Is the Indiana Public Not Capable of Providing Input for Standards?

I read Joy Pullman’s story at Heartlander Magazine about Indiana’s Common Core bill being bottlenecked in the Indiana House Education Committee.  Something State Representative Bob Behning (R-Indianapolis), the House Education Committee Chair, is quoted as saying made my jaw drop:

Indiana’s bid to pause national education standards is bottlenecked in the House Education Committee, where Chairman Bob Behning (R-Indianapolis) says no constituent or colleague concerns have changed his mind about refusing to hear the bill.

“I’m not excited about hearing [the bill,] but if I did it wouldn’t look like it does now,” Behning said.

By a bipartisan, 38-11 vote, the Indiana Senate passed Senate Bill 193 to hold public hearings in every congressional district on Common Core, national requirements for what K-12 students must know in math and English, and to study how much new tests, textbooks, and teacher training because of it would cost taxpayers.

“We’ve never ever gone to that level of public input,” Behning said of the bill. “Frankly, most of the time the public would not have a very easy time even understanding what standards are, let alone trying to help form them.” (emphasis mine)

Say what?

On his website he says that he is “always glad to hear the views of citizens (he) represents.”  Well on everything except educational standards anyway.  With those you’re too much of a simpleton to help evidently.  Does he even realize how arrogant that sounds?

Apparently he thinks the same of his fellow legislators if he won’t allow the bill to be heard.