Virginia State Senate Votes to Prohibit Adoption of Common Core Standards

AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis
AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis

The Virginia state Senate voted Friday to ban the adoption of the controversial Common Core standards without the prior approval of the General Assembly.

According to an NBC report, the measure that was introduced by state Sen. Richard Black (R) passed the GOP-led Virginia Senate by a party-line vote of 21-17. The bill will now advance to the House of Delegates.

The measure is significant because of its emphasis on approval of state education policies by the elected representatives of Virginia citizens, rather than by the state board of education, the members of which are appointed by the governor and not elected. The 46 state boards of education across the nation–most of them unelected–that signed onto the unproven Common Core standards did so with little, if any, public or media scrutiny, prior to even seeing the standards themselves.

Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) opposed the measure, saying it was not necessary since the state has no plans to adopt the Common Core standards.

Virginia was one of four states that never adopted the Common Core standards in 2010. The other three were Alaska, Texas, and Nebraska. Minnesota adopted only the Common Core English Language Arts standards, but not the math standards.

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