Dive Brief:
- Oklahoma’s senate passed legislation limiting federal authority over the Common Core standards for math and English in the state’s public schools.
- The bill, which was voted on 11-0, sanctions the creation of new English and math benchmarks and forbids the state Board of Education from signing any contracts that would limit state control.
- According to the bill, the Board of Education will collaborate with higher ed and Career-Tech experts to develop new standards by 2015.
Dive Insight:
Similar to Indiana’s repeal of the Common Core standards, Oklahoma’s limit of federal oversight in the creation of benchmarks doesn't mean much until we see what new standards they develop. Critics of the Indiana legislation fear the state opting out of the Common Core is just semantics, and the federal benchmarks will still greatly influence the new standards they develop. With that in mind, it will interesting to see how Oklahoma and Indiana move forward in the creation of their unique state benchmarks.