Georgia sticking with nationwide Common Core curriculum but will write own exams, governor says | jacksonville.com

Georgia won’t be part of a multi-state testing plan that was part of the controversial Common Core curriculum agreement, Gov. Nathan Deal announced Monday.

Instead, Deal and State Superintendent of Schools John Barge said the state will come up with its own tests.

Opponents of the Common Core said the new testing arrangement doesn’t alleviate their complaints and instead raises new concerns.

Georgia was one of 22 states in the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers formed to create standardized tests by the 2014-15 school year for math and English. It was to be a way to test students on a new set of education standards being implemented almost nationwide.

Conservatives have blasted the Common Core as a loss of local control. They have sponsored legislation in the General Assembly to withdraw from it, and it has become a lightning rod in some local school board meetings.

Deal’s spokesman Brian Robinson said the budget was the governor’s main reason, not bowing to political pressure.

“The governor supports this move because it’s fiscally conservative, and it falls in line with the spirit of his executive order that protects the privacy of Georgia students,” Robinson said.

In making Monday’s announcement, Deal expressed confidence that the state could come up with its own exams.

“Just as we do in all other branches of state government, we can create better value for taxpayers while maintaining the same level of quality,” he said.

Opponents of the Common Core said the new testing arrangement doesn’t alleviate their complaints and instead raises new concerns.

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