Representative Brooks Coleman has now come out in support of SB 167. Read Transcript from WABE interview. Has Common Core been defeated and no longer a threat to Georgia schools? NO!!! It is still being implemented and the lobbyist are working harder than ever to extend its reach. SB 167 represents a compromise that creates a commission. The immediate question that comes to mind is: Have we added yet another layer of oversight through a commission that can be managed by our Education Committees in the House and Senate at the Capitol? Answer: Perhaps. We will have to wait and see. Just because Representative Coleman has had a change of heart, you must know that he has been instrumental in implementing CCSS, a top down approach to education, since it came to Georgia in 2010 through the National Governors Association and Governor Perdue. So as this issues will no longer be front and center in the House District 97 campaign, it is still an issue you should be concerned about.
You will hear that Representative Coleman did not vote for Common Core, nobody voted on it since it was not brought before the legislature for a vote. Seems to me it should have had a healthy debate before it was implemented, but then all you have to do is look at the history of how it came to pass to understand why it wasn't voted upon. That, however, does not excuse Representative Coleman from responsibility for CCSS implementation to date. If Representative Coleman is against Common Core as he now insists, why has it taken 4 years to come to this personal revelation? As with the Charter School commission that was passed last year, Representative Coleman has been very involved in undermining local control by the school board and concentrating it at the State level. This is bad for the schools and it is bad policy for our children. I eagerly await to hear what the legislature wants to do in replacing the funding equation for education called QBE. I hope Representative Coleman will make it known to the voters what direction he intends to lead on this important issue.
