Statement on Appeal of AG Certification of Common Core Ballot Question

(Boston) January 22, 2016 — The Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education (MBAE) supports the taxpayers’ appeal of the Attorney General’s certification of the Common Core Ballot Initiative Petition 15-12 to the Supreme Judicial Court for three reasons:

First, we believe Common Core Initiative Petition 15-12 failed to meet the constitutional requirements to be placed on the November 2016 ballot.

Second, the quality of educational services provided to all children, and Massachusetts’ status as the leading state for student achievement, are at risk if the proposals in this ballot question were to become law.

Third, there is a regular process set by regulation to thoroughly review and update the standards that involves educators, parents and community leaders, so the question is not necessary.  In fact, a review of the 2010 standards will soon get underway.

Common Core Initiative Petition 15-12 fails to meet constitutional requirements

MBAE believes strongly that the Common Core ballot Initiative Petition fails to meet legal requirements because it doesn’t propose a “law” and contains other errors that make it ineligible for action by the voters.  Also, the various sections of the Petition are not mutually dependent, as required under law.

If passed, the measure would turn back the clock on education improvements

This ballot measure would turn back the clock on critical improvements that the majority of teachers and principals support.  It would cause mass confusion in our schools, undo the hard work of thousands of Massachusetts educators and put our children far behind their peers in other states. It would jeopardize the chance for equitable educational opportunities for children in low-income communities, all for the sake of a nationwide political crusade based on faulty data and ideological opposition to high standards for students in Massachusetts and across the United States.

Process Already Exists to Review and Update Standards

The Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education is expected to vote this month to begin the process of reviewing and updating the standards.  It is the appropriate process for implementing and reviewing educational standards – not the ballot.