Archive for the ‘districts are free to dump common core’ Tag

Wisconsin, Ohio and North Carolina Have Local Control –but Utah Does Not?   Leave a comment

According to an article at EagNews.org, some states have true local control and some do not. Wisconsin, Ohio and North Carolina have local control; Utah does not.

The article explains:

MADISON, Wis. – If you live in a “local control” state in terms of public education – and chances are you do – here is some enlightening news.

Your local school board probably has the legal right to remove your school district from the new Common Core academic standards that are being forced on school districts around the nation by state education officials.

It’s true in my home state of Wisconsin, and it’s been confirmed by state education officials in Ohio and North Carolina.

Legislators and (state education departments) have, in my opinion, kept this information very close to the vest. That is deceit of the ugliest kind.

I contacted the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction and asked the following question: If a school district decides to reject Common Core standards and replace them with a superior set of standards, will that school district still receive state and/or federal funds?

I received the following response from Emilie Amundsen, director of the Common Core State Standards Team at DPI:

Yes. In Wisconsin, each school board has the statutory authority to adopt the state standards or any other set of standards, inferior or superior. This is called local control. When applied to schools, local control means that decisions about standards, curriculum and instruction are made at the local level. School districts must have standards. The type, quality and scope of those standards are left to local school boards to decide. This has always been the case in Wisconsin, and this has not changed as a result of Wisconsin adopting Common Core state standards.”

The staff at EAGnews is trying to contact education officials in numerous states, to determine if their districts also have the right to opt out of Common Core.

So far only three states have responded. Officials in North Carolina and Ohio have acknowledged that districts are free to dump Common Core, but caution that students in those districts may struggle with mandatory state tests, which will be aligned with Common Core.

Officials in Utah say local districts do not have the power to drop out of Common Core…

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(I always thought Utah was the land of the free.)

Read the rest of the article here: http://eagnews.org/school-districts-in-local-control-states-like-wisconsin-can-dump-common-core-standards-without-financial-penalties/