Arizona is one of those states pulling up to the fainting couch over the Common Core. Last year most conservative voted on a bill to kill the common core in the state. The bill failed with overwhelming democratic response. the conservative justification for the bill, as always, was they did not want to be controlled by the federal government. In education the state can do so much better.
Arizona did, however, pull out of the multistate consortium that would develop the tests for the common core. Apparently the governor thinks wasting the taxpayers money developing a specific test for the state, rather than going in with other states to spread that cost, is the best way to address the projected half billion dollar deficit.
Arizona does get credit for being financially responsible enough, thanks to the democrats, to keep the common core and the billion dollars in federal funding. As always, tax and spend liberals are always better than spend and spend conservatives.
So imagine my surprise when I read the state is adopting the federal Citizenship Exam a requirement for graduation. They are taking federal test, telling educators this is the test you must teach to, and students that they will not graduate if they do not meet these federal standards. So much to all the bluster against how bad the federal standards and the common core is.
To make matter worse the state is not implanting this as the standard quick ten question test, possibly done by pulling students out of class for a few minutes to a computer lab. They are instead requiring students to pass the full 100 question test. That is a fully have day of testing, at least. A full half day of instruction that is lost. A half day that teachers are paid not to teach but to babysit.
When conservatives complain about the high cost of education, remind them that it is the testing that makes it so expensive. Paying consultants from Harvard and the like to develop local tests instead of using a national test bank. Paying teachers a couple weeks a year not to teach but to test. Paying a few person on each campus, at a cumulative cost well into six figures, to make sure tests are secure and to provide evidence to harass good teachers. Which is not to say that testing serves no purpose, but that we need to use to help students, not just to provide a jobs programs for people who want a job but have no real teaching or other useful skill.