First Meeting with New School Board Officers Addresses Common Core

The Wentzville School Board, with one newly sworn-in member and with a new slate of officers following the April 2 election, met Thursday night.

The very last item on the agenda, Common Core State Standards, drew a big crowd that included State Representative Bryan Spencer.

During the public comment time, Spencer spoke out against Common Core. He mentioned House Bill 616, which, according to the Missouri House website, "prohibits the State Board of Education from adopting and implementing the standards for public schools developed by the Common Core Standards Initiative."

Spencer said that while Common Core promoted good teaching practices such as cross-discipline teaching, he disagreed with "data mining" provisions for tracking and collecting data on students.

Margot Mann, a Lake Saint Louis resident who has four children in the district and has worked for the district for 14 years, said that she wanted more rigorous standards like the ones in Common Core for her children. "I want my chidren to take a stance and support it with evidence, to read and write more."

Common Core, she said, was "a wake-up call for us all."

When the board got to the Common Core discussion item on the agenda, Dr. Jennifer Allen, assistant superintendent of curriculum, instruction and assessment said that it was her understanding that the board had had a request to authorize their support of the program.

Allen led a presentation on the program, explaining that educational standards have changed as knowledge and job demands have changed, and that the new standards emphasize technology and collaboration for college and career readiness.

She also explained that the state board of education had adopted Common Core in 2010.

That comment prompted some board members to question why the topic had been put on the agenda.

Courtney Tieman, newly elected vice president, asked, "Data mining - where is that coming from?"

Allen said that data collection has gone on for 10 years, and was originally part of the No Child Left Behind act.

New board member Sandy Fitzgerald said, "I don’t know why we’re voting on this. You’ve been implementing the standards for some time. " Fitzgerald chose to abstain from the vote, which she said was politically motivated.

The board, by voice vote, approved their endorsement of Common Core State Standards.