Several Idaho education stakeholders spoke mostly unopposed Wednesday in support of the Gen State’s version of Common Core.
The state’s academic standards dominated comments from students, parents, teachers, and school district administrators during a State Board of Education rules hearing at the College of Southern Idaho in Twin Falls. Advocates say standards are developed by teachers and allow students to be successful in school and life.
The hearing was the second of four scheduled by the State Board on its “rules governing thoroughness,” which include definitions for graduation requirements, standardized testing, and special education. Those rules also provide for the Idaho Core Standards, which establish minimum academic benchmarks all students in the state must meet.
The 2011 Legislature adopted the standards as Idaho’s version of Common Core, and slight adjustments have been made since. Legislators catalyzed a mostly dormant debate over the standards when they ended the 2019 session without reauthorizing more than 8,000 pages of administrative rules, including those governing education. That left Governor Brad Little to temporarily approve most of the rules, including the Idaho Core Standards, until the 2020 session.
The State Board is now legally obligated to hold hearings on the rules after hundreds of requests for public comment were made.
The board will endorse or amend the current rules, and then the House and Senate education committees will have an opportunity to reject parts of the rules. (Times-News)
