Some critics of the Numeracy Act, Senate Bill 171 (SB171), insist it offers an end-around to fund so-called Common Core standards in the name of bolstering math testing cores.
Eagle Forum of Alabama executive director Becky Gerritson called on the bill "to die" earlier this month.
The legislation also caught the attention of Alabama Republican gubernatorial hopeful Tim James, who also called on it "to die."
However, State Rep. Terri Collins (R-Decatur), the House Education Policy Committee Chair and the sponsor of the legislation in the Alabama House of Representatives insists there are no Common Core standards included in the bill.
Wednesday on Alabama Public Television's "Capitol Journal," Collins argued the bill's author, State Sen. Arthur Orr (R-Decatur), was attempting to codify into law a vote of the State School Board banning Common Core and that there were no elements of Common Core in the bill.
"You know, the sad part about that is Senator [Arthur] Orr meant to address that issue with the bill," Collins said. "He includes at the very beginning and at the very end, and he tries to codify what the state board did -- I think it was back in 2013 in saying, 'We cannot teach Common Core.' And he tries to codify that in the bill. And so it's not trying to bring it in. It's actually trying to codify that we cannot teach Common Core.
"But there are people who continue to talk about it every single year. We have math teachers who came up with our standards. They are aligned to [National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)]. They are aligned to high-quality standards. I think that we are doing all that we can do and you just can't make everyone happy sometimes."
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