South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham will introduce a Senate resolution on Wednesday aimed at rolling back implementation of the Common Core standards, which Graham fears are eroding states’ rights and leading to a national, federal education curriculum.
A spokesperson for Graham told The Daily Caller that the resolution will be released on Wednesday.
The resolution will call on the federal Department of Education to stop strong-arming states into adopting the standards by making federal grants contingent upon them. It also establishes that local education authorities, not the federal government, should set curriculum requirements.
Common Core was developed by the National Governors Association, though it eventually became synonymous with White House education policy. Common Core is now being pushed by a strange coalition of groups, including President Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan, moderate Republican governors and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. (RELATED: Can you solve this grammatically incorrect, impossible Common Core question?)
An equally strange coalition of opponents–including conservative grassroots activists and some teachers unions–has attempted to slow and stop implementation of the standards in many of the 50 states. It may succeed in several states, including New York, where the powerful New York State United Teachers organization withdrew its support for Common Core. (RELATED: Powerful NY teachers union renounces support for Common Core)
Graham’s resolution could open a new front in the public debate over the federal takeover of the American education curriculum–this time, within the federal government itself.