Indiana Governor Mike Pence signed a bill on March 24th that voided the adoption of Common Core standards that were to be implemented by July 1st.
Freedomworks Director of Grassroots and former teacher Whitney Neal appeared on Fox & Friends to debate the future of Common Core in the state of Indiana.
Neal disagreed with guest Mike Kelly‘s comments about the methods of implementation of the federally standardized educational requirements. Neal argued that the implementation of the programs have gone poorly and stated that many states were filling out grant applications before they had even seen the standards.
Indiana was indeed an early adopter of the Common Core programs when in 2010 then-Gov. Mitch Daniels persuaded lawmakers and educators that the state should be one of the first to take advantage of the federal incentives handed out for implementing the program. Arguments at the time were that the Common Core program would elevate the quality of the workforce and in order to aid future economic growth.
Former director of Indiana University’s Center for Evaluation and Education Policy Jonathan Plucker said, “This has been a Greek tragedy. These wars over standards are a very political battle, not an educational battle.”
Local Tea Party groups were very much involved in stopping the intrusive federal programs but liberal grassroots groups pitched in as well since the law has been seen as an attack on teacher autonomy.
