WASHINGTON, D.C. – One of the key talking points for Common Core proponents is that the initiative was “state-led.”
It was just a group of governors dissatisfied with their state’s education systems and decided to do something about it, they say.

Thus, the Common Core State Standards Initiative was spontaneously born.

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But the Common Core State Standards Initiative website might indicate otherwise.

EAGnews used the Wayback Machine – an internet website archivist – to look at the previous versions of the group’s website, CoreStandards.org. Check out the subtle yet striking differences.

This quote was captured by the Wayback Machine on March 5, 2010:

“The Common Core State Standards Initiative is a state-led effort coordinated by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO).”

That’s the standard talking point we hear today.

But look at the explanation on the very same website six months earlier – October 19, 2009, to be exact:

“The Common Core State Standards Initiative is a joint effort by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) in partnership with Achieve, ACT and the College Board.”

So sometime around New Years 2010 the language changed. Of course, this was also about the time states were considering whether or not to accept stimulus money as an incentive to adopt the standards, so proponents likely needed all the positive “state-led” spin they could get.

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The next time a supporter of Common Core tries to feed you this line, show them the Initiative’s own website as evidence that the “state-led” point is little more than rhetoric.