We never expected the effort to Repeal and Replace Common Core (math and ELA), science, social studies and aligned assessments to be easy. We knew there would be bumps in the road and expected strong push-back. The list of state agencies, organizations, and people opposed to HB 5444/SB 826 is long and well-funded. It includes Governor Snyder, Michigan Department of Education, State Board of Education, GLEP, EdTrust, The Business Leaders for Michigan, Michigan Chamber of Commerce, Students First Michigan, and many, many more. (Full list here)
What we didn’t expect is that the grassroots would be shut out of the discussion after being a key participant drafting legislation. We blogged about it in a post here. Writing this wasn’t something we wanted to but we had to do in order to maintain the integrity and strength of the Repeal & Replace bill, SB 826.
Senator Colbeck, the lead sponsor in the Senate of SB 826, has now admitted that he “disengaged” with us in a comment on Wendy Lynn Day’s Facebook page on June 30. He wrote,
Please understand that I had reached out to Melanie and others once it was evident that changes to the introduced version of the SB 826 were needed to obtain necessary votes and ensure constitutionality of the legislation. Once Melanie asserted that she would rather have no changes at all to the bill than a bill that would actually repeal Common Core, I disengaged with her and others who advocated her position. My focus is on repealing Common Core. In order to pass SB 826 to repeal Common Core, changes are necessary. My proposed substitute has been reviewed by national legal experts on Common Core. One of these experts has stated that, once passed, our legislation would be THE STRONGEST anti-Common Core bill in the nation. My focus is on passage. Attempts by her and others to conflate my discussions with MDE on Social Studies Standards with a conspiracy to keep Common Core is nonsense. Anyone who has followed my service knows that Social Studies reform has been a passion of mine since day 1. I am actively working multiple threads to ensure that these reforms are enacted. Thread #1 is SB 209/211. Thread #2 is MI Science and Social Studies standards revisions (See link below for my suggested revisions). Thread #3 is SB 826. If Senator Meekhof does not allow a vote on SB 826 to repeal Common Core, the other two threads remain. No conspiracy. Simply a dedicated pursuit of social studies reform by all means possible. Regarding MDE, since when did it become a bad thing to compliment folks when they were doing the right thing? I applaud Stop Common Core in MI for their efforts to educate legislators on the dangers of Common Core and the need to repeal Common Core in MI. I share this goal. Furthermore, my efforts are working towards achieving this goal. Taking positions against ANY changes to the legislation does not work towards achieving this goal and, in fact, impedes progress towards this goal. I understand the reasons for a lack of trust in elected officials. Truly I do. But I believe I havea strong record of staying true to my word in the fact of significant consequences. Some may to choose to believe that my commitment to the repeal of Common Core will somehow be an exception to that record but they would be wrong. http://www.senatorpatrickcolbeck.com/proposed-social-studies-standards/
Senator Colbeck’s statement that Melanie [Kurdys] asserted “she would rather have no changes at all to the bill than a bill that would actually repeal Common Core” is FALSE. It’s actually comical that he would assert this at all. Our position has been clear and stated multiple times, “Vote NO on any substitute bill. We cannot endorse a bill we have not read.” Kurdys has been actively engaged with attorneys and experts around the country to offer alternatives that do maintain the integrity of the objectives.
It is NOT that we were against changes but if changes were made we wanted to know what they would be and the reason for them. Instead of a discussion with us, Senator Colbeck chose to “disengage.” It is interesting that Senator Colbeck linked in his comment to his work on revising the social studies standards. Colbeck continues to engage with the MDE on Social Studies. The MDE opposes SB 826 which replaces the social studies standards with the Massachusetts standards. Why would he engage with the MDE and shut down discussions with Stop Common Core in Michgan is confusing and contradictory.
We shouldn’t have to pass a bill to know what is in it. Our initial endorsement does NOT mean we continue to endorse if if significant changes are made which potentially weaken or water-down the strength of the bill. Colbeck’s assertion that we wouldn’t support any changes is NOT true. He disengaged and any attempts to get a substitute for our team to read were rebuffed.
Michigan Campaign for Liberty obtained and released a copy of the substitute bill on their website in a post, “It’s the federal mandates, stupid.” Their analysis of the substitute confirms that language has been changed which does weaken the bill dramatically. The substitute is being pushed that changes the language to:
The department, and any other state public employee or authority shall take all steps necessary to terminate areas of federal control of the Michigan educational process that are not considered to be in the best interests of pupils in this state.
This added language at the end, “that are not considered to be in the best interest of pupils in this state” opens up a huge loophole.
All bureaucrats and politicians believe what they do is in the best interest of the pupils. All manner of federal control will be justified under this new provision.
After Michigan Campaign for Liberty published the substitute, Senator Colbeck released another statement on his Facebook page July 2. He wrote,
Committed to repealing Common Core (CC) in MI? So am I. In fact, my opposition to CC was cited as one of the key reasons that I am not a Chair of any Senate committee this session (the other was my opposition to Medicaid Expansion otherwise known as Section 2001 of Obamacare). I introduced SB 826 to repeal CC & replace it with the proven #1 standards in the nation, the Pre-CC MA standards. The introduced version of the bill was drafted by members of Stop Common Core in MI in cooperation with Rep. Gary Glenn. I introduced an identical version in the Senate. Upon further review of the legislation by my office & other members of the Senate Education policy committee, it became evident that it would put school funding at risk and be unconstitutional. The bill was passed out of committee in original version but commitments were made to make the necessary changes before the Senate floor vote. This was done in hopes of avoiding a week delay that would impact the ability of the House to vote on the legislation before the Summer break. That timeline is now moot but changes are still needed to preclude the loss of over $1.8B in federal funding and preclude a conflict with Article III, Section 2 of the MI Constitution (see Constitutional Analysis in link below). Initially, I sought to work with Stop Common Core in MI representatives on these changes, but once they took the position that they would not support ANY changes, I ceased this exchange. Without changes, I am confident that the bill would not earn sufficient support to repeal CC. So we have a fundamental choice before us. Do we 1) attempt to pass an unconstitutional bill that would eliminate >$1.8B in federal funding or 2) amend the bill to ensure the repeal of CC & M-Step in MI and replace them with the best standards in the nation, the Pre-CC MA Standards, along with an assessment that respects limited class time? Option 1 continues Common Core in MI. Option 2 does not. I favor option 2. What say you?
Colbeck’s statement does NOT clear up anything and makes things much more confusing. Senator Pavlov is the Senate Education Chair, he also claims to be against Common Core. Yet, he is the Education chair. Pavlov told us after the first hearing that he supported SB 826 “as introduced without amendment.” He did NOT mention issues with Constitutionality or concerns with the bill as introduced. The hearings were well-attended. Senator Colbeck defended the Constitutionality in the hearings.
If “further review made it evident that it would put school aid funding at risk” why did he wait until the first week in July to make that fact known to Stop Common Core in Michigan? There was NO mention of federal funding in either hearing. The fiscal analysis of the bill does NOT mention school aid funding concerns. Yet, it appears “commitments” were made even before the hearings began.
We are NOT questioning Senator Colbeck’s commitment to repeal common core but it is right and proper to question why commitments were made to change the bill BEFORE the hearing and not discussed AT the hearing. It is now clear that the substitute bill was in the works and a draft prepared when SB 826 was passed out of committee. It is reasonable to believe that Senator Pavlov knew about the substitute, why did he tell us that he supported the bill “as introduced without amendment?”
In April, Congressman Mike Bishop expressed early support for Repeal and Replace of Common Core, science, social studies, and assessments. He encouraged Speaker Cotter and Senate Majority Leader Meekhoff to to discharge and pass the bills–“yesterday.” In a comment on Facebook he said,
Congress’ recent passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act, which replaced No Child Left Behind, gives STATES jurisdiction over their own classrooms, not federal bureaucrats. Common Core is specifically mentioned in the ESSA, giving states that were force fed this ridiculous federal program, the immediate right to repeal it. This is one that the Speaker and SML might just want to discharge from committee and pass – yesterday.
If there was a problem with funding or constitutionality, Bishop certainly didn’t mention it. The ESSA Act was supposed to give control back to Michigan and allowing us the right to repeal it.
Why did Senator Colbeck DEFEND the Constitutionality of SB 826 in the hearing, if he already knew there were problems and made “commitments’ to make changes to the bill?
Why did Senator Colbeck wait until AFTER the hearing to bring up the $1.8B loss in federal funding?
Isn’t the hearing process designed to understand such concerns and determine ways to mitigate them?
Why is Senator Colbeck willing to continue to work with the MDE, who opposes the bill as introduced, but “disengage” with Stop Common Core in Michigan who supported the bill as introduced?
Senator Colbeck’s office also asserted that Colbeck wants to craft a bill that “the Governor will sign.” Why not craft a bill and use the power of the “we the people” to make him sign?
Michigan Prosperity Project has called the substitute bill a “huge mistake.” They have joined with Stop Common Core in Michigan and Michigan Campaign for Liberty in calling for the immediate passage of SB 826 as introduced.
The substitute bill also allows for standardized testing to be implemented by private corporations instead of education agencies. Our children are not guinea pigs, and we need to ensure that they have privacy rights.
The Michigan Prosperity Project stands with the Michigan Campaign for Liberty and the Stop Common Core in Michigan, Inc. in their call to pass the original common core repeal and replace bill with no substitutes.
We are hearing from parents all over the state who are tired of the feds and special interests controlling education in Michigan. It’s time for Michigan to lead the nation and pass a true Repeal and Replace of Common Core, science, social studies, and assessments. There are attempts to make this just about a repeal of common core and not a repeal and replace of common core, social studies, science, and assessments. Note in Senator Colbeck’s remarks he only refers to “Common Core” and refers to an “assessment that respects class time” and not a replacement with the MA assessment. A “new assessment” to go with a repeal is also NOT acceptable. We saw what happened when Michigan created a “new assessment” M-STEP and stuffed it with SBAC questions.