Standards

Common-Standards Update: Minnesota Challenge Dies

By Catherine Gewertz — August 03, 2011 1 min read
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Common-standards addicts might recall that earlier this year, we reported on several states whose legislatures were brewing up some possible challenges to their states’ adoption of—or implementation of—the standards. (If you missed these reports, check my blog posts here and here.)

Prompted by an email from an interested reader, I checked on those bills. I found that HF934, the big education bill in Minnesota that included a provision that would have prevented adoption of the common math standards and could have complicated implementation of the English/language arts standards there, was vetoed by the governor on May 24. HF26, the big education bill that rose from those ashes in special session in July—and was signed by the governor on July 20, within 24 hours of its introduction—did not include the bits about the common standards, according to a helpful clerk at the legislature and Aaron Solem, the administrator of the House education committee. (Here is the bill, and here is the bill summary, on the chance you want to peruse them.)

Where does all this leave us in Minnesota? Well, first off, remember that Minnesota adopted only the English/language arts standards, not the ones in math. Keeping that in mind, what this means is that no law was passed challenging the education commissioner’s authority to adopt or implement the standards there. So basically what we have is a status quo preserved.

I checked on the South Carolina and New Hampshire bills, and when legislative sessions ended, they were still where we left them when we first told you about them. So no action there. Stay tuned, and let us know of any common-standards action you hear about out in the states!

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A version of this news article first appeared in the Curriculum Matters blog.