There is a hearing on January 25th in the Indiana Senate Education Committee on Senate Bill 373 which would opt Indiana out of the new “Common Core” state standards coming from Washington, DC.
Some critics question the value of these standards and wonder if they could impact standardized testing and therefore home and private school educators some day in the future. The bill is authored by Senator Scott Schneider, but opposed by Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tony Bennett.
It will be interesting to hear the testimony, see if this bill passes to leave education standards in the hands of local Hoosiers. . . or if Indiana goes along with the federal government and the national education groups promoting this program.
UPDATE: Jan 25th -10pm — SB 373 failed to pass the Senate Education hearing this evening. One clarification, the Common Core state standards are not federal standards. They come from a Bill Gates foundation-funded entity. Twenty-six states have signed on to these standards including Indiana. I spoke with Dr. Bennett about these today at a lunch with Sen. Schneider before the hearing, that included experts from the Hoover Institute, First Principles and others who supported the bill and questioned the State Superintendent. Dr. Bennett believes that Common Core would be better than our current state standards for improved academics and teaching. The issue of changing tests or future impact upon home school families seemed secondary to the discussion and hypothetical at this time.