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EDUCATION
Come and Celebrate Living!
PHOTOS BY JOE EARLE
Sen. Fran Millar (R-Dunwoody) and state education department Deputy
Superintendent Martha Reichrath, left, debated the Common Core
initiative with Jane Robbins and Sen. William Ligon (R-Brunswick), right.
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Common Core initiative
sparks debate
BI JOE EARLE
joeearle@reporternewspapers. net
Here’s a multiple-choice test for par
ents. The state’s new Common Core ed
ucation initiative is: a) a reasonable way
to make sure Georgia students measure
up against others across the country; or
b) a national takeover of what’s taught in
Georgia’s schools that erodes local con
trol.
Which way to answer that question
touched off extensive debate among Re
publicans and education experts during
a panel discussion sponsored by the Ful
ton County Republican Party Sept. 26.
About 75 people, many of whom
loudly applauded opponents of the
Common Core initiative, attended the
town hall at Mount Vernon Presbyterian
Church in Sandy Springs to discuss the
Common Core standards, which state
educational officials have adopted, but
now are taking another look at.
Georgia joined 44 other states in
adopting the Common Core curricu
lum, a set of core standards for kinder
garten through high school in English,
language arts and mathematics, and in
grades 6-12 for literacy in science, his
tory/social studies, and technical sub
jects, according to the state education
department. The standards are intend
ed to “provide a consistent framework
to prepare students for college and/or
the 21st century workplace,” the depart
ment said.
During the town hall meeting, State
Sen. Fran Millar (R-Dunwoody) de
fended the Common Core, saying edu
cation officials and teachers around the
state endorse it. “It’s about standards,”
he said, arguing the Common Core of
fered a way to make sure Georgia stu
dents were keeping up with students in
other states.
“We have kids going to college in this
state, where between 35 and 50 percent
of them require mediation,” Millar said.
“We’ve got a problem.”
But Sen. William Ligon (R-Bruns-
wick) argued the Common Core cur
riculum had been drawn up by outside
groups and large corporations, and that
Georgians would lose control of what
was taught in the state’s schools.
“The issues of Common Core are as
much about governance as about educa
tion,” Ligon said.
Jane Robbins, a senior fellow at the
American Principles Project and Ligon’s
partner in opposition to Common Core,
called the development of the Common
Core “elitism run amok.”
“It assumes Georgia parents and
Georgia teachers are incapable of edu
cating our students without help from
really smart people ... in Washington,
D.C.,” she said.
But Martha Reichrath, state educa
tion department deputy superintendent
for curriculum, instruction and assess
ment, said Common Core’s standards
were tougher than previous state stan
dards. “It is more rigorous,” she said.
“It’s more rigorous in many areas.”
But Robbins called Common Core “a
work-force development scheme.”
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16 | OCT. 4 — OCT. 17,2013 | www.ReporterNewspapers.net
