a*****g
发帖数: 19398 | 1 （最悲的地方在第二段！）
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson isn't done trying to nix his state's common-
core assessment—even if his state board just voted to keep it.
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported June 22 that Hutchinson, a Republican
, directed state Commissioner of Education Johnny Key to end the state's
contract with the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and
Careers (PARCC) and seek a new state test for the 2015-16 school year. What'
s the problem? Earlier this month, the state board of education decided
against doing exactly that, voting 7-1 to continue using the PARCC exam.
There's a June 30 deadline for the state to extend its contract to use PARCC
. But Hutchinson and Key are pointing to a PARCC memorandum of understanding
that states the following:
"States in this Partnership recognize that they might experience changes in
political leadership over the four-year project period. Therefore, in the
event that the governor or chief state school officer is replaced in a
Partnership state, his or her successor must affirm in writing to the
Governing Board Chair within five months of taking office the state's
continued commitment to participate in the Partnership and to the binding
commitments made by that official's predecessor."
The governor and state chief, who are both new to their positions this year,
say that unless they agree to keep PARCC, something they don't want to do,
then the state can't recommit to PARCC.
Politico raised the issue of this MOU a few months ago when discussing
possible defections from PARCC. But it doesn't appear that provision has
been seriously put to the test, so to speak, until now.
The same MOU states that in order to leave PARCC, the state board chairman,
governor, and state chief must all agree to do so. It's not clear whether
that provision will matter after June 30. Still, here's an interesting
detail—although the board voted 7-1 to reject the proposal to ditch PARCC,
state board Chairman Samuel Ledbetter abstained from the vote, the Arkansas
Times reported.
Remember, earlier this month, Hutchinson and Key didn't act as though the
state board's vote was unnecessary for ditching the test. But they did treat
the board's decision to drop PARCC as a foregone conclusion. As I wrote
previously, Key's department put out a statement a few days before the board
's June 11 vote that the state "will not renew its contract" with PARCC, and
would switch to an ACT test instead.
However, the state board rejected the push from the governor and state chief
, saying that the move away from PARCC came too hurriedly. At their June 11
meeting, in addition to rejecting the switch to the ACT, they directed Key
to re-up the state's deal with PARCC.
The original recommendation to leave PARCC came from Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin, a
Republican who is overseeing a review of the Common Core State Standards
and aligned tests in Arkansas. Hutchinson quickly agreed with Griffin's
proposal, and Key in turn agreed. (Although technically appointed by the
state board, Key was Hutchinson's hand-picked man for the commissioner's
post.)
So will the state board prevail in its attempts to keep PARCC, or will
Hutchinson and Key get their way? In about a week, we might know the answer. |
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