(Memphis) After seeing the biggest improvement in education in history last year, the Tennessee House of Representatives is loosening education standards.
Lawmakers want to delay common core standards that were supposed to be fully implemented this year and go back to the standards from two years back.
The federal government claims the Common Core program puts in place higher and more rigorous standards for subjects like Science and English, in an attempt to prepare students to succeed in college or the work force.
Common Core is drawing a lot of criticism because some parents claim it takes control of what goes on in the classroom out of local school district hands.
This school year, the program was fully put in place, but State Representative GA Hardaway says legislators decided to roll back the standards and delay them Thursday because he believes that’s what parents in the state want.
“What happened yesterday was the citizens were able to get enough legislators to listen to them saying we don’t understand and we need more time to digest this,” said Hardaway.
The move specifically delays standards in the science and social science subjects and also delays the requirement of a new standardized test known as PARCC.
The state’s decision to delay is getting support from both democrats like Hardaway and republicans like State Senator Brian Kelsey, who says Common Core violates student privacy and those kinks must be worked out before Tennessee moves forward.
“We definitely need higher standards in Tennessee, but we do not need to be sending our data to the national government,” said Kelsey.
Kelsey doesn’t want student test scores along with their information going to the feds.
As Mississippi and Arkansas move forward to fully carry out new Common Core standards this year, Tennessee will keep the old standards and Hardaway hopes to see more education on the program until reconsidered in two years, “When you don’t let citizens engage their own government they will rise up.”
The senate must now approve the measures by the state house and the governor must sign off before the delay is official.
