South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley came out this week in favor of rolling back Common Core standards in her state during a speech delivered Thursday to the Greenville County Republican Women’s Club.
In part, here’s what she had to say:
We don’t ever want to educate South Carolina children like they educate California children. We want to educate South Carolina children on South Carolina standards, not anyone else’s standards.
and adding:
We are telling the legislature: Roll back Common Core. Let’s take it back to South Carolina standards.
What standards? According to an annual report from Education Week that ranks state education across various fields, South Carolina was 26th in overall performance, with exactly the same ranking as the national average at 76.9. In 2013, South Carolina ranked 40th in the “Chance for Success” category and in 2013, the state was 45th in the nation in kindergarten- through 12th grade achievement.
The state adopted Common Core standards back in 2010, so not only would nullifying the new curriculum likely deal a blow for education in a state that has yet to achieve anything resembling widespread success, much less excellence, it would waste a lot of money already spent at the local level implementing the standards. As the article pointed out, Anderson School District 2 has allocated $350,000 in taxpayer money toward Common Core standard implementation. Many other districts have no doubt followed suit. I wonder how Haley would explain to her constituents how squandering resources is going to further education in the state.