Congressman Steve King (R-Iowa) and U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) are circulating letters in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate asking for an appropriations rider to block further federal overreach in pushing the Common Core standards and assessments on states.
Grassley’s office told Caffeinated Thoughts that this is not in lieu of prohibiting federal interference in any bill that would reauthorize or reform the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The timeline for such a bill is not certain.
In the meantime, what King and Grassley are trying to do is make sure any bill to fund the Department of Education includes language blocking the kinds of activities this administration has used to bully states into adopting and staying in Common Core through funding incentives and waivers. This has been tried twice before, but it has not been successful due to the makeup of the Senate and the fact that all appropriations bills were rolled into one Omnibus bill.
However, with the change in the Senate and the promise that the Senate will once again be considering separate appropriations bills, this effort, Grassley’s office believes has a much better chance of success. It would send an important message to states that they should no longer fear repercussions from the U.S. Department of Education if they choose their own content standards.
The deadline for Representatives and Senators to sign-on is March 26, 2015. They encourage citizens to contact their U.S. Representative and U.S. Senators to sign on.
You can read Grassley’s letter here or below:
You can read King’s letter here or below:
