Yesterday and today, in six separate roll call votes, the New Hampshire House refused to pass a single anti-Common Core bill on to the Senate. All those bills were voted either Inexpedient to Legislate or Interim Study.
All but a few Democrats were solidly behind the Common Core and, on the keystone votes, many Republicans were as well. On HB 1239, the bill to obstruct adoption of standards, 20 Republicans joined in the 182-124 ITL vote. And on HB 1508, the one sentence bill to end the Common Core in New Hampshire, 17 Republicans joined all but a few Democrats in a 201-138 ITL vote. And yesterday, the vote on HB 1397 to set up a study committee to investigate NHDOE, the vote was 228-77. I wasn’t a roll call but that had to include a large number of Republicans.
The message, as I read it, was: “We in New Hampshire are committed to high education standards for our students and support the years of work NHDOE, our school districts, our unions and our teachers have done on the Common Core standards and the Smarter Balanced test. It’s time to move on from these debates and work on the real day-to-day issues facing New Hampshire public education.”
Political opponents of the Common Core will, of course, not accept this message. We will continue to hear, especially, that there are problems with the Smarter Balanced or any other assessment. But there is no further need for that political debate. Our teachers and students will provide the feedback we need and our Department of Education will respond.
The avalanche is about to fall. Parents and children are going to realize that what happened in Indiana yesterday is a reflection of questioning and debating what the teachers want vs what this country’s children need to survive.
The New Hampshire House decisively rejected this apocalyptic view and affirmed the States commitment to the common core. For that matter, so did Indiana.
Enjoy today’s “victory” because parents and teachers nationwide are questioning Common Core and its aligned assessments. This debate has only just begun.
Why do you put victory in quotes, Doris? I do think you are misled if you think the debate has just begun. But, as I said in my post, a group will surely continue.
And that’s what voters should have in mind this year. If New Hampshire were to elect another tea party/liberty legislature, we’d be back into all this same stuff again.
Stop ruining our public schools! You self appointed unqualified cheerleaders for the radical left loonies are destroying what’s left of public education.
I don’t think all those Republicans who voted with the Democratic majority were radical left loonies.