Gov. Deal Orders Review of Common Core Education Standards

“He asked for a review of the standards and our previous Georgia Performance Standards by experts,” Barge says. “Our teachers are our curriculum experts, really. They’re the ones that are in there every day actually doing the work and teaching those standards.”

Deal asked the board to make sure the Common Core aligns to Georgia’s previous standards, called the Georgia Performance Standards, or GPS. Barge says that request was news to him.

“I didn’t know anything about it until the media asked me about it,” he says.

The request seems to be an about-face for the governor, who has defended the Common Core in the past. He addressed the issue of alignment at a luncheon for the West Cobb Business Association in June.

“[The standards] were built on looking at what states had in place and I am told that, in general, over 90% of the standards that were adopted in Common Core were already the standards that the state of Georgia had in place itself,” Deal said.

Barge has said the GPS were used to help write the Common Core. Georgia’s current standards are called the Common Core Georgia Performance Standards.

Deal could be facing political pressure within his own party. Some Republicans recently attacked the standards, complaining they’re a federal intrusion. The standards aren’t federally mandated. The Common Core was a state-led effort, which was championed by former Gov. Sonny Perdue. Georgia’s board of education adopted the Common Core in 2010. 44 other states and Washington, D.C. have also opted in.

In addition to the review, the governor has asked the board to develop and adopt a new social studies curriculum, reconsider Common Core reading lists, and develop new ones.

Barge says the state board of education will establish a review process by their September meeting date. 

Gov. Deal’s office couldn’t be reached for comment before deadline.