Reeves: Raise standards, monitor implementation
Tate Reeves said he is supportive of its switch to the Common Core State Standards but that he’ll be carefully monitoring their implementation.
“If in fact, it is ever proved the federal government will be involved in making decisions for curriculum for the state’s schools, I will be the first to take charge in fighting it,” Reeves said during a media interview on Tuesday at the Mississippi Education Symposium at the BancorpSouth Conference Center.
One day earlier, the Tupelo Tea Party held a meeting in the same building to air its concerns about the new standards. At that meeting, state Sen. Angela Burks Hill, R-Picayune, said she would file legislation calling for a pause in implementation of and testing on the new standards.
The Common Core Standards are new guidelines for English and math instruction that were developed by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers. They were fully adopted by 45 states and the District of Columbia.
They are standards, not curriculum. That means they outline skills that students should master but do not tell how to teach them.
Reeves, who presides over the Senate, said that parents who have concerns about a book students are reading won’t need to go to Washington or Jackson with their concerns. They’ll be able to address those with local school districts, which will still write their curriculum.
“We will continue to monitor the implementation, as we should do in every area of government,” Reeves said.
Daily Journal
10/30/13
Magnolia Tribune
