The Public School Forum of North Carolina released a new policy brief urging the state to continue to move forward in implementing the Common Core State Standards.

Keith Poston, president and executive director of the Public School Forum of North Carolina, said the Common Core standards give students the best opportunity to graduate college- and career-ready and able to compete in an “increasingly global society.”

The Public School Forum has conducted a number of international studies and found that high standards push students to a deeper level of understanding, essential for a world-class school system. It also found abandoning the Common Core would “disrupt life for teachers, students and families who have invested significant time and energy to implement the Common Core.”

“If North Carolina were to transition to another set of standards, there would be a significant financial cost,” said Poston. “We should use our resources to invest in our schools and in our teachers, not to create another set of new standards."

So far, Indiana is the first and only state to repeal the Common Core State Standards in favor of new state-created standards that are nearly identical to Common Core. The estimated cost for the transition to Indiana’s new standards is $10.5 million for 2014-15, up to $32 million in 2015-16 and up to $26 million annually beginning in the 2016-17 school year, according to the Legislative Services Agency.

For more information, visit http://www.ncforum.org/. 

Article by Kassondra Granata, EducationWorld Contributor