Republican gubernatorial candidate Charley Baker cried foul yesterday as Massachusetts considered aligning its public school curriculum with federal standards for math and English.
“We should be the best,” Baker said, “not another part of the pack.”
Education Commissioner Mitchell Chester denied that adopting the so-called Common Core standards was a precursor to dismantling MCAS and said Baker’s charge that Gov. Deval Patrick was appeasing the Massachusetts Teachers Association after it endorsed Patrick was “nonsense.”
“At this time, there has been no information or evidence reported to our office that would warrant an investigation at taxpayer cost,” Attorney General Martha Coakley’s spokeswoman said.
Patrick maintained he wouldn’t agree to national standards unless they are as high as current ones.
During a press conference yesterday, Baker rolled out Mike Sentance. The former education adviser for Govs. Bill Weld and Paul Cellucci said the state’s current standards beat national standards.
“The bottom line is you lose all control of what the content is,” he said.
The plan was discussed at yesterday’s Board of Education meeting and scheduled for a vote today.
– SHNS contributed to this story
