Standards

Anti-Common Core Moms in Indiana Expand Outreach

By Michele Molnar — May 03, 2013 1 min read
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Two mothers who launched a grassroots movement against the Common Core State Standards in Indiana aren’t resting on their laurels as they wait for the state’s governor to sign into law House Bill 1427, which requires a policy and fiscal review of the standards in their state. Gov. Mike Pence, a Republican, is expected to sign the legislation sometime next week.

Heather Crossin, whom Tuttle affectionately calls her “partner in crime” as co-founder of Hoosiers Against Common Core, has already spoken to approximately 1,000 parents in three presentations in Ohio, and Tuttle says she is fielding calls from concerned parents in California, Wyoming, Alabama, and Missouri.

In Indiana, their odyssey of opposition found them making presentations in living rooms and airplane hangars, ultimately taking their case to the statehouse.

Asked her organization’s view of the final version of the bill, Tuttle said that, while they would have preferred repeal of the common core, “we’re happy with the outcome. It’s strong language, and it gets done what it needs to get done.”

Precisely what this legislation’s impact will be is still open to some interpretation, as my colleagues are writing in the following coverage:


For Tuttle and her compatriots, there’s a larger message from their effort: “Truly, the most important thing about this whole legislation is that people still matter. We were outspent. Outmanned. We didn’t have a lot of support in the legislature,” Tuttle said.

“But at the end of the day, the people of the state still matter. Our opinions still count and they’re acted upon. Believe me, Heather and I are usually the only constituents down there [at the statehouse.] Otherwise it’s wall-to-wall lobbyists,” she said. “You have to remind yourself that this is the people’s house, and the more people who are there, the better off we will be.”

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A version of this news article first appeared in the K-12 Parents and the Public blog.