The new bill comes a month after Haslam, a Republican, announced the formation of panels to review the math and English components of the Common Core standards and to report their recommendations at the end of next year. Haslam said he has not reviewed the repeal legislation, but added pulling out of Common Core could be difficult. States must have approved standards in order to qualify for federal funding and to ensure colleges will acknowledge the abilities of their high school graduates.
“To change any standards is not an automatic process … that’s going to take some time,” Haslam said, adding that the point of his review is to determine which changes would be possible.
A spokesperson for Halsam told FoxNews.com that the governor’s focus is progress in the state’s educational system.
“Education is a top priority in Tennessee, and there is expected to be significant discussion in the upcoming legislative session around education issues including standards,” Halsam spokesman David Smith said. “Tennessee is making historic gains in academic achievement and continuing that forward progress is where the governor’s focus will be.”
In the legislation, known as Senate Bill 4, Gresham and Bell propose the creation of a nine-member commission equally appointed by the governor and legislative leaders, tasked with holding public meetings to “ensure transparency and maximize public input into the process.”
Tennessee's most ardent critics of Common Core are dubious of lawmakers' newfound opposition.
"The sponsors of these bills have strongly supported Common Core in the past and stood in the way of legislation to repeal Common Core during the 2014 legislative session," Karen Bracken, founder of Tennessee against Common Core, told FoxNews.com. "The [legislators' efforts], knowing their true opinions, which have been repeatedly expressed over the past two years in favor of Common Core appear to be nothing more than an effort to control the opposition in order to preserve the Common Core standards."
Similar criticism has been voiced in Indiana, where Common Core critics say elected officials plan to replace the national scheme with a rebranded one that raises the same concerns.