Topicality “Its”

States can eliminate Common Core — more than 7 have started the process.

As states nationwide continue to implement the Common Core State Standards in public schools, some activists and lawmakers are making strides in efforts to repeal or repackage the controversial academic benchmarks.

In Indiana, the state Senate's Education and Career Development Committee voted Wednesday to send a measure repealing the standards to the Senate floor. The bill would do away with current instruction based off the standards, and task the State Board of Education with creating new college-and-career-ready standards by July 1. In May, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence signed into law a measure that halted any further implementation of the Common Core until the state board of education conducts an evaluation of the standards.

"This voids Common Core, and we are starting the process of writing new standards. Eternal vigilance of parents is still needed, and I encourage you to do so," said Sen. Scott Schneider, the author of the bill passed Wednesday, according to the Indianapolis Star. "SB 91 is a strong statement that we are moving forward, moving away from Common Core, protecting Indiana sovereignty and student data."

Meanwhile, South Dakota's House of Representatives narrowly rejected a similar bill, which would have halted further expansion of the standards. The two states adopted the standards in 2010, with the backing of former governors Mitch Daniels and M. Michael Rounds, both Republicans.

Although the standards were widely and rapidly adopted by 45 states and the District of Columbia after their release in the summer of 2010, more opponents are pressuring their state legislators to enact measures that would do away with the core.

2NC/1NR — States CP

States should exit Common Core national standards

Burke 12 — Lindsey M. Burke, the Will Skillman Fellow in Education in the Domestic Policy Studies Department at The Heritage Foundation, 2012 ("States Must Reject National Education Standards While There Is Still Time," The Heritage Foundation, April 16^th, Available Online at http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2012/04/states-must-reject-national-education-standards-while-there-is-still-time, Accessed 7-7-2015)

For four and a half decades, the federal role in education has been growing. While costly in terms of taxpayer dollars spent and local control of education lost, this growth in federal control has failed to improve outcomes for America’s children. National standards will further expand Washington’s role in education and will remove parents from decisions about the content taught in local schools.

Instead of abdicating responsibility for standards and assessments—and ceding more control over education to Washington and national organizations—state leaders should exit this national standards boondoggle. They should begin by determining how the decision was made to cede standards-setting authority and, at the same time, prohibit any spending on standards implementation. Finally, states should determine how to reverse course and regain control over the content taught in local schools.

States and local school districts can have success improving their standards and assessments without surrendering control to Washington. Increasing transparency of outcomes in a way that is meaningful to parents and taxpayers, providing flexibility for local school leaders, and advancing systemic reforms that include school choice options for families will go a long way in improving academic outcomes while at the same time preserving local control of education.

States can legally opt-out of Common Core — Oklahoma House Bill and Supreme Court decisions

Haskins 14 — Brandi M. Haskins, a 2015 J.D. Candidate at Oklahoma City University School of Law and a former educator, 2014 (“State Discretion over Subject Matter Standards: The Rise and Fall of Common Core in Oklahoma,” Oklahoma City University Law Review (39 Okla. City U.L. Rev. 441), Available Online to Subscribing Institutions via Lexis-Nexis)

House Bill 3399 prohibits Oklahoma's State Board of Education from entering into any "agreement, memorandum of understanding or contract with any federal agency or private entity which in any way cedes or limits state discretion or control over ... subject matter standards." n137 House Bill 3399 also instructs Oklahoma's State Board of Education to revert back to subject matter standards "which were in place prior to the revisions adopted by the Board in June 2010" until new ones can be created and implemented. n138 According to Governor Fallin, the state can establish "academic standards that will be better than [those prescribed by] Common Core." n139

B. The Oklahoma Supreme Court Upholds House Bill 3399

Before standards revision could begin, however, a lawsuit challenging the bill was filed by members of the State Board of Education (Members). n140 One such Member expressed "that if the law [stands], educators would be hampered in their efforts to develop standards for public schools." n141 Represented by Fellers Snider, an Oklahoma City-based law firm, the Members "criticized the Legislature's reach into an area that ... [is within] the purview of the state education board, the board created by the Oklahoma Constitution and charged with supervising education instruction in the state." n142 The Members further claimed that "the bill creates a corrosive effect (by) having the Legislature inside the room when education standards are being developed." n143 However, the Oklahoma Supreme Court disagreed, upholding House Bill 3399 as constitutional. n144

Several states have opted out of Common Core.

Newman 13 — Alex Newman, president of Liberty Sentinel Media, Inc., a small information consulting firm, degree in journalism from the University of Florida, foreign correspondent for The New American magazine, writes for several publications in the U.S. and abroad, 2013 (“Common Core: A Scheme to Rewrite Education,” The New American, August 8^th, Available Online at http://www.thenewamerican.com/culture/education/item/16192-common-core-a-scheme-to-rewrite-education, Accessed 06-29-2015)

More than a few states have started fighting back. In Indiana, for example, the legislature passed a bill putting Common Core implementation on “pause” pending a proper review of the standards, the costs, and more. “I have long believed that education is a state and local function and we must always work to ensure that our students are being taught to the highest academic standards and that our curriculum is developed by Hoosiers, for Hoosiers,” declared Republican Gov. Mike Pence in May when he signed the legislation. The state has also reportedly stopped participating in the national testing regime, too — at least for now. Michigan and South Carolina have targeted the scheme, as well.

Multiple other state legislatures also have bills to withdraw from Common Core. Separately, several states have also withdrawn from the national testing consortia. School districts, too, are taking action, with the Douglas County, Colorado, district, for instance, recently approving a resolution unanimously rejecting Common Core in favor of its own higher-quality standards. Experts say this is just the beginning of the resistance.

States should repeal Common Core implementation

Given 13 — Casey Given, Director of Young Voices, Director of Communications at Students For Liberty, B.A. from University of California, Berkeley

Master’s in Public Policy Analysis from The George Washington University, 2013 ("It’s Official: The Feds Control Common Core," Americans for Prosperity, April 3^rd, Available Online at http://americansforprosperity.org/article/its-official-the-feds-control-common-core, Accessed 7-8-2015)

Thus, it looks like Common Core is poised to repeat and amplify the federal government’s failed educational interventions by giving the central government even greater control of what American schoolchildren are learning. If the success of school choice has taught us anything, it’s that education is most effective when controlled by actors on the local level, like teachers with freedom in how to teacher their students at charter schools, or parents with options of where to send their child to school through opportunity scholarships. Choice from the bottom, not force from the top, leads to effective learning.

Fortunately, states like Indiana are waking up to the reality of Common Core’s educational coercion by proposing legislation to withdraw from the standards. Most of the states adopted Common Core within weeks of when the standards were released in June 2010 and before the federal government’s Race to the Top ruse began to be seen in September of that year. More states should reverse their hasty decision by delaying or repealing Common Core’s implementation for further consideration of what is best for their public schools. The future of America’s schoolchildren is too much to gamble on a federally-controlled curriculum that is clouded in mystery.

2NC/1NR — They Say: “Education Funding DA”

Their authors are all hype. The funds aren’t going anywhere

Srauss 4/2 – Valerie Strauss, Strauss is a reporter fort he Washington Post. 2015. ("Will schools lose federal funds if kids don’t take mandated tests? Fact vs. threat", Washington Post, Available at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2015/04/02/will-schools-lose-federal-funds-if-kids-dont-take-mandated-tests-fact-vs-threat/, Accessed 7-14-2015)

Assistant Education Secretary Deborah Delisle recently indicated she expected state superintendents to pressure parents to comply. She added that the Education Department could consider other federal education requirements to use against schools that do not receive Title I. But she also acknowledged the U.S. government does not intend to take funding away from programs that serve children!

Clearly, some government officials are trying to bully parents into submission (see, for example, Illinois, New Jersey and New York). By muddying the water with inaccurate statements about the intricacies of federal law and waivers, these officials seek to reduce opt-out numbers and buy time for discredited test-and-punish schemes. Overall, however, this tactic is failing as opt-out numbers increase and more parents and students get involved in the resistance movement.

Cost estimates of opt out are performed by Common Core supporters — of course they say that it’s expensive for states to end the program.

Times Picayune 14 — New Orleans Times Picayune, Byline Julia O'Donoghue, 2014 ("Education Department says scrapping Common Core would cost Louisiana," NOLA Times Picayune, March 28^th, Available Online at http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2014/03/education_department_says_comm.html, Accessed 7-6-2015)

Not everyone trusts the financial analysis done by Louisiana's education department. As state superintendent, White has been a strong supporter of Common Core, which makes some of opponents to the academic standards suspicious of the price tag included in agency's internal memo.

State Rep. Brett Geymann, one of the leaders in the fight against Common Core, said he is waiting on the financial analysis performed by the Legislative Fiscal Office. The fiscal office issues reports with the monetary impact of all legislation and plans to put out notes on the anti-Common Core bills next week.

States don’t need Federal education funding — only ten percent of spending

Chopin 13 — Lindsey H. Chopin, an associate in the Labor & Employment Law Department of Proskauer LLP, served as a law clerk to the Honorable Carl J. Barbier in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, 2013 (“Untangling Public School Governance: A Proposal To End Meaningless Federal Reform And Streamline Control In State Education Agencies,” Loyola Law Review (59 Loy. L. Rev. 399), Available Online to Subscribing Institutions via Lexis-Nexis)

3. Is it Even Possible to Remove the Federal Role?

Similar to the previous argument, some will maintain that the federal government is too involved in education to be removed. Without the federal government, things like funding under the ESEA and financial aid are not possible. Answers to these questions require a clear look at the federal role as it currently exists, as well as the proposed changes. First, recall that federal funds only make up about ten percent of spending on education - a figure that has remained unchanged over the last century and a half. n275 While that percentage represents a large sum of money, it will not be missed if the states are not wasting resources trying to keep up with federal reforms. n276 Second, this [*451] Comment points out that the federal government should step out of reform but not necessarily education itself. This Comment proposes to remove federal influence from educational policy and reform in public, K-12 schools. Therefore, this proposal has no bearing on financial aid for post-secondary education, nor does it even propose that funding for K-12 schools be reduced. If the federal government is comfortable providing funding to the schools without imposing intricate and intrusive reforms as the ones discussed above, it is free to do so under this proposal.

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