Image courtesy of Richard Loyal French/Creative Commons. (https://www.flickr.com/photos/113791602@N04/)
On May 30, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley signed a bill into law that requires the state to adopt new curriculum standards for 2015-16, with Common Core State Standards (CCSS) remaining in place for the 2014-2015 school year. (Governor Haley has publicly stated her position opposing Common Core on numerous occasions.)
CCSS, initially adopted by 46 states, has been seeing serious backlash—as previously covered by SLJ—inviting controversy over its difficult test questions, its affect on teacher evaluations, and its testing fairness with English Language Learner students. In April, New York State Governor Cuomo publicly distanced himself from his support of Common Core (as covered by SLJ). Indiana was the first state to repeal Common Core, with Governor Mike Pence signing a bill into law in March 2014 that requires new standards by July 1 of this year.
Oklahoma is another state that has already adopted Common Core, but lurks close to repealing it. State Governor Mary Fallin (R) has until June 7 to sign a bill into law that has already passed the legislature.