State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Evers says Wisconsin can't go back on the Common Core state standards it adopted three years ago.
Evers’s remarks came today during his State of Education speech at the state Capitol, amid growing pressure from the Tea Party and others who want Wisconsin to dump the standards.
In his annual address, Evers called the Common Core state standards “world class” and he says they set a much higher bar than before: “We cannot pull the rug out from under thousands of kids, parents, and educators who have spent the past three years working to reach these new, higher expectations that we have we have set for them.”
Some Republicans have criticized the standards, saying they are dumbing down the nation, and they want Wisconsin to create its own unique standards, without the federal government's involvement.
Gov. Scott Walker recently weighed in on the issue, saying he thinks Wisconsin can do better. But he hasn't said whether or not he'd support a full repeal of Common Core. “I'd like to have Wisconsin have its own unique standards that I think can be higher than what’s talked about at the national level.”
The standards were developed by a coalition of governors and school administrators – not the federal government. However, the Obama administration did provide some financial incentive for states to adopt the standards through its Race to Top grants.
Yesterday, Wisconsin Republican legislative leaders announced they have formed committees to review the Common Core standards.
