Next week the NH Senate will vote on HB 164. HB 164 gives the legislators the authority to vote on Common Core Standards (National Standards) WE FULLY SUPPORT THIS BILL.
The UNelected Board of Ed voted IN Common Core Standards last year for New Hampshire which erodes local control. Some of the legislators responded with HB 164 knowing this is a fundamental shift in power (upwards) and does nothing to empower local school districts and parents. YOUR elected Reps. should vote on this, not those appointed by Gov. Lynch.
HB 164 passed the NH HOUSE and was just PASSED in the NH Senate Ed. committee. There is ONE problem. Senator Stiles attached an amendment to the Bill which essentially grandfathers in the Math and English Standards instead of allowing ALL standards to be voted on by the legislature.
There is going to be an alternative floor amendment that will be presented by Senator Forsythe. (see below) His Amendment allows schools to adopt Common Core IF they so choose, but those standards will NOT become part of the New Hampshire frameworks which essentially forces all schools to adopt them. In essence what that means is, schools are still free to adopt them if they want, but they will not be forced to adopt them. With the Stiles Amendment, schools are essentially forced to adopt the math and English Standards.
There are numerous problems with the Common core Math and English standards. While the NH frameworks need to be IMPROVED, this is not the answer.
CALL your State Senator and talk to them about this Bill. A phone call is better than an email if at all possible.
They will be voting on this next Weds. It’s important that these calls be made BEFORE Tuesday.
John Gallus
john.gallus@leg.state.nh.us
271-3077
752-1066
Jeanie Forrester
jeanie.forrester@leg.state.nh.us
271-2104
Jeb Bradley
jeb.bradley@leg.state.nh.us
271-2106
387-2365
James Forsythe
james.forsythe@leg.state.nh.us
271-3096
Matthew Houde
matthew.houde@leg.state.nh.us
271-2118
Fenton Groen
fenton.groen@leg.state.nh.us
271-3045
817-9352
Andy Sanborn
andy.sanborn@leg.state.nh.us
271-3073
Bob Odell
bob.odell@leg.state.nh.us
271-6733
Ray White
raymond.white@leg.state.nh.us
271-3569
Molly Kelly
molly.kelly@leg.state.nh.us
271-2166
357-5118
Peter Bragdon
peter.bragdon@leg.state.nh.us
271-8472
Jim Luther
jim.luther@leg.state.nh.us
271-2246
Gary Lambert
gary.lambert@leg.state.nh.us
271-2735
Sharon Carson
Sharon.Carson@leg.state.nh.us
271-2674
Sylvia Larson
sylvia.larsen@leg.state.nh.us
271-2675
David Boutin
dboutin1465@comcast.net
271-2709
203-5391
John Barnes, Jr.
jack.barnes@leg.state.nh.us
271-6931
895-9352
Tom De Blois
tom.deblois@leg.state.nh.us
271-7803
Jim Rausch
james.rausch@leg.state.nh.us
271-8630
Lou D’Allesandro
dalas@leg.state.nh.us
271-2600
669-3494
Amanda Merrill
Amanda.Merrill@leg.state.nh.us
271-8567
669-3494
Chuck Morse
chuck.morse@leg.state.nh.us
271-4980
Russell Prescott
russell.prescott@leg.state.nh.us
271-3074
642-4243
Nancy Stiles
nancy.stiles@leg.state.nh.us
271-6933
The current language in the bill unamended is:
(b) The “common core state standards” developed jointly by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and the Council of Chief State School Officers shall not be adopted by rule pursuant to RSA 541-A, or included or implemented in any way in the New Hampshire curriculum frameworks, or used as a measure of an adequate public education, without prior approval of the general court.
Suggested:
(b) (1) The “common core state standards” developed jointly by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and the Council of Chief State School Officers shall not be adopted by rule pursuant to RSA 541-A, or included or implemented in any way in the New Hampshire curriculum frameworks, or used as a measure of an adequate public education, without prior approval of the general court.
(2) This subparagraph also applies to the English language arts and mathematics common core state standards, which were adopted without legislative oversight prior to the effective date of this subparagraph. However, this subparagraph shall not limit the adoption or retention of “common core standards” by local school districts.
Then is paragraph 2, the State Board of Education, Report on review of English Language Arts and mathematics common core standards – leave that in, but say “for those school districts that adopted common core for these subjects and chose to retain them”.