NEWS
- The Republican curriculum on Common Core
- Hogan Refutes Claims That His Charter-School Bill Is A Union Buster
The Republican curriculum on Common Core
The Washington Post
Editorial Board
February 26, 2015
“WE’RE DOING Common Core in New Jersey and we’re going to continue. And this is one of those areas where I’ve agreed more with the president than not.” So proclaimed New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) just 18 months ago. So what’s to account for his recent change of heart about the K-12 academic standards?
Mr. Christie’s complaints about federal implementation or loss of local control are risible. Private nonprofit groups and state education departments cooperated to produce the Common Core standards, which are voluntary and were embraced by 43 states and the District. That leaves one likely explanation: Like a number of candidates on this issue, Mr. Christie is happy to abandon principle to curry favor with conservative Republicans as he campaigns for president.
In a Feb. 9 speech to the Dallas County Republican Party in Iowa — the state that will hold the first 2016 caucuses about a year from now — Mr. Christie spoke of his “grave concerns’’ about Common Core, alleging that “the way the Obama administration has tried to implement it” has changed “the entire nature of it.” As The Post’s Lyndsey Layton pointed out, the federal government plays no role in implementing academic standards and is barred by law from dictating what is taught or how it is taught.
It is true that the Education Department encouraged states to adopt rigorous college- or career-ready standards in awarding discretionary Race to the Top funds, with Common Core as the predominant choice. But nothing was mandated, and states had the option of developing alternatives. What makes Mr. Christie’s born-again criticism of Common Core so rich is how ferociously he promoted New Jersey’s adoption of Common Core in twice going after Race to the Top funds.
Mr. Christie’s political expediency is not unique among GOP presidential hopefuls. Similar hypocrisy has been shown by Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee. In contrast, former Florida governor Jeb Bush and Ohio Gov. John Kasich have not wavered in their support of carefully developed standards that spell out the skills and knowledge that students should have by the end of each year from kindergarten through 12th grade. They know the standards don’t dictate curriculum, teaching methods or instructional materials.
Of course, Mr. Christie, Mr. Jindal, Mr. Walker and Mr. Huckabee know that, too. They just don’t let the facts get in the way of their pandering.
Hogan Refutes Claims That His Charter-School Bill Is A Union Buster
WAMU
By Matt Bush
February 26, 2015
Teachers unions — their role, their power and their future — have been a major issue in statehouses all across the U.S., and the latest battleground is forming in Annapolis, Maryland.
A charter-school bill from Gov. Larry Hogan went before the House Ways and Means Committee Thursday, and multiple witnesses testified before lawmakers about why they like — or disliked — the measure. Hogan was not one of them, saying it's rare for a governor to speak before a legislative committee, though his predecessor Martin O'Malley did so several times during his eight-year tenure.
Hogan did, however, speak at a statehouse press conference, during which he pushed back against claims his bill is a union-buster. Hogan said it allows charter schools the option of having unionized teachers, or not.
"Our bill does provide for collective bargaining at charter schools. But if you don't have any flexibility in the law, then charter schools will be just like other schools, and you don't get the advantages," Hogan said.
According to the governor, those advantages include speedier implementation of cutting-edge technology in classrooms. But Zachary Carey, who teaches at City Springs charter school in Baltimore, fears giving charter schools the option of using non-union teachers means many teachers will leave those schools for stable union jobs, "thereby disincentivizing teachers to work in Baltimore city in charter schools," Carey says.
"At the beginning of the school year we were down 100 teachers in math, science, and social studies. I'm a science teacher. It just doesn't seem like [this] would be attracting qualified teachers to the city," Carey says.
More than half of the state's 47 charter schools are located in Baltimore, and Hogan believes making it easier for more to open there — and elsewhere in Maryland — would help close the widening achievement gap between white students and students of color.
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