Common Core Uncertainty Puts NC Educators in Limbo

Gov. Pat McCrory's newest law regarding Common Core is creating uncertainty among many North Carolina educators.

Tuesday, Gov. McCrory signed a bill authorizing the State Board of Education to rewrite the Common Core standards for North Carolina's K-12 schools. Also, a new 11-member standards advisory commission will be formed to make curriculum recommendations to the board.

For the past two years, the state's 100 school districts have used the current curriculum and testing standards. Beth Folger, Ph.D,  the chief academic officer for Guilford County Schools, doesn't believe Common Core should be changed. Instead, she believes districts need more time to learn how to implement it effectively. “We have spent as a district upwards of $5 million on the implementation of Common Core over the past few years between the professional development and other resources, so we went from a district of 75 percent to 80 percent proficiency to a district that's at 50 percent proficiency. Our teachers haven't changed and our students have not gotten less smart. It's the standards that have been raised," Folger says.

"We need some time to have our teachers accustomed to teaching those standards and have our students, have that knowledge built from year to year in order to improve our performance.” Common core will stay in effect until new standards are in place," she says.

North Carolina is one of five states that have either changed or removed the Common Core standards from schools and are creating new state specific requirements. According to the Raleigh News & Observer, last summer, Indiana was the first state to replace Common Core and direct its State Board of Education to create new standards. This year, Oklahoma and South Carolina followed suit and now legislators in Missouri are re-writing the standards.