Bill Proposed in NC House Literally

Replaces Common Core

MARCH 24, 2017 COMMON CORE, EDUCATION COMMON CORE, HB 417, LARRY PITTMAN

Last year, the Academic Standards Review Commission (ASRC)

was created by the North Carolina General Assembly to get rid
of Common Core failed in their task.

The ASRC spent 15 months getting input, examining other

state’s standards and hearing from parents and teachers.

In a rather disturbing series of exchanges during their final meeting, certain members of the commission
scuttled their own work. The result was a warmed over version of the controversial and flawed standards.

This resulted in North Carolina’s Department of Public Instruction continuing their work to ‘revise‘ the
standards, however their revisions thus far have been superficial and in some cases, made the standards worse.

READ: Dr. Stotsky: I’ll Review NC DPI Common Core Revisions Pro Bono

Last year, a bill was proposed to split the difference when it came to the math standards.
Various ‘education’ non-profits like the Gates Foundation funded Hope Street Group, the Department of Public
instruction and Pro-Common Core teachers interfered once again when the legislature attempted to allow
both Common Core math and Traditional math to be offered in high school via HB 657.  The NC Chamber of
Commerce also got in on the act.

One legislator is tired of the shell game being played by the Department of Public Instruction, the NC
Chamber of Commerce and various pro-Common Core non-profits.

Representative Larry Pittman has introduced a bill to get rid of Common Core and has aptly named it, “Actually
Get Rid of Common Core.” The Primary sponsors joining Pittman are
Representatives Speciale, Ford and Boswell.

House Bill 417 seeks to replace Common Core with the recommendations that the ASRC had originally
proposed and then killed in their last meeting.

In a newsletter, Rep. Pittman remarked on the bill:

HB 417, Actually Get Rid of Common Core: This would do what it says, actually get rid of
Common Core.

The Academic Standards Review Commission (ASRC), which was created by a bill whose title
said the ASRC was being created to REPEAL AND REPLACE COMMON CORE, was actually
stacked against fulfilling that purpose. Common Core was not repealed and replaced. It was
merely renamed and slightly tweaked.

This bill would correct that by requiring that the proposed math standards offered by the
Math Work Group of the ASRC actually be adopted, and that the English Language Arts
standards offered by Dr. Sandra Stotsky to the State, free of charge, be adopted.

I have had numerous citizens, including many teachers, thank me for my efforts to get rid of
Common Core and encourage me to continue fighting to do so. One principal even came to
me out at the polls during last year’s election and told me that she and all the teachers in
her school hate Common Core.

I am the one who started the fight to set our children and families free from Common Core,
and I intend to keep fighting it until it is gone or I retire from the Legislature, whichever
comes first.

The bill passed its first reading on March 22nd and has been referred to the Committee on Education – K-12.
The text of the bill is as Rep. Pittman describes.  It replaces Common Core math with that of the Minnesota K-
12 Academic Standards in Mathematics.  These math standards are currently considered to be some of the best
in the country.

It also swaps out the Common Core English Language Arts standards in favor of those written by Dr. Sandra
Stotsky, titled, An English Language Arts Curriculum Framework for American Public Schools: A Model.

Sandra Stotsky is credited with developing one of the country’s strongest sets of academic
standards for K-12 students as well as the strongest academic standards and licensure tests
for prospective teachers while serving as Senior Associate Commissioner in the
Massachusetts Department of Education from 1999-2003. She is also known nation-wide for
her in-depth analyses of the problems in Common Core’s English language arts standards.

Dr. Stotsky was a member of the Common Core Validation Committee. She and her colleague, Dr. James
Milgram, both refused to validate the final version of the standards.

The pair presented testimony to the ASRC and have penned numerous white papers outlining their specific
objections.

Dr. Stotsky has made the offer to review the current revisions being made by the Department of Public
Instruction.

Both Superintendent Johnson and several members of the State Board of Education have indicated they are
willing to take her up on her offer.  Lt. Governor Forest, who has been a long time opponent of Common Core,
has been apprised of the offer and there are indications he is receptive to it as well.

The next meeting of the NC State Board of Education in April may perhaps see discussion of Stotsky’s offer.

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