As the storm clouds of discontent continue to gather over the implementation of Common Core national standards, activists in nine states are forcing their leaders to address their concerns.
The latest example comes from Madison, Wisconsin.
Activists packed a legislative hearing room last week to observe lawmakers and experts discuss the controversial new set of standards driven by federal stimulus dollars.
See the exclusive video here.
Jennifer Kammerud of the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction testified on behalf State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Evers, who wasn’t present.
“So we adopted the Common Core standards for English Language Arts and math on June 2, 2010 for a number of reasons,” Kammerud said.
“The state superintendent felt they would challenge students to learn at higher levels of reading, writing and math. They were rigorous, clear and substantial standards. They were benchmarked to U.S. state and international standards to ensure students are ready to succeed in college and career,” she said.
But only now are legislators weighing in. Adoption was a decision made solely by the department.
“The worst thing about Common Core itself is that it’s low academic quality,” Common Core critic Joy Pullman told EAGnews. “It’s not rigorous, it’s not internationally benchmarked, it’s not competitive, it’s not high-quality…”
“There’s a lot of really frightening data tracking and monitoring initiatives being required of states in conjunction with Common Core. The tests that are coming out are illegally funded by the federal government,” Pullman said.