By Ben Velderman
EAGnews.org

LANSING, Mich. – The Common Core debate is finally headed for the Michigan Legislature.

On Tuesday, a House subcommittee will hold the first of several legislative hearings about whether or not the untested, one-size-fits-all K-12 learning standards are right for Michigan schools, reports Freep.com.

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The public examination of Common Core comes “nearly three years after the bipartisan state Board of Education adopted the standards” – and just weeks after the state Legislature voted to defund their implementation, Freep.com notes.

Because Common Core represents such a radical overhaul of the state’s public education system, lawmakers like state Rep. Tom McMillin believe they deserve a say in the process.

“I’m very confident that if we have honest debates over these next couple of months and we hear from the grass roots and the people that are affected, the Legislature will decide … to stop the funding permanently,” said McMillin, who is a Republican.

The subcommittee, which is holding Tuesday’s public hearing, “is tasked with making a recommendation to the Michigan Legislature on whether to halt the Common Core here or continue to move forward,” Freep.com reports.

The Common Core math and English learning standards tell schools which concepts to teach students by grade level. The goal is to have all of America’s K-12 students studying the same concepts at the same time. Common Core advocates say the plan will lead to greater levels of college readiness throughout the nation, though the standards have never been field tested anywhere in the U.S.

Forty-five states have already adopted the standards, though lawmakers in some of those states – including Indiana, South Carolina, Kansas, Wisconsin and Tennessee – have begun to have second thoughts.

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Indiana legislators voted earlier this year to temporarily stop the transition to Common Core, so they could review the new standards.

Common Core critics are concerned the new standards will take power away from state and local officials to oversee and control their schools.

EAGnews recently published a series of articles that offer an in-depth examination of Common Core.