Madison Board of Education denounces bill to squash Common Core

Ray White is president of Madison Board of Education. (CONTRIBUTED)

MADISON – In a special called meeting on Feb. 28, Madison Board of Education publicly denounced Senate Bill 380 that would repeal Common Core standards.

In its resolution, the board expressed “its opposition to Senate Bill S.B. 380 which would repeal the Alabama College and Career Ready Standards (ACCRS) and to any legislative initiative which would place a moratorium on adoption of new standards or allow systems to opt out of existing standards.”

Scott Beason (R-Gardendale) introduced the bill.

The Madison board also opposes any new “compromise bill that would essentially freeze the subject-by-subject phase in from moving forward.”

Alabama educators decided on the College and Career Readiness Standards, which add some requirements in math and other areas to Common Core.

The board’s resolution also stated the proposed legislation would “usurp the authority of the State Board of Education … and result in inconsistent and inadequate educational standards from city to city and county to county across the State of Alabama.”

Board member Connie Spears said curriculum concerns are not a legislative issue but an education issue. “Our children need to stop being used as pawns for political gain,” Spears said.

If the bill were passed, repeal of Common Core would return English and math standards to 1999 and 2003 levels, respectively. Current curriculum, textbooks and digital content would be “rendered useless,” the resolution stated.

“A rigorous curriculum is vital to preparing our kids to compete globally. That is why our local business leadership and military leadership are also strongly supportive of ACCRS,” Madison board chairman Ray White said in a later statement.

“In our school system …, we have made tremendous strides over the past decade with our curriculum and instruction,” White said. “One of the key reasons Madison gets results like half our seniors each year securing scholarships and 20 percent scoring higher than 30 on the ACT is the robust curriculum.”

Alabama lawmakers are closing this legislative session, as many prepare to launch re-election campaigns.