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WUNC's American Graduate Project is part of a nationwide public media conversation about the dropout crisis. We'll explore the issue through news reports, call-in programs and a forum produced with UNC-TV. Also as a part of this project we've partnered with the Durham Nativity School and YO: Durham to found the WUNC Youth Radio Club. These reports are part of American Graduate-Let’s Make it Happen!- a public media initiative to address the drop out crisis, supported by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and these generous funders: Project Funders:GlaxoSmithKlineThe Goodnight Educational FoundationJoseph M. Bryan Foundation State FarmThe Grable FoundationFarrington FoundationMore education stories from WUNC

North Carolina Senate Approves Bill Repealing Common Core

Students at McDougle Elementary.
Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools

The Senate voted 33-12 on Thursday for a bill that would likely get rid of most – if not all – of the Common Core academic standards.

“It will put these standards in North Carolina’s hands,” said Republican Senator Jerry Tillman.

The House and Senate chambers approved separate bills earlier this session that would create commissions to rework the math and language arts standards. The most recent vote was on a compromise bill that closely resembles the Senate version.

The House version would have prohibited any use of Common Core, while the Senate would have left open the possibility of keeping parts of Common Core to use in a new set of standards.

“I like the North Carolina brand and I trust this commission will make them more rigorous in most places and certainly more appropriate for North Carolina,” said Tillman.

Tillman said the state would have the new standards for the 2015-16 school year.

Opponents of the standards argue that they are not developmentally appropriate for children, were implemented too quickly and take control away from the state. Most states have adopted the standards, though a handful have already backed out.

But supporters of Common Core (which include business and teacher groups) argue that getting rid of the standards now would only create classroom chaos.

Sen. Josh Stein, D-Raleigh, was one of the twelve Senators who voted against the bill.

“I don't think we need to fear high standards for our kids and for our teachers," he said. “I think they can meet them. I think this is legislation based on fear."

The bill will now go before the House, before heading to Gov. Pat McCrory.

Reema Khrais joined WUNC in 2013 to cover education in pre-kindergarten through high school. Previously, she won the prestigious Joan B. Kroc Fellowship. For the fellowship, she spent a year at NPR where she reported nationally, produced on Weekends on All Things Considered and edited on the digital desk. She also spent some time at New York Public Radio as an education reporter, covering the overhaul of vocational schools, the contentious closures of city schools and age-old high school rivalries.
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