Repealing and Replacing Common Core Seems to be Losing Steam in Madison
Saturday, January 17th, 2015 -- 7:00 AM
(Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) -The energy behind repealing and replacing Common Core State Standards, already rooted in most Wisconsin public schools, may be losing some steam among the Republican leadership in Madison. At least for now.Gov. Scott Walker appeared to change his tack again this week in his "state of the state" address, saying he just wanted to ensure no districts were forced to comply. In the past, he has swung between approval of Common Core and middle-of-campaign calls for its repeal.
In the Legislature, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) echoed the idea of reinforcing flexibility among school districts to use whatever standards they want. Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) said Senate Republicans were "struggling with how to try to put the Wisconsin label" on the Common Core.
Jason Rostan, a spokesman for Sen. Leah Vukmir (R-Wauwatosa), said Vukmir is working on a bill that would be an updated version of a Common Core Senate bill that failed last session.
That bill would have halted the implementation of Common Core and required the state Department of Public Instruction to adopt new standards within one year, but only after they had been developed and approved by a new state board made up of political appointees.
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