Legislature Makes No Changes To Recommended Education Standards

Yogi Berra might say it’s like déjà vu all over again. 

Last week, the legislature left without making changes to recommended education standards, an alternative to Common Core. Monday, they did it again.

There seemed to be some confusion in the legislature about how long 30-days are. 

That’s the amount of time the Legislature had to make changes to the recommendations after getting them from the state Board of Education. 

The Senate and the House of Representatives apparently couldn’t agree on when the clock started ticking. 

“They (the Senate) were counting the first day of session,” said Jeff Hickman, (R) House Speaker. “But we called the Attorney General’s office and asked that question and the belief was that the clock started the day following because that’s what the law said. So 30 legislative days would be today.”

Regardless, the result was the same. 

The Senate left without acting on the standards, meaning they will go into effect, as is, unless the Board of Education wants to make changes, re-submit them to the Legislature and start the whole process all over again. 

“The state Board of Education obviously must get these standards right,” Hickman said. “We want to make sure they’re right before they go into effect and we believe that the state Board of Education needs to make those modifications and send them to the legislature for consideration.”

Some frustrated lawmakers said they feel duped by state Education Superintendent Joy Hofmeister. 

Rep. Bob Cleveland said Hofmeister told his caucus she backed House changes then went back and told the Senate she preferred their changes.

“She left ours, goes over to the Senate and tells a whole different story,” said Cleveland, R-Slaughterville. “She did not tell the truth.”

As for the recommendations, Cleveland said “even the people on that board say it’s Common Core. It’s Common Core coming through the back door. And Joy Hofmeister is behind it.” 

A spokesperson for Hofmeister said the superintendent did not mislead lawmakers, and the Superintendent is confident with the recommendations and they will be put into place as is.