One by one, states are rebelling against President Barack Obama’s Common Core. Now a judge in Missouri has just ruled that it is illegal for the government to work with an interstate testing company that administers Common Core standards on behalf of local schools.
Missouri Circuit Judge Daniel Green stated that the state’s alliance with a group called the Smarter Balanced Consortium is an “illegal interstate compact not authorized by the U.S. Congress.”
That consortium involves 16 states. Missouri schools had been contracting with the organization to provide math and English exams for elementary students.
The deal cost taxpayers around $4.3 million per year (H/T The Blaze).
Common Core, of course, has come under heavy criticism by both conservatives and educators. Even fairly liberal states such as Maine have started to reject the controversial standards.
“First of all, there is always a better way. And I no longer support Common Core, and I say that because we have been in Common Core for several years here in Maine,” said the governor of that state, Paul LePage.
Well known education experts have also begun to jump off the “Obamacore” bandwagon. One of them is Stacey Starr, who won a coveted “Top Teacher” award given out by ABC’s “Live with Kelly and Michael” show.
That teacher recently announced that she was stepping down from her position, and Common Core was the reason.
“I don’t think anyone understands that in this environment if your child cannot quickly grasp material, study like a robot and pass all of these tests, they will not survive,” stated Starr.
“Each and every day, I have to look in my students’ eyes and tell them I can’t help them because the state has decided they have to prove what they know,” she continued.
It’s time to admit that one-size-fits-all federal government programs like Common Core only make problems worse. Finally, states like Missouri are learning that lesson.
