Committee nixes Common Core bills

This week the Senate Education Committee recommended killing several bills against Common Core in New Hampshire.

Two of the bills, SB 81 and SB 82, aimed to limit the authority of the state Board of Education over curriculum and assessments.  A third bill, SB 101, explicitly prohibited the implementation of the Common Core education standards.

Sen. Kevin Avard (R-Nashua), the sponsor of SB 81 and SB 82, argues the Board of Education is over-reaching its authority by influencing curriculum at the local level.

State Board of Education Chair Tom Raffio testified that local school districts do not have to adopt the Common Core curriculum.  However, state and federal laws require students to take assessments.  Therefore, districts must use the Smarter Balanced assessment based on Common Core, or risk losing federal funding.