Brecheen, Sykes issue statement on Senate passage of HB 3399, repealing Common Core standards

Sens. Josh Brecheen and Anthony Sykes issued the following statements after today’s Senate approval of House Bill 3399. The measure, approved by a vote of 31 to 10, repeals the Common Core standards and prevents federal control over standards and assessments.

“House Bill 3399 is a true repeal of Common Core and enables us to establish high quality standards specifically crafted to the needs of Oklahoma schools by Oklahomans, not out-of-state interest groups. With this bill, we’re pressing the pause button and guaranteeing to teachers that next year they will be able to teach the same math and English content they taught this year, until new standards are established in 2016. Those new standards will have to be approved by the Legislature thus bringing representative government into the process to ensure they won't be a ‘copy and paste’ version of common core under a new name."

"This legislation also adds one more good cause exemption allowing children to be promoted to the 4th grade even if they score unsatisfactory on the 3rd grade reading test, and this language compliments HB 2625, the act we sponsored and passed last week. This bill reflects the requests of parents and educators who have raised valid concerns and prevents unwanted federal interference.” Sen. Josh Brecheen, R-Coalgate

“Common Core cedes state control over educational standards to the federal government and out-of-state interest groups. This legislation puts Oklahomans back in charge of educating our children. Sen. Brecheen and I were also successful in amending HJR 1097 to repeal the Next Generation Science Standards, which heavily promote global warming alarmism and do not prepare students for work in STEM fields. By advancing these bills to the governor, the Legislature has responded to the concerns of families who feel Common Core and the Next Generation Science Standards may not be the best way forward for our schools. It is my hope that the governor will acknowledge those concerns, and sign these bills that restore our authority to establish standards free of federal interference.” Sen. Anthony Sykes, R-Moore