As school districts around the state prepare to bring the Common Core standards into their classrooms this fall, Douglas County’s school board is putting its opposition to the standards on the record.
The Douglas County Board of Education last night unanimously passed a resolution arguing against the implementation of the standards both across the state on principle and in their district specifically.
The board argues that the spirit of the Common Core violates the broad discretion on standards and curriculum that Colorado districts are granted in the state constitution. And the resolution further argues that the standards laid out in the Common Core are not as rigorous as standards already in place in Douglas County.
The Colorado State Board of Education signed on to the Common Core standards in 2010. The standards have continued to generate controversy, with supporters arguing that common standards will raise expectations and fill in gaps that occur when students move from district to district, while detractors argue they are an unreasonable national imposition into local school district.
Here’s the full text of the resolution:
*WHEREAS, Colorado is a local control state, where local school boards are constitutionally granted broad discretion in setting curriculum and standards for their students; and*
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*WHEREAS, Douglas County School District has used that broad local control to pursue world-class education innovations and the most rigorous academic standards anywhere — innovations and standards that will prepare our students for the demands of the 21st century workplace and global economy,
and;*
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*WHEREAS, the Common Core Standards, while reasonable and appropriate for many school districts to emulate, are not reasonable or appropriate in Douglas County because our District’s standards are more rigorous, more
thorough, and more directly tailored to the unique needs of our students, as they prepare for positions of leadership in the 21st century workforce and global economy[,] and*
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*WHEREAS, the District’s leadership team has reviewed the Common Core Standards, and determined that they do not meet the expectations this District has for all of our students, and, for more than a year has been working in collaboration with teachers across the District to develop a more rigorous and thorough curriculum, the Guaranteed and Viable Curriculum
(GVC’s) that will best prepare our students for the college or career of their choice in the 21st century.*
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*NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Douglas County School District Board of Education hereby expresses its general opposition to a one-size-fits-all application of the Common Core Standards, because local school districts should retain broad latitude in establishing customized, rigorous and high
standards and guidelines for the maximum educational attainment of all students in their specific communities. More particularly, the Douglas County School Board expresses its opposition to the uniform imposition of Common Core Standards in the specific case of Douglas County, because the
Douglas County School District’s standards are more rigorous, more demanding, more thorough, and reflect higher expectations and aspirations
for our students than any national standard now in existence, including the Common Core Standards. In Douglas County, our taxpayers, parents, teachers and students expect the very highest and rigorous standards – as embodied
in our Guaranteed and Viable Curriculum – that will allow our students to learn today and lead tomorrow. The Douglas County Board of Education is resolved and committed to meet or exceed those expectations, at every turn,
for every student, in every school.*