Iowa Governor Branstad issued an executive order this week regarding Federal intrusion into education (see our earlier article regarding the “Common Core” educational standards here). The full text of the Executive order can be read here. Branstad’s effort has been described by Shane Vander Hart, a respected conservative analyst writing at Caffeinated Thoughts as a “‘good first step” but he concludes that the usefulness should not be overestimated.
Governor Branstad’s executive order is a positive first step in addressing concerns about the Common Core. It does not negate legislative action, it does not address all of the concerns, and it is not the endgame. The debate continues, but it is a positive, helpful development in addressing the future of education policy in the state.
Elements of VanderHart’s analysis includes the following points.
So what does Executive Order 83 do? Well here are a few things notable things:
• Affirms the state of Iowa’s constitutional role in education (more on that later).
• Affirms that the adoption of standards should be done in an “open, transparent way that include opportunities for Iowans to review and offer input.” In defense of Governor Branstad, the Common Core was not adopted on his watch so perhaps the adoption process would have looked different had he been governor in 2010. That said it would be great if Iowans were given that opportunity now.
• It rejects the Feds requiring states to adopt federal standards as a condition of a federal grantSo what doesn’t it do:
• It does NOT repeal the Common Core State Standards. While this executive order addresses future federal injection into standards and assessments it doesn’t address what has already been done. It does state we have the right to change them, but it doesn’t say we are going to do that now. The Common Core was adopted by the Iowa Board of Education in 2010 and they are now the Iowa Core’s standards in math and English/Language Arts. They are still moving forward towards implementation.
• It does not give 100% local control over curriculum. The executive order affirms that local school districts are responsible to choose curricula, instruction and learning materials, but it has a caveat – they have to be “consistent with state academic standards.”
We note that Republican governors in other states have responded similarly, indeed with similar hedged decisiveness. Articles relating to similar executive orders from governors in Maine, Florida and Georgia can be accessed through the links provided herein.
We cannot get a handle on why any governor feels he or she does not have the intellectual and pedagogical resources in their own state to teach k-12 students of all capacities, providing them the necessary educational tools to succeed. Core standards combined with unionism too often enervate or corrupt teachers resulting in teaching to the test and inculcating low standards, not high. Iowa use to be number one in education, from home-grown efforts, before the overbearing intrusion of federal and other standards, however well meaning. R Mall
