The next governor will be responsible for appointing members to the State Board of Education, which is tasked with adopting K-12 standards and right now, they are looking at the controversial Common Core. Candidates Jones, Melvin and Riggs are staunchly opposed to Common Core.
In typical Melvin fashion, he is at times unclear as to why he is opposed to Common Core. However, he has made opposition to Common Core a major issue in his campaign, and introduced S1310 (schools; Common Core; prohibition). Melvin promised to “pull Common Core out by its roots.”
The bill was rejected by the Senate on March 5, when five Republican corporatist senators broke ranks and voted with Democrats defeating SB1310.
Smith is the lone Republican gubernatorial hopeful to come out in support of the standards, a position shared by presumptive Democratic nominee DuVal. “Whether it’s called Common Core or un-Common Core or whatever it’s called, I like the fact that states have created these standards for which our students can be judged against a national group of people,” Smith said, repeating the lie that the standards were created by states.
Front runners Bennett and Ducey were a bit more obtuse. Each said he had serious problems with Common Core, though neither would commit to keeping or scrapping the standards if elected governor. Bennett’s answer was a “maybe,” saying he would convene teachers, parents and other stakeholders, much as the state did when it created AIMS in the late 1990s, and have them examine the Common Core standards to determine whether the state should keep them, get rid of them or find some kind of hybrid. Bennett said he is “very concerned” with what he’s been hearing about Common Core, and has said he’s especially wary of the fact that testing is left to national interests. Bennett said Arizona standards should be crafted in-state. “I support standards. But the last time we adopted standards in Arizona, we got over 1,000 Arizonans together… and we got together and we adopted standards for Arizona. And then we made sure that they compared favorably with the standards that other states had adopted,” he said.
Ducey said he is “troubled” by Common Core, and that he is no fan of the new standards. “I want to reject the coercion that comes with, how do you get waivers and how do you get additional funding by tying to programs that are mandated out of Washington, DC?” Ducey said. But he wouldn’t directly address the issue. He repeatedly answered the question by saying the debate over Arizona’s education system is “more of a discussion than just Common Core.”
Ducey said Arizona’s K-12 system is in need of larger reforms, and he said he will make education a big part of his campaign. “We’re going to replicate what works. We’re going to get rid of what’s unnecessary and unneeded and unproductive. And it’s about more than just Common Core,” said Ducey ignoring the fact that the issue of Common Core would have to be at the core of any education reforms.
Incumbent Superintendent for Public Education John Huppenthal supports Common Core. Huppenthal’s Republican Primary opponent Diane Douglas said, “Make no mistake, Common Core is to education what ObamaCare is to healthcare.” Douglas, is a two term member of the Peoria Unified School District Governing Board and has been an outspoken critic of Obama’s federal Common Core Standards since late 2009.