Columbia, SC -- Forty-six states and the District of Columbia have agreed to work together to develop a common set of academic standards in math and reading. The goal is to better prepare students for college or the working world by making sure they're learning what they need to in order to compete with students from other countries.
But South Carolina is not one of the 46 states. Alaska, Missouri and Texas are the others that have not signed on to the Common Core Standards Initiative, which is being pushed by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers.
In order to participate, a state needs the signature of its governor and its education superintendent or secretary. South Carolina Superintendent of Education Jim Rex has signed on, but Gov. Mark Sanford has not. His spokesman says the governor has no role in setting education curriculum so there's no reason for him to sign.
"I think he's wrong. I think he should have signed it and I think it would've made it clear that South Carolina wants to be a part of this process," says Rex. "We did not get the governor's signature. And so there was a consequence, which meant that we were not counted as an official participant in this collaboration. We're not still sure what the implications are. I think there's still a good chance we'll be able to participate at some level since I signed on.
Right now, each state decides on its own what its students should learn in each grade. While states in the past have fought against national standards because they don't want Washington running their schools, this effort has the states working together to develop the standards. After they're completed, states will have the option of adopting them.
"It would mean that if you did have to move from state to state there would be more continuity, more similarity between states," Dr. Rex says. "And you'd have a higher level of assurance that they're learning some of the same things that kids in China and Japan and Europe are learning in terms of mathematics and reading."
Derrick Manuel, a father of three, thinks it's a good idea to have more uniform standards from state to state. "Like for my family, we're in the military. It'll get them back on the same level as the state we recently left. So I think it's a pretty good idea," he says.
The standards for each grade are supposed to be made public at the end of this year for possible use starting in 2010.
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