Common Core Opponents Seeking Special Legislative Session
Courtesy of Laura Zorc
Florida Parents Against Common Core protest at a national meeting discussing the standards in June in Orlando.
A coalition of groups opposing Florida’s use of new math and language arts standards say they will try to force the Legislature to call a special session to address two bills which would put the standards on hold.
The gambit is a long shot. Twenty percent of the Legislature must call for the special session, and a super majority must vote to approve it.
Activists are unhappy HB 25 and SB 1316 have yet to get a hearing with the 60-day legislative session winding down. The identical bills would halt implementation of the standards until the state completes an analysis of how much the standards will cost, and public hearings are held in every Congressional district. They say House and Senate leadership are blocking the bills.
“We worked so hard just to get that bill; find someone to carry the bill for us,” said Laura Zorc, a co-founder of Florida Parents Against Common Core. “They’re saying our concerns aren’t valid. Why not hear the bill? Why not let it go for a vote? If it was going to fail, then let it fail.”
