Missouri Governor Signs Bill to Replace Common Core Standards

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon (D) has signed legislation that provides for a task force to write new education standards that will eventually replace the Common Core in his state.

Nixon’s office announced his approval of the measure Monday, the last possible day the governor could take action on bills passed earlier this year, local news KMBC.com reports.

The Republican-led Missouri legislature, which has battled the standards since their adoption in 2010, approved HB 1490 23-6 in the state Senate and 135-10 in the state House. Originally, the bill was intended to ban the Common Core standards entirely.

Increasing numbers of states are repealing the standards, removing themselves from the Common Core multi-state test consortia and passing legislation to protect their children from the data collection associated with the nationalized standards.

According to KMBC, eight advisory groups will create standards for both elementary and high school students in the state for English, math, science and history. The State Board of Education will hold public hearings on the proposed standards that are slated to be in place by 2016.

The advisory groups will be composed of appointees by state education associations and leaders, legislators, Nixon, and Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder. In addition, four members will be parents of children currently enrolled in Missouri public schools.

Until the new standards are developed and approved, however, the Common Core will remain in place in Missouri. As Education Week notes, “It’s unclear to what extent the common core will survive in Missouri. There’s nothing prohibiting both the work groups and the state board from largely re-adopting the common-core standards, or re-approving virtually all of the common core.”

“We would have liked the language to be a lot stronger in terms of rejecting the Common Core State Standards,” Missouri Coalition Against Common Core co-founder Anne Gassel said in response to Nixon’s approval of the bill. “We will have to rely on the professional integrity of those selected to be on the various work groups to really focus on what is best for our students and teachers and not be swayed by outside political or financial interests.”