Common Core standards have sustained a blow as one of the nation's largest teachers unions has withdrawn support for the math and english standards. Support for the Common Core in Kentucky is mixed.
A bill that would prohibit its implementation is currently in the Kentucky House's Standing Committee on Education.
Western Kentucky Republicans Ben Waide and Myron Dossett are sponsoring the bill that would require the state board to recommend new content standards to schools after consultation with the Council on Postsecondary Education.
But Kentucky Education Association president Stephanie Winkler says Common Core is working.
“Teachers were clamoring for standards that made sense and the Kentucky Common Core academic standards do make sense," Winkler said. "The standards are smaller. They’re able to get kids to master things so when they go onto the next level, they’re more prepared.”
“I as a classroom teacher who just left in May know that the standards not only made me a more focused teacher, but I saw the benefit to my students," Winkler said. "Anybody that would say that we need to get rid of the Common Core standards in Kentucky has not been in the classroom and worked with them like the teachers have.”
Winkler says feedback from commonwealth superintendents and teachers is largely positive.
Kentucky Association of Professional Educators executive director Ruth Green said she has heard mixed feedback, with some educators saying the standards aren’t strong enough and do not constitute a complete curriculum.
