Gov. Haslam tries to reset Tennessee's Common Core at summit

photo Gov. Bill Haslam speaks at an economic development announcement in Cookville, Tenn., on Monday, Aug. 25, 2014.
Arkansas-Tennessee Live Blog

NASHVILLE - Gov. Bill Haslam today sought to punch the reset button on Tennessee's controversial Common Core student testing standards at an "education summit" attended by state lawmakers, educators and business leaders.

But just outside the downtown Nashville hotel where the conference took place, a group of protesters rallied against Haslam's plan to come back with a new testing regimen he hopes will pass legislative muster in 2015.

Lawmakers last spring turned their thumbs down on PARRC assessments that were to be implemented this year.

Inside the hotel ballroom, Haslam and administration officials led participants in a four-hour exploration of Tennessee's education reforms over the last eight years, a list that included Common Core but also covered successes in student learning as well as controversies like charter schools expansion and a proposed school voucher program.

The Republican governor acknowledged some steps he's taken have been controversial, but Haslam and other officials argued they have helped transform public education in Tennessee for the better.

He said his summit "is part of beginning a discussion about some really critical issues that are facing us, and there are a lot of different perspectives. But we know we're going to reach our goals as a state. There's nothing more critical."

Time and again that brought the topic back to Common Core testing, which Haslam said is critical to measure student learning and teacher effectiveness.

Following the summit, Haslam told reporters the controversial Common Core style of teaching, which focuses more on critical thinking, and the tests to assess how well students are learning are key to improving Tennessee schools and students' competitiveness with their peers in the U.S. and abroad.

He said he plans more conversations as he attempts to bring Tennesseans and the lawmakers who represent them aboard.

Earlier, critics assembled on Legislative Plaza across from the hotel. The list included teachers, Nashville Tea Party President Ben Cunningham, the head of the Tennessee chapter of the billionaire Koch brothers-affilated Americans for Prosperity, and Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Gordon Ball.

Andrew Ogles, state director of Americans for Prosperity, said that as "one of the most conservative states in the country Tennessee should take the lead in setting its own education standards, stopping the federal over-reach that is Common Core.

"Just like ObamaCare, Common Core is a Trojan horse for the federal government to take over state budgets," Ogles argued.

Upcoming Events