NJ Education Report

From Politico:

WHAT’S NEXT FOR PARCC? — Fla. Gov. Rick Scott issued an executive order Monday saying he wanted out of the Common Core testing consortium his state helped bring together. Scott is under pressure from tea party conservatives who oppose the common standards. “While the debate surrounding Common Core Standards has become polarized into a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ discussion, we heard during the Education Summit that most education leaders agreed on two things,” Scott said in a statement. “We agree that we should say ‘yes’ to high standards for Florida students and ‘no’ to the federal government’s overreach into our education system. Therefore, I notified the federal government that Florida would be withdrawing from PARCC, and at the same time we will hold public comment sessions to receive input on any alterations that should be made to the current Common Core Standards.”

If Florida departs, that leaves PARCC with about 17 members. Experts say that could drive up test costs further and prompt other state departures. New York and Arizona are considering developing their own tests. But Tennessee, Ohio, New Mexico and Illinois say they’re in it for the long haul.

Also on Politico, Bobby Jindal of Louisiana is contemplating quitting PARCC because, he  soporifically claims, it’s a “federalized curriculum.” 

Both Jindal and Scott  appear to be mainlining a Tea Party concoction that  obfuscates the Common Core. Newsflash to tweakers: The Common Core State Standards are not a Heisenbergian plot to empower federal over-reachers, but a consensus document created by the state-led Governor’s Association.  And the PARCC tests simply realign assessments to the new states-driven curriculum so that, say, kids in New Mexico have access to the same course content and accountability standards as kids in New Hampshire.

I’m sure there’s a rehab unit nearby.