State officials hoping to debunk myths about Common Core

in September in Milledgeville

in October, tentatively, in Hall County

gwinnett college auhust

milledgeville sept

oct tentative hall county

Wednesday’s first meeting of an unusual state committee on education policy was billed as an opportunity to inform voters. It could offer a significant side benefit for the GOP, though: finding some unity on Common Core, an issue that has become intensely divisive.

Wednesday, committee members found a skeptical audience. They spent hours debunking what they see as myths about the national set of academic standards known as Common Core and batting back concerns over federal initiatives like the Race to the Top program. Many of those listening were not swayed.

“I kind of see it as a whitewash,” said Dorothy Kitching, a retired nurse from Hall County who opposes Common Core.

“I’m enjoying some of the untruths I’m hearing,” added Mike Scupin, a Hall County tea party activist who also opposes Common Core.

The committee of parents, superintendents, teachers and state legislators was appointed by House Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge. It’s called the Role of Federal Government in Education Study Committee. With reports by staff from the Georgia Department of Education, Georgia Superintendent John Barge and Gwinnett County Public Schools Superintendent J. Alvin Wilbanks, the committee gave a detailed, acronym-filled presentation — the first of four that will take place across the state over the next three months.

The first meeting, which drew about 90 people including several state officials and staffers, was intended to be informational, with no period for public comments. At the next meetings, plans are to allow public comments.

Antipathy toward Washington has long been a staple of Republican politics. But strong pushback on Common Core and Race to the Top in Georgia threatens to crack the coalition of business leaders, military officials, tea party activists and other conservatives who typically back the GOP.

Indeed, for elected Republicans, Common Core has been like a downed power line, sizzling and popping and threatening a painful jolt for anyone foolish enough to latch on to the issue.

Kitching and Scupin, along with others who spent their Wednesday afternoon hearing presentations to the committee, remained firm in their opposition to Common Core, which they see as a federal intrusion into state control of public education. The federal Race to the Top program, which awarded Georgia a $400 million grant to make targeted improvements in education, remained in their view an unwanted deal with the Obama administration. Lots of money, yes, but too many mandates from Washington.

Mindful of the passion of those who oppose the standards, elected Republicans complain privately that much of the opposition to Common Core is driven by misinformation.

They note that former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue, a Republican, was an early supporter of the standards. They note that, despite criticism to the contrary, Georgia’s education officials were deeply involved in the creation of the standards, which were modeled on the existing standards of six states — one of which was Georgia. No reading lists of racy books is being forced on school districts because of Common Core, they say.

But the conservatives and tea party activists who hate Common Core would otherwise generally be likely to be Republican voters. And elected Republicans officials are careful to tread lightly in saying why they still back the standards.

“This committee is tasked with separating the political rhetoric from the reality,” Ralston said at the start of the meeting. “All of us agree that we want nothing but the very best for our young people.”