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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas would repeal Common Core standards and overhaul public school guidelines under a bill that was discussed by a Kansas House panel Monday.
The bill would bar any school district from adopting standards that would "cede any measure of control over any aspect of Kansas public education to any entity" outside the state, effectively banning the Common Core standards, which were developed by the National Governors Association and education associations and have been adopted by 44 states. The standards set benchmarks designed to raise reading and math skills, but do not provide a curriculum or spell out how students are taught.
Frank Clark, a retired high school teacher from Manhattan, testified to the House Education Committee that he opposed the standards' "one-size-fits-all" approach and said they usurped the power of local school boards to set their own materials and priorities.
Clark took issue with some of the books recommended by the Common Core standards, saying they "can only be described as legalized pornography." Cristina García's "Dreaming in Cuban" and Toni Morrison's 1970 novel "The Bluest Eye" are among books recommended by Common Core that critics have said are inappropriate.
Clark also said, "The requirement to learn cursive is being dropped, as well as many of the tools used to teach proper grammar, spelling and logic."
Republican Rep. Ron Highland of Wamego, who chairs the committee, said lawmakers with ties to the education community have opposed changing the standards, but "the tide is growing against them."
Dozens of opponents to the Common Core standards filled the committee chamber and more than a dozen more were denied entry by Capitol Police.
Democratic Rep. Ed Trimmer of Winfield, who is a member of the committee, said Common Core opponents were motivated by "misinformation" about the standards and how they were developed.
He also said that the bill could have unintended consequences, including blocking advanced placement courses and instruction for college entrance exams as they were also developed out of state.
Other opponents to the bill included superintendents and representatives of education organizations who said blocking the standards would force schools to develop and acquire new textbooks and other materials at great cost.
Conservative lawmakers tried unsuccessfully to block the standards during the previous legislative session. However, they succeeded in attaching a number of key policy initiatives to an education budget bill, including an end to guaranteed teacher tenure.
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