The Common Core curriculum was developed to help establish certain learning goals for American school children in math and language arts.
While the standards were quickly adopted by the vast majority of states, people and groups who oppose the education reform are not happy with the additional costs and the control that comes along with it.
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Here are five reasons some lawmakers are criticizing the Common Core standards:
1. Common Core is a thinly veiled effort to exercise federal control over education: Even though the Common Core standards do not dictate curriculum,
The Washington Post reported Tea Party advocates complain the education goals "amount to a federal takeover of education in a country with a long tradition of local control over public schools."
2. They believe their state can do better: Louisiana Gov. Bobbie Jindal originally supported Common Core in that state, but now wants to get rid of it. The News Star reported Jindal opened his 2015 legislative session with a call for an original state plan saying, "I believe this session that we can come together on a plan that removes Common Core from Louisiana and replaces it with high-quality Louisiana standards."
3. States have been pressured into accepting the standards: According to The Heritage Foundation, "the crux of the criticism against Common Core — that the federal government got recession-strapped states to sign on by offering more than $4 billion in grants and waivers under the Race to the Top program. Many lawmakers were eager to sign on — at first. Now they are worried about losing those waivers if they drop Common Core."
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4. The standards are hard for parents to understand: Arizona's Rep. Jay Lawrence argued that the Common Core curriculum results in parents who are "less involved" in their kid's education. Most parents don't understand the way the math is taught and cannot help with homework,
according to the Arizona Capitol Times.
5. The cost of implementation and new assessment tests isn't worth it: Some lawmakers are concerned about the cost of the assessments.
The Tampa Bay Times reports Florida Gov. Rick Scott has decided to pull Florida out of a "multi-state consortium" developing exams to replace the current state comprehensive assessment tests.
The National Conference of State Legislatures reports costs associated with the implementation of Common Core vary widely. The costs depend generally on how closely aligned the state's previous standards were with the Common Core standards.
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