Protesters met Governor John Kasich on a campaign stop in Beavercreek Tuesday to ask him to repeal the Common Core curriculum, although Kasich is unlikely to support that effort.
A small group of Greene County Tea Party members gathered in bright red t-shirts and held up signs addressing Governor Kasich as he stopped at Signs Now in Beavercreek. The group supports repealing the Common Core, which is a set of minimum standards for K-12 math and English adopted by 45 states, including Ohio.
“It’s just a tremendous amount of federal or national level influence over something that should be a local issue with our local school boards,” said Mike Sneed, a Beavercreek resident and Tea Party member. He says his kids attended Beavercreek schools, and he doesn’t think new standards are necessary. He also criticized spending on new technologies and textbooks to update the curriculum.
Inside with his supporters, Governor Kasich said he thinks the Common Core does provide flexibility.
“We want high standards in the schools,” said Kasich. “But we want local school boards to develop the curriculum to set those standards, advised by parents who live in the school district. And that’s exactly what the law provides for in Ohio.”
The state board of education approved the Common Core curriculum in 2010, and standardized Common Core testing will be used statewide for the first time this school year. While Kasich didn’t criticize current efforts from members of his own party to repeal the standards, he maintained he supports leaving the law as it is.
His speech to supporters focused on Ohio’s gradually improving economy, job training and tax cuts.
Lewis Wallace is WYSO's managing editor and economics reporter. Follow him @lewispants.
