Yesterday, House Republicans forced Democrats to conduct a formal public hearing on the controversial Common Core state standards, the public school teacher evaluation process, and the transition from Connecticut Mastery testing to the computerized Smarter Balanced assessment.
The Republican caucus said they felt it necessary that the voices of all stakeholders be heard – parents, teachers, students and education experts – a step they contend was neglected by the majority party in the Education Committee.
Republicans resorted to a seldom used petitioning process under House Rule 11 that calls for a required 51 signatures from legislators in order to trigger legislation to be raised and a public hearing to be held. The two bills target stakeholder input on the Common Core – one drafted by State Rep. Marilyn Giuliano of Old Saybrook, and the other by the House Republican Caucus – and were denied public hearings by the majority party chairs of the legislature’s Education Committee.
The bill proposed by Giuliano would freeze the implementation of the Common Core curriculum until all stakeholders have time to examine its potential effects and consider possible changes. The other Republican bill codifies the proposals brought forth by the committee created to establish teacher evaluation standards known as the Performance Evaluation Advisory Council.
The Democratic leadership had only agreed to have an informational hearing where the speakers would be selected ahead of time and public input would be excluded.
Giuliano has witnessed firsthand the reaction to Common Core. “I received a large amount of feedback from my constituents that led me to investigate Common Core more deeply,” said Giuliano, who is employed as the school psychologist at Mile Creek School in Old Lyme.
Giuliano comments, “The pace of implementing the standards is quick in that it does not accommodate various rates of student learning. Standards are a good idea, and masteries are an absolutely critical idea, but education up until this time has always accommodated individual students’ developmental learning curves.”
A coalition of 500 national early childhood experts has signed a petition citing the Common Core State Standards as developmentally inappropriate for learners in grades Kindergarten through grade three, said Giuliano
“Without a doubt, the debate over Common Core has turned into a controversial topic throughout the country and especially in Connecticut. The concerns of parents and educators need to be heard, “said Giuliano.
Editor’s Note: Marilyn Giuliano is State Representative for the 23rd District where she is serving her sixth term representing the shoreline communities of Lyme, Old Lyme, Old Saybrook and the southern portion of Westbrook.