Common Core Ballot Question Threatens Student Progress

Flying mostly under the radar in recent months, the ballot measure that would repeal the Common Core has escaped the close examination it deserves.  If passed, it would have a devastating impact on Massachusetts schools, upending every district in the state by:

• forcing all schools to go back to using academic standards from 2001 and 2004 that are not aligned with college and workforce expectations;
• throwing out six years of educators’ hard work aligning lesson plans, materials, report cards, and assessments to these standards; and,
• squandering countless hours and investment in professional development aimed at improving curriculum and instruction so students can meet the higher bar set by the 2010 standards.

Last week, an appeal of the Attorney General’s certification of the End Common Core Ballot Question was filed with the Supreme Judicial Court.  MBAE’s Chairman Bill Walczak is one of ten taxpayer plaintiffs who filed the appeal.  MBAE supports the appeal for three primary reasons:

• The ballot measure fails to meet the constitutional requirements to be placed on the November 2016 ballot.
• The quality of education provided to all children, and Massachusetts’ status as a national leader in student achievement, are at risk if the proposals in this ballot question were to become law.
• A regular process already exists to thoroughly review and update the standards, and a review of the 2010 standards will soon get underway.

This third point is critical.  If proponents of the ballot measure are truly interested in ensuring Massachusetts has the best standards, they could have a much more positive impact by taking part in the time-tested process already getting underway to evaluate and adjust the 2010 standards.  If they choose not to seize that opportunity, we could fairly conclude that politics and ideology are what’s at the root of their agenda.

To read MBAE’s statement on the appeal click here.

To find out more about the significant cost implications and challenges other states have experienced when trying to rewrite their standards read this story from Crain’s New York Business about what’s happening in New York and this one from Hechinger Report about Louisiana.