Public education advocates in Mississippi are reacting to the Lieutenant Governor's announcement that the state should be moving away from Common Core Educational Standards.
Lieutenant Governor Tate Reeves recently joined a growing number of Mississippians calling for the end of Common Core in public schools. The standards, which were adopted in 2010 and cost the state millions of dollars to implement, are scheduled to be tested for the first time this school year. Joyce Helmick is with the Mississippi Association of Educators. She says changing standards now would put a strain on teachers.
"We've worked so hard on these standards and it means creating new curriculum, getting new materials possibly." says Helmick. "That means more hours of work and more resources so that means more money invested in this change."
Republican State Senator Terry Burton of Newton has been a staunch defendant of Common Core Education Standards since their adoption in 2010, but admits the standards have had issues.
"The PARCC Assessment has been an issue; a misunderstanding of the standards has been an issue. Those things lead to 'Let's change the assessment if at all possible and let's try to get some standards in place that are not anything less than what Common Core standards are; if anything they are more intensive."
In a statement the Department of Education said they support the Lieutenant Governor's desire for the highest possible standards, but in regards to the Common Core the department has grave reservations about --quote-- changing the playbook in the middle of the game.
