Photo credit: Gage Skidmore (CC-By-SA 3.0)
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie joined a number of other Republican governors (minus Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal) in issuing a do-nothing executive order related to Common Core.
As I wrote over at Caffeinated Thoughts earlier this afternoon:
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie could have done something meaningful to address Common Core, but he didn’t. Following the path of several Republican governors, he issued a do-nothing executive order instead that will create a commission tasked with reviewing the Common Core State Standards.
The commission which will be created as a result of this executive order will have to report its initial findings to Christie by December 31, 2015. The final report will be issued by July 31, 2015.
There is no action plan after that. The order doesn’t specify what type of people who will serve other than it will be “comprised of 9 appointees who have practical experience, knowledge, or expertise in the areas of education policy or administration and will serve without compensation. “ Also the commission the executive order states may (not shall) “consult with education stakeholders, practitioners, experts or other knowledgeable individuals in the public or private sector on any aspect of its mission.” No public hearings… no ability for parents to weigh in that I can see.
The bill before the New Jersey Senate that was delayed for this garbage executive order would have established a task force under the control of the legislature, and it would have delayed the PARCC assessment by two years. This does nothing of the sort.
In fact the point of the Commission, according to the Christie administration, is to ensure an effective implementation of the Common Core and PARCC. They state in a press release sent out yesterday, “The creation of this Commission will also help ensure the effectiveness of the Core Curriculum Content Standards, including the Common Core State Standards, and the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness of College and Careers (PARCC) assessments.”
There is absolutely no plan on replacing the Common Core whatsoever.
Jan Lenox of Concerned Citizens of Southern New Jersey told me in an email, “After sitting in the Senate Chamber last Thursday for almost three hours waiting for our bill to be put for a vote for the third time; the result is what took place yesterday. The Governor in a three-way, let’s cut a deal, with the senate president and the NJEA, completely dissed New Jersey’s children and their parents from a fair way to resolve the issue of Common Core. This is a complete travesty.”
Here is the text of his Common Core executive order: