The North Carolina House approved a proposal Wednesday that would repeal and replace Common Core curriculum. The Senate Education Committee also passed a similar proposal.
Common Core is the controversial curriculum used since the 2012-13 school year in more than 40 states across the nation.
“The Common Core standards were designed to create a very rigorous set of standards,” said Julie Morrow, Rowan-Salisbury assistant superintendent of curriculum.
Common Core’s goal, she said, is to help students become globally competitive. “North Carolina needs globally competitive workers.”
Anytime new standards area introduced, a level of discomfort will arise, Morrow said.
“That’s present any time you have an opportunity for change,” she said.
“I think they need to allow us the opportunity to fulfill the common core standards completely,” Morrow said.
The district has been working on developing a curriculum that meets the rigor of Common Core.
“I have confidence in our educators in our district that they would be successful,” she said.
If Common Core were repealed in North Carolina, Morrow said, it wouldn’t affect the level of rigor in Rowan-Salisbury classrooms.
If the legislation were to pass both the full house and the full senate, it would change the standards that are set by the state, but Morrow said, “The learning environment we want to create would not change.”
The district would have to redefine some of its curriculum to align with the new standards, a task that would be a lot of work.
Morrow said it would be “a shame” to force students, teachers and parents to readjust to yet another curriculum.
“Learning new standards is huge,” she said.
“We’re going to hold to our strategic plan,” she added.