I laughed out loud a year ago, when I read what Governor LePage of Maine said upon withdrawing Maine’s membership in the National Governors’ Association. Along with citing the waste of taxpayer’s money on NGA “membership dues” ($60,000 per year) LePage described NGA meetings as “too politically correct and everybody is lovey-dovey, and no decisions are ever made.”
But Governor LePage of Maine made much bigger news this week when he issued an executive order opposing Common Core, and stated: “I don’t believe in Common Core. I believe in raising standards in education.”
An increasing number of Governors now openly oppose Common Core, although the National Governors’ Association co-created and copyrighted the Common Core.
Governor Haley of South Carolina backed a bill to block Common Core. Governor Deal of Georgia issued an executive order to address the crisis of Common Core. Governor Pence of Indiana signed legislation to halt Common Core for at least one year in his state. Governor Bentley of Alabama has condemned Common Core, saying that having just one national standard in place “goes against the intent of the founding fathers of the United States.”
When Texas Governor Perry rejected Common Core, he said, “The academic standards of Texas are not for sale,” and has explained that the reason Texas doesn’t pay National Governors’ Association (NGA) dues is that the Governor doesn’t believe the $100,000 cost to Texas taxpayers was justifiable.
According to CNN, way back in 2011, Texas, South Carolina and Idaho were not paying NGA dues.
But Utah’s Governor Herbert remains on the Executive Committee of the National Governor’s Association, Utah taxpayers continue to pay dues for the Governor’s NGA membership, and both the Governor and the State School Board are advocates of NGA and of Common Core.
COMMON CORE 