Common Core Commission Secures Short-Term Funding | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's note: The author of this post is Barry Smith, who is an associate editor for the Carolina Journal, John Hood Publisher.

Lawmakers promise reliabile source of funding next year

    RALEIGH - The state commission looking into replacing the Common Core State Standards in North Carolina has gotten some short-term funding, but will have to wait until lawmakers return later in January to get its own budget.

    Andre Peek, who co-chairs the Academic Standards Review Commission, told his fellow commissioners during their December meeting that he and co-chair Jeannie Metcalf met with legislative leaders about the budget problem and were told the issue would be resolved this month, when the new session of the General Assembly convenes.

    An earlier version of a bill that charges the commission with developing rigorous new standards for students in North Carolina's public schools included $250,000 for an operating budget. However, the budget for the commission was omitted in the final version of the budget that passed both the Senate and House and was signed into law by Gov. Pat McCrory.

    "This has been a point of frustration for us as a commission," Peek told his fellow commissioners. "Jeannie and I had a meeting with the General Assembly," Peek added, specifying that they met with Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, Sen. Jerry Tillman, R-Randolph, Rep. Craig Horn, R-Union, and Rep. Linda Johnson, R-Cabarrus.

    "They said that is no longer an issue for us," Peek said. "We will be properly funded." Metcalf, who had the flu, did not attend the December meeting.

    After the meeting, Peek said, "Senator Berger pointed out that they couldn't give us the money right now because a bill has got to go through the legislature. That will be the No. 1 priority as soon as they reconvene in January."

    "They just said in the interim, they had negotiated with the Department of Administration to cover our expenses up until they get the bill through," Peek said. "And then they would just reimburse the Department of Administration. "

    The commission is being housed under the Department of Administration for organizational purposes. Peek said that for now, the Department of Administration would reimburse commission members for travel expenses.

    But that doesn't allow the commission to hire a staff person to help coordinate their efforts, a point made by State Board of Education chairman Bill Cobey, another commission member.

    "I wish we had the funding for this commission," Cobey said. "We needed an administrative assistant." Cobey said that he thinks the commission needs a contractor and a policy director. Cobey said he wished that person was already on board to assist the commission members get the information that they're requesting.

    Commission member Tammy Covil, who was vocal during November's meeting about the lack of funding, said she was glad to get a commitment from legislative leaders, but noted that lack of a budget was delaying the commission's work.

    "It could be months before we actually see any funding," Covil said. "The important thing is that we get some experts in to talk especially about the developmental appropriateness of the standards."

    "Things move slowly in government," Covil continued. "I'm not entirely excited about this news because I know there's probably going to be delays. It will be months. This may be a snag for us in terms of moving forward."

    Common Core State Standards are standards in English language arts and mathematics for students in kindergarten through 12th grade that have been adopted by 45 states. The National Governors Association, the Council of Chief State School officers, and Achieve Inc. developed them. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has funded much of the project.

    The N.C. State Board of Education adopted the standards in June 2010.

    Three states - Indiana, South Carolina, and Oklahoma - have since rescinded their approval.

    The legislation adopted by the General Assembly this summer calls on the commission to conduct a comprehensive review of all the standards and propose modifications to the State Board of Education.