Photo credit: UpstateNYer (CC-By-SA 3.0)
It seems as though the silver lining with CRomnibus has been torn away in part. Breitbart News reported yesterday that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has blocked Senator David Vitter’s (R-LA) Common Core legislation from being attached to the CRomnibus bill.
Sen. David Vitter’s (R-LA) office told Breitbart News on Sunday that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) blocked out legislation attached to the “CRomnibus” bill that would have stopped the federal government from mandating that states “adopt specific academic standards, including the Common Core standards.”
Vitter’s bill, the Local Control of Education Act, it would “prohibit the Federal Government from mandating, incentivizing, or coercing States to adopt the Common Core State Standards or any other specific academic standards, instructional content, curricula, assessments, or programs of instruction.”
There is still a chance Race to the Top will be defunded as the House language contains that. We’ll see what sausage is made when the House-Senate conference committee gets together.
brackenkaren says
Is anyone really surprised? Is Vitter surprised? I don’t trust Vitter for one second or any of them in DC. Vitter wrote the bill for political cover because he wants to be Governor of LA. He has always supported RTTT/CC and all of a sudden he is against it with no explanation. He wrote the bill knowing it would never get passed but he can now tell his voters he tried. It is all Kabuki theater.
Shane Vander Hart says
I don’t disagree. We’ll see what, if anything, he does when the new Senate is sworn in.
brackenkaren says
What is the point of defunding something that is completely implemented? Should have defunded it 4 years ago. It is a bit late now don’t you think? Defund it and they will just rename it like they always do and bring it back out with new funding. If any of these people were serious about ending the destruction of American educate they would shut down the Department of Education immediately.
Shane Vander Hart says
Ok, apart from a miracle happening, what can they do? I’d love to see USDED closed, but it isn’t going to happen in the near future. I agree that defunding RTTT is late. It does stop District Race to the Top and early childhood RTTT though. Don’t be so skeptical that we can’t acknowledge some positive developments (though that is one of the only positive developments in CRomnibus, along with Michelle O’s school lunch program being weakened.).
sherri.flynn@yahoo.com says
Senator Reid must go! What is being done with education at the federal level in a vilation against the constitution and against parents and especially the children of the United States of America!
John Eppolito says
Sherri,
So long as he’s not replaced with Brian Sandoval who also supports Common Core.
Terry Adams-Stromsky says
I don’t understand if it’s against the constitution then it’s illegal. Parents don’t want it, unqualified people put this disastrous thing together. The Legislators haven’t read it. How is this keep getting through?