and clear, and they will make sure the revised bill isn’t too restrictive toward technology or the use of student data.
Hmmm.
These attempts to clear up the problems with SB 167 are all well and good, the kind of responsiveness one hopes lawmakers will have when experts in a given field voice concerns.
But assuming all those changes are made, what would be left? A bill that lengthened the review period for state standards to five years from the current four years. That, and a new appointed board to make recommendations about standards to … the (also appointed) state school board, which would make the decision. What’s more, the state school board is already in the middle of a lengthy review of Common Core and Georgia’s participation in it.
It seems we’d end up with a bill that clarifies Georgia can continue to make its own decisions about standards for public schools but hardly changes the way those decisions are made, while reinforcing the privacy of students who are already covered by federal privacy laws.
Ensuring Georgia’s authority to set education policy and protecting our children’s privacy are laudable goals. But, as it happens, Gov. Nathan Deal already took aim at those goals in an executive order last May.
Why not simply enshrine Deal’s executive order in law? Lawmakers could reaffirm that setting standards is the prerogative of the state without micro-managing or prejudging the results of the state board’s review of Common Core.
It’s hard to tell what more a revised SB 167 would actually accomplish.
