In her budget, Brewer has $13.5 million for the test associated with the standards. Essentially, the standards are the foundation of the curricula, and the curricula is the foundation of the test. The standards were developed by primarily east coast test making companies with virtually no input by classroom teachers.
State Senator Kelli Ward has already introduced three pieces of legislation: S1121 (high school graduation; tests; moratorium, S1155 (schools; Common Core; opt-out), and S1153 (schools; curricular standards; assessments; requirements).
S1155 will allow school districts and charter schools to opt out of any testing and requirements based on the standards.
S1153 outlines the process for the State Board of Education’s implementation of Common Core:
1) Public hearings must be held in each congressional district;
2) A third party must be hired to conduct a fiscal analysis of implementation;
3) Directs the State to withdraw from PARCC (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers);
4) The State Board of Education cannot “enter into or renew an agreement that cedes to an outside entity control over curricular standards or assessments in this state.”
Representative Justin Pierce has proposed H2316 (schools; local control; student privacy). The bill would prohibit the State Board of Education and the Superintendent of Public Instruction from adopting federally-mandated curricula or instructional approaches, prohibit federal funding, which requires the adoption of certain federal standards, and require any changes made to state standards to be conducted in public process.
Senator Chester Crandell has proposed S1095 (withdrawal from PARCC), which would not only force the withdrawal from PARCC, it would prevent the state from entering into an agreement, without notification to the Legislature, with any outside entity developing multi-state or potentially multi-state assessments and tests.
Check back Monday for a comprehensive look at Common Core in Arizona.