On June 5, the North Carolina Senate passed SB 812 Maintain Authority over Academic Standards. This bill is commonly referred to as the Common Core repeal bill. Here are some of the key provisions contained in the bill:
1. Provides that the State Board of Education shall continue to exercise its authority under the North Carolina Constitution to adopt academic standards for public schools;
2. Requires the State Board to conduct a comprehensive review of all English Language Arts and Mathematics standards;
3. Requires that the State Board must consult with the newly created Academic Standards Review Commission prior to making changes to the standards;
4. Clarifies that the standards will be named and referred to as the North Carolina Standard Course of Study;
5. Establishes an Academic Standards Review Commission to be housed in the Department of Administration;
6. The Academic Standards Review Commission will have 11 members and shall hold its first meeting by September 1. Four of the members will be appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, four members will be appointed by the Speaker of the House; one member will be appointed by the Governor; and two members from the State Board of Education;
7. Requires the Commission to make a final report of its findings and recommendations to the State Board of Education, Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee, and 2016 General Assembly Session. The Commission will terminate in December 2015 or upon filing its report; and
8. Repeals the statute that required the State Board to participate in Common Core.
Note, a couple key differences between the House and Senate bills are: 1) the Senate bill still allows the Commission and State Board to consider Common Core State Standards while the House bill is clear in its directive to move away from Common Core; and 2) under the Senate bill, the Commission terminates after its work is completed and the Commission is smaller than the House version.