State superintendent candidates talk Common Core, grants, charter schools Read more: The Marietta Daily Journal | The Marietta Daily Journal

MARIETTA — Common Core standards, school choice and other controversial issues took center stage Saturday at a debate of eight candidates vying for state superintendent of schools.

Candidates fielded questions for two hours during a forum conducted by the conservative advocacy group Americans for Prosperity at Roswell Street Baptist Church.

Six Democrats and nine Republicans are running for the seat now held by Georgia Superintendent John Barge, who opted not to seek re-election so he could challenge Gov. Nathan Deal in the May 20 Republican gubernatorial primary.

Republicans who attended the debate were Nancy Jester, Kira Willis, Mary Kay Bacallao, Ashley Bell, Richard Woods and Fitz Johnson. Democrats present were Jurita Mays and Tarnisha Dent.

Common Core unpopular but views differ

Few of the candidates had anything good to say about the much maligned Common Core national testing standards, though some said the state was stuck with the standards and should try to make the best of a bad situation.

Nancy Jester, an actuarial consultant, called the standards pushed by the federal government and adopted by 45 states “quasi-governmental” and “another bureaucracy.”

“That’s six-figure jobs that don’t help the classroom,” said Jester, who served on the DeKalb County Board of Education.

State standards should be developed by Georgians for Georgians, Jester said.

Common Core is in Georgia, said Kira Willis, a graduate coach at a Fulton County charter school, and educators have to make the most of what has been adopted, even though it may not be ideal.

“We’ve got to stop changing the standards on our teachers,” Willis said.

via The Marietta Daily Journal.