South Dakota’s 89th legislative session began today with Gov. Dennis Daugaard’s State of the State Address.
Support of Common Core highlighted the education topics addressed by the governor.
“We need standards that are rigorous,” Gov. Daugaard said of the Common Core, noting that he supported the standards, but understood the concerns that have been raised by some parents and citizens.
ASBSD legislative resolution: A4. Common Core Academic Standards, calls for the support of the standards. The resolution was approved by member districts last fall at ASBSD’s Delegate Assembly.
In the last year, the opposition of Common Core has been more vocalized, with opponents citing Federal intrusion, loss of local control in instruction and possible student privacy issues among a few of the concerns.
“Common Core Standards were not written by the federal government. (Standards) are not required by the federal government,” Gov. Daugaard said of the standards, which were developed by a consortium of states.
Gov. Daugaard asked for the cooperation of legislators when examining the standards and concerns.
“I hope you’ll all work together this year to protect our students, without undermining the important goals of rigorous and competitive content standards,” he said.
A full day of session is on tap tomorrow, as committee meetings begin. For updates tomorrow and all session long, check the ASBSD Blog and for updates on recently introduced and the progression of legislation, check the ASBSD Bill Tracker page.