Some lawmakers pushing to stop new state education standards

Oklahoma City — Some lawmakers met with colleagues at the Capitol Tuesday to talk about the proposed education standards in Oklahoma. They're hoping to keep the new standards from passing.

The State Board of Education presented the legislature with the "Oklahoma Academic Standards for English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics" on the first day of the session. That started a 30-day countdown in which it had to be voted on or it passes automatically. The window ends March 23.

Senators Anthony Sykes and Josh Brecheen have authored a joint resolution asking the standards be stopped. It would give the Education Department a few more weeks to make improvements before the standards go back to lawmakers.

"Certainly we think there are a lot of good things in the standards but we feel there are some areas that should be looked at more and we've got just a few more days to make up our mind on that," Sen. Sykes, R-Moore, said.

He led a meeting Tuesday so lawmakers could hear from experts who found faults in the proposed standards.

Dr. Lawrence Gray of the University of Minnesota reviewed the math standards with a team. He said the standards are better than the old common core rules, but that there were areas that needed improvement "even though the writing team worked hard," he said.

Gray said the objectives are too vague, were confusing, and didn't really change from grade to grade.

For the English Language requirements, lawmakers heard from Dr. Sandra Stotsky of the University of Arkansas.

She also said the wording was too vague. She said there was nothing that addressed classic literature or reading complete works, which she said is important to college readiness. She said she would never recommend these standards.

"It is ironic that House Bill 3399 demanded Oklahoma-based standards, yet some are attempting to stall them as a result of the feedback of one or two out-of-state people," State Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister told Fox 25 in a statement.

Parents also expressed their disappointment.

"It's been a year of work in progress. I'd hate for something to hold them up again," parent Angela Little said. "We've talked about [the standards] sporadically through the process of them being developed. We've liked everything that we've seen."

Little, who also works with the advocacy group Oklahoma Parents and Educators, spent Tuesday at the Capitol talking with lawmakers and thanking them for their work. She said most agreed with the proposed standards.

Sykes said if most lawmakers were for these plans, they could have taken more action.

"They can pass a resolution affirmatively approving those [standards] and so far, that hasn't been introduced. What they're using is the deadline of 30 days," he said. "I think that if they really liked it, they would have a lawmaker introducing those resolutions. Why didn't we approve these on day one?"

He said he is working to ensure the standards are as good as can because they would be law for the next six years. He said his meeting and push back against the standards are part of the legislative process.

Below is the full statement to Fox 25 from Hofmeister:

"I have the utmost confidence in the Oklahoma Academic Standards for English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics. After an exhaustive, transparent, and inclusive process that involved thousands of Oklahoma educators, parents, community leaders and business professionals, I believe these standards represent a significant step forward from the standards in current use.

"That view is echoed by 60 letters of support from content reviewers and groups of experts at the state, regional and even national levels, as well as Oklahoma teachers, education administrators and parents. These men and women repeatedly lauded the standards' rigor, college- and career-readiness and strong research base. The standards have also been certified by Oklahoma's Higher Education Board of Regents. It is ironic that House Bill 3399 demanded Oklahoma-based standards, yet some are attempting to stall them as a result of the feedback of one or two out-of-state people.

"The standards were presented to the legislature on the first day of session, February 1. Prior to that date, legislators were invited to attend special review sessions with the standards writers and experts at the state Department of Education in October 2015.

"We urge the legislature to adopt the standards expeditiously so that the same educators who spent thousands of hours in their development will have as much time as possible to implement them."