Members of the public were allowed to address the State Board of Education Thursday regarding their opposition to the state’s adoption of Common Core standards, having been denied the opportunity for public comment during the last board meeting after being told their issues were not directly related to any action or non-action items on the board's agenda.
Restore Oklahoma Public Education (ROPE) members and parents were granted the opportunity to speak due to a specific agenda item which required the board to approve or disapprove the Oklahoma Academic Standards for Visual Arts and General Music.
Parents from various parts of the state voiced their concerns with what they perceived as the infiltration of “socialism and federal intrusion” into Oklahoma’s schools.
Concerns with the standards ranged from the quality of education to the subject matter and most of all to the collection of data on Oklahoma students through the state’s longitudinal data system.
A parent from rural Oklahoma spoke of her longtime battle with the federal government in regards to agriculture and private property rights under Agenda 21. Common Core is the education equivalent, she said. The change into Common Core, she added is incremental but equally detrimental to the state.
