Education

Kemp Wants To Eliminate Common Core, Reviving Debate Over Education Standards

June 3rd, 2019

Gov. Brian Kemp has said he wants to eliminate what’s left of the Common Core State Standards. Georgia adopted the Common Core in 2010. The idea was to create a common knowledge base so students in different states learned essentially the same thing.

Recently, Gov. Brian Kemp said he wants to get rid of what’s left of the Common Core State Standards. Those are a set of K-12 standards in English/language arts and math.

Georgia adopted the Common Core in 2010, with strong support from former Gov. Sonny Perdue. Perdue chaired the National Governors’ Association, which was one of the organizations instrumental in the development of the Common Core.

Common Core opponents flocked to the state Capitol in 2014 to protest Georgia’s use of the standards. (Martha Dalton/WABE)

The idea was to create a common knowledge base so that students in different states learned essentially the same thing.

Proponents also wanted to create a set of standards that would prepare students for college or careers after high school. Therefore, the intent was to make the Common Core rigorous and challenging so that students were prepared for whatever path they chose.

As the standards were developed, so were two testing consortia: Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) and Smarter Balanced. Both consortia planned to create standardized tests aligned to the Common Core standards.

Shortly after Georgia opted in, about 43 states and Washington, D.C., also signed on to the standards. They split their consortia affiliations. Organizers figured having common tests would allow states to compare achievement easily.

Georgia initially joined the PARCC consortium, but dropped out in 2013, citing the cost of the test. Now Georgia issues its own test (Georgia Milestones) at the end of the year. It’s aligned to the state standards, which are now called Georgia Standards of Excellence.

Here, WABE education reporter Martha Dalton and “Morning Edition” host Lisa Rayam discuss the governor’s wish to get rid of the Common Core and how he might accomplish it.