MONTGOMERY — Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh’s (R-Anniston) bill to eliminate Common Core in the state of Alabama was given a unanimous favorable recommendation by the Senate’s Education Policy Committee on Wednesday.
The bill, SB 119, is now set to be debated and considered on the Senate floor Thursday.
Marsh spoke about this bill during Yellowhammer Multimedia’s “News Shaper” event in Montgomery Tuesday evening after he filed the bill earlier that day.
He acknowledged that he has been a proponent of letting the state school board set education curriculum and standards policy in the past and even stopped an effort to repeal Common Core a few years ago. However, in Marsh’s view, Common Core has been given a chance now and it is time for the legislature to step in.
“It’s not working. I think we have to have some radical change with education policy in this state. And y’all know me, I’ve pushed a lot of things – public charter schools, the Accountability Act. We’ve got to address this issue and it’s critical for this state,” Marsh said.
He said eliminating Common Core would “clear the field” so the state could then move forward to better education outcomes.
Alabama would come up with its own high standards, premised on local control, under Marsh’s proposal.
He said his bill is cosponsored by all 27 of his Republican Senate colleagues and he expects SB 119 to pass the chamber and then receive similarly strong support in the House.
“I am committed to moving to a different standard that’s right for Alabama and moves us forward,” Marsh emphasized.
He also advised that there is a high level of politics involved in education decisions in the state but that sound policy must come first.
“[T]he education community, who I’ve asked to get this fixed, who have not addressed this, quite honestly I don’t think has put us in shape to move forward to address the problem at present. But I’m going to do all I can to see that it happens,” Marsh added.
Democrats on the Senate Education Policy Committee spoke in favor of keeping Common Core on Wednesday.
A career public school teacher from Lee County spoke in favor of eliminating Common Core at the hearing, while representatives from the state school superintendents association and the school boards association had concerns about the implementation of new standards.
Marsh said his bill will be amended before final passage to allow another national standard to be used if found to be best for Alabama, as the current language in his bill would ban any national standard from being adopted by the state school board.
Update, 11:35 a.m.:
State Sen. Sam Givhan (R-Huntsville) released a statement in support of Marsh’s bill.
“I strongly support Senator Marsh’s bill,” Givhan said. “The Common Core standards just haven’t worked for Alabama’s students, and the proof is evident in the data. In 2017, Alabama’s 8th grade math scores ranked 49th among the 50 states, and math scores for 4th grade students were 45th in the nation, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Common Core’s curriculum standards and guidelines have been in place for nine years, and they have failed Alabama’s students. It’s clear we need to look at alternative educational methods, with an emphasis on returning as much control as possible back to the local school districts.”
Sean Ross is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
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