Standards

Kan. Measure to Block Common-Core, Science-Standards Aid Dropped

By Erik W. Robelen — May 22, 2013 1 min read
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House and Senate negotiators in Kansas have reportedly dropped from a state budget bill a controversial measure that would have blocked the spending of state dollars on the Common Core State Standards for math and literacy, as well as the Next Generation Science Standards finalized last month.

The Witchita Eagle newspaper makes a brief mention of the action in a story posted late yesterday. Further details and analysis are supplied by the Tallman Education Report, a blog authored by a representative from the Kansas Association of School Boards, which opposed the standards provision.

I first blogged about this matter yesterday. If approved, it likely would have proven a significant hurdle for the common-core and science standards.

The Tallman Report says that a stand-alone House bill blocking state spending on the common core was “narrowly defeated” by the House education committee earlier this year.

In a phone conversation, Tallman cautioned that the issue may not be settled yet for this year. “If that budget [bill] fails, they will send that back to conference committee,” he said, where lawmakers might decide to reinsert the budget proviso on standards (though apparently there may be technical reasons it’s not permitted). Alternatively, legislators could again try to pass a stand-alone bill. “We’re nearing the end [of the legislative session], Tallman told me. “I guess I would say, I don’t know if the issue is completely closed out.”

What was especially curious about the language on the science standards was that Kansas has not even adopted them yet, though it was one of the 26 “lead state partners” that crafted them. The Kansas state board of education is expected to adopt them later this year.

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