02.13.2014
N.J. renews support for Common Core learning goals
The state Board of Education voted on Wednesday to express its commitment to the Common Core, a set of guidelines for what children should learn that has sparked opposition from some parents.
The standards, adopted by New Jersey in 2010 and phased into classrooms more recently, face critics from various points of the political spectrum nationwide. Some argue that they represent federal overreach. Others say they overemphasize testing or will be too daunting for already struggling students.
Board member Ronald Butcher said the resolution to support the Common Core came in response to superintendents who asked him for backing when parents circulated prefabricated forms seeking to have their children “opt out” of the standards.
“That’s illegal,” he said at the board’s meeting in Trenton. “Local parents, as long as they’re sending their children to public schools, and local school boards … do not have the … authority to opt out.”
The Christie administration strongly backs the standards, which spell out what children should know and be able to do from kindergarten through 12th grade. The guidelines aim to be clearer and deeper than previous versions, more focused on critical thinking and better aligned with international expectations. They do not prescribe specific books, but lay out skills children should master.
Championed by a bipartisan group of governors and state education chiefs, the Common Core has been adopted by 45 states and the District of Columbia. The Obama administration offered financial incentives and flexibility to states that raised standards this way, prompting Tea Party critics to claim federal intrusion into local schools.
Dorothy Strickland, a board member and literacy expert, said the Common Core “did not represent a monumental shift” in New Jersey, which has long had high expectations. She said effective teachers have been helping children to think analytically for years.
The vote backing the Common Core was largely symbolic, but board President Arcelio Aponte said it was important to show the state’s “unwavering commitment” to the standards to prevent schools from backing off.
Of the seven board members present, six voted for the resolution. Edithe Fulton, past president of the New Jersey Education Association, abstained, saying she supported the Common Core but wanted to better understand certain “intricacies.”
The union has backed the standards but argued the state should slow down in tying teacher evaluations to new tests.
In New York, lawmakers have proposed a two-year moratorium on the use of test scores in evaluations, and on Monday the New York Board of Regents, which sets education policy, proposed allowing teachers who earn poor ratings to use problems with the Common Core rollout as a defense.
N.J. renews support for Common Core learning goals
The standards, adopted by New Jersey in 2010 and phased into classrooms more recently, face critics from various points of the political spectrum nationwide. Some argue that they represent federal overreach. Others say they overemphasize testing or will be too daunting for already struggling students.
Board member Ronald Butcher said the resolution to support the Common Core came in response to superintendents who asked him for backing when parents circulated prefabricated forms seeking to have their children “opt out” of the standards.
“That’s illegal,” he said at the board’s meeting in Trenton. “Local parents, as long as they’re sending their children to public schools, and local school boards … do not have the … authority to opt out.”
The Christie administration strongly backs the standards, which spell out what children should know and be able to do from kindergarten through 12th grade. The guidelines aim to be clearer and deeper than previous versions, more focused on critical thinking and better aligned with international expectations. They do not prescribe specific books, but lay out skills children should master.
Championed by a bipartisan group of governors and state education chiefs, the Common Core has been adopted by 45 states and the District of Columbia. The Obama administration offered financial incentives and flexibility to states that raised standards this way, prompting Tea Party critics to claim federal intrusion into local schools.
Dorothy Strickland, a board member and literacy expert, said the Common Core “did not represent a monumental shift” in New Jersey, which has long had high expectations. She said effective teachers have been helping children to think analytically for years.
The vote backing the Common Core was largely symbolic, but board President Arcelio Aponte said it was important to show the state’s “unwavering commitment” to the standards to prevent schools from backing off.
Of the seven board members present, six voted for the resolution. Edithe Fulton, past president of the New Jersey Education Association, abstained, saying she supported the Common Core but wanted to better understand certain “intricacies.”
The union has backed the standards but argued the state should slow down in tying teacher evaluations to new tests.
In New York, lawmakers have proposed a two-year moratorium on the use of test scores in evaluations, and on Monday the New York Board of Regents, which sets education policy, proposed allowing teachers who earn poor ratings to use problems with the Common Core rollout as a defense.
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