In August, End Common Core Massachusetts, a committee of teachers, activists and others against the Common Core State Standards for K-12 Education, launched a call for a ballot iniatiative in Massachusetts. The group members seek to put a question before the state's voters on November 8, 2016. They hope "to move Massachusetts forward and restore the pre-Common Core, proven Massachusetts Standards."
On Friday, eleven plaintiffs filed a civil suit against Attorney General Maura Healey and Secretary of the Commonwealth William F. Galvin "claiming the nature of the End Common Core Referendum was illegal," according to an article in Education News. The lawsuit alleges that Healey authorized a petition that "is not written in the proper form for submission to the people” and “contains subject(s) that are not related or mutually dependent." End Common Core Massachusetts said in response that the lawsuit is an attempt to halt the petition's success. NAS board member Sandra Stotsky, who is a Common Core expert and supports the ballot initiative, believes that this lawsuit aims to restrict citizens from their right to vote on whether or not they want the Common Core.
For insights into the problems besetting Common Core, see the book Drilling through the Core: Why Common Core Is Bad for America, edited by NAS president Peter Wood and with contributions from math and English scholars including Sandra Stotsky, Ze’ev Wurman, R. James Milgram, Mark Bauerlein, and Anthony Esolen.
Photo Credit: Palm Beach Post
