Education

Oklahoma poised to become second state to repeal Common Core

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Many of the 46 states that adopted all or part of the Common Core Standards Initiative with little to no democratic input from voters (and parents) are now reconsidering the decisions.

Oklahoma is poised to become the second state to repeal Common Core, reports Oklahoma City NBC affiliate KFOR.

House Bill 3399 would pave for the way for Oklahoma residents to agree upon their own math and English standards. It would also bar prohibit the federal government from imposing any curriculum on the state’s students either directly or indirectly.

The bill has passed the Oklahoma Senate 37-10.

The Senate bill must now be revisited in Oklahoma’s State House (where it originated) and then signed by the governor to become law.

Common Core has come under immense and withering criticism this entire academic year from parents, teachers and school administrators. Opposition has brought together conservatives who are opposed to centralized public education and leftists who deplore ever-more standardized testing.

Common Core supporters have sold the curriculum – but don’t call it a curriculum! – as a superior way to impart critical thinking skills.

The standards have been endorsed by numerous groups including the National Governors Association.

Late last month, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence affixed his signature to Senate Bill 91, a law ordering public K-12 schools across The Hoosier State to stop using the controversial education standards. (RELATED: Is this week the beginning of the end for Common Core?)

Indiana was the first state to opt out of Common Core.

At least three states – Iowa, Florida and Arizona – have rebranded the Common Core Standards Initiative with different names in clever attempts to bamboozle critics of the standards. (RELATED: Common Core proponents try to save flailing standards using this one weird trick)

Critics of Indiana’s Common Core repeal worry that it merely rebrands Common Core but changes nothing.

In Oklahoma, critics have the same concerns.

“Are we talking about cutting and pasting some other standards and not really being true to Oklahoma standards?” Sooner State Sen. Susan Paddock asked, according to KFOR.

Supporters of House Bill 3399 stress that the people of Oklahoma will once again controlling their own education system if the bill becomes law.

“The main difference is it’s something that is determined and developed by the state, not by folks from outside the state,” Rep. Nelson, Jason told KFOR.

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