LANSING, Mich. — The controversial and politically charged Common Core education standards in Michigan could soon be history if lawmakers pushing to eliminate it are successful.
The proposal calls for dropping the current set of math and reading standards for K-12 students in favor of a new set of guidelines used by Massachusetts, a state widely-regarded as being one of the best-performing states in education in the country prior to the promotion of Common Core in 2009, said Rep. Gary Glenn, R-Midland, who introduced the bill.
“[Common Core standards] were not tested before they were implemented," Glenn said. "All we’re saying is ‘why would we give Michigan students anything less than what everybody recognizes is the best?’"
Lawmakers pushed a similar proposal last spring.
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Glenn—in his promotion of the new standards—points to a 2014 Business Leaders for Michigan report noting Massachusetts ranked first in the nation in fourth-grade reading, eighth-grade math and college readiness prior to the state implementing Common Core. Ironically, the Business Leaders for Michigan organization has consistently supported the implementation of Common Core.
Massachusetts schools were also ranked first in the nation in the 2017 Quality Counts Report from Education Week.
“The biggest difference is, the Massachusetts standards are proven by test results to be the best," Glenn said.
In addition to eliminating the current education standards and replacing them with acclaimed Massachusetts standards, Glenn says his bill also returns more control to the local level. His proposal also would require a review of the current M-STEP standardized test, given the exam is largely based on Common Core standards.
Currently, 38 schools statewide are at risk of being closed largely due to consistently low scores on standardized testing. In West Michigan, Washington Writers' Academy and the Woodward School for Technology and Research in Kalamazoo and Muskegon Heights Academy in Muskegon Heights are at risk of being closed.
“We happen to believe that the people in the best position to judge what’s best for their community are the parents, teachers and administrators, school boards in that community," Glenn told FOX 17. "Not some bureaucrat in the federal department of education.”
But Common Core supporters, like Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce, argue the standards have not been around long enough to accurately know whether they've been a success.
"When we debated Michigan's standards a few years ago, too few high school graduates were considered to be career or college-ready. The Michigan State Standards were a drastic and much needed improvement form our previous standards. We need time to implement them and measure results.
Talent is the top issue for Grand Rapids Chamber members. West Michigan businesses rely on top-tier talent to compete in the global marketplace. Repealing our current standards and implementing Massachusetts' outdated standards would be a disservice to our children and hamstring Michigan's competitiveness."
The Michigan Education Association (MEA) argues the proposed changes would be disruptive to students and educators in a system where more than $250 million has been spent to implement the standards, but did agree curriculum standards should be controlled at the local level with input from"front-line educators who are the experts at educating kids."
MEA President Steve Cook issued the following statement to FOX 17:
"Regardless of what the standards are, we must guard against overuse of standardized testing to judge students, educators and schools. Michigan’s over-emphasis on testing isn’t a product of Common Core – it’s driven by state policies that put inappropriately high stakes on standardized tests, such as closing schools for poor test scores and negatively evaluating teachers based on how students score on a test one day a year, rather than looking at the development of the whole child over the course of the entire school year. The over-valuing of standardized test scores – not the Common Core – has constrained innovation in our schools and led to a damaging narrowing of curriculum. Lawmakers in Lansing need to focus greater attention on that issue for the good of students and educators.”
A public hearing on the bill is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 15, at noon in Lansing.
