Bill Text: MO HCR34 | 2012 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Rejects any policies and procedures that would be incumbent on Missouri based on the Common Core Standards Initiative required for participation in Race to the Top
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-03-08 - Referred: Elementary and Secondary Education (H) [HCR34 Detail]
Download: Missouri-2012-HCR34-Introduced.html
SECOND REGULAR SESSION
House Concurrent Resolution No. 34
96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVES BAHR (Sponsor), JONES (89), KOENIG, CURTMAN AND SOMMER (Co-sponsors).
WHEREAS, high student performance and closing the achievement gap is fundamentally linked to an overall reform of our public education system through a strong system of accountability and transparency built on state standards; and
WHEREAS, the responsibility for the education of each child of this nation primarily lies with parents, supported by locally elected school boards and state governments; and
WHEREAS, in 2009 and 2010, Missouri was offered a chance to compete for education funding through the "Race to the Top" program created the United States Department of Education (DOE); and
WHEREAS, the only way to achieve a score in the competition sufficient to qualify for funding was to agree to "participation in a consortium of States that...[i]s working toward jointly developing and adopting a common set of K-12 standards..."; and
WHEREAS, the only such "common set of K-12 standards" existent at that time, or since, is known as the Common Core Standards Initiative (CCSI) and was developed without a grant of authority from any state; and
WHEREAS, given that the first official public draft of these standards was released in March 2010, to meet the DOE requirement, Missouri had only two months to evaluate the CCSI standards and agree to adopt them; and
WHEREAS, local education officials, school leaders, teachers, and parents were not included in the discussion, evaluation, and preparation of the CCSI standards that would affect students in this state; and
WHEREAS, no empirical evidence indicates that centralized education standards result in higher student achievement; and
WHEREAS, adoption of the CCSI standards would force several states to lower the rigor and quality of their standards; and
WHEREAS, the National Assessment of Educational Progress national test already exists and allows comparisons of academic achievement to be made across the states, without the necessity of imposing national standards, curricula, or assessments; and
WHEREAS, imposing a set of national standards is likely to lead to the imposition of a national curriculum and national assessment upon the various states in violation of the Elementary Secondary Education Act; and
WHEREAS, claims from the Common Core Initiative that the CCSI standards will not dictate what teachers teach in the classroom are refuted by language in the standards as written; and
WHEREAS, common standards will lessen the ability for local stakeholders to innovate and continue to make improvements over time; and
WHEREAS, when no less than 22 states face budget shortfalls and Race to the Top funding for states is limited, $350 million for consortia to develop new assessments aligned with the CCSI standards will not cover the entire cost of overhauling state accountability systems, which includes implementation of standards and testing and associated professional development and curriculum restructuring; and
WHEREAS, special interest groups can manipulate the vulnerability of the centralized decision making that governs common standards and lower the standards' rigor and quality over time to suit their priorities:
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the members of the House of Representatives of the Ninety-sixth General Assembly, Second Regular Session, the Senate concurring therein, hereby reject any policies and procedures that would be incumbent on Missouri based on the Common Core Standards Initiative; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Chief Clerk of the Missouri House of Representatives be instructed to prepare properly inscribed copies of this resolution for the United States Department of Education, each member of the Missouri Congressional delegation, and the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
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