The N.H. House killed two proposals to delay or limit the effect of the Common Core education standards and voted to study a third.
The debate stretched nearly three hours, and votes split mostly along party lines. Concord Democrat Mary Stuart Gile, a backer of Common Core, which was adopted by the State Board of Education in 2010, noted that education reform regimes come and go, but insisted that common core will benefit NH students.
"Make no mistake my colleagues the Common Core state standards raise the bar for teaching and learning."
Critics meanwhile, see something far different: unfunded mandates and an erosion of local control. Laura Jones is a Republican from Rochester.
"I though we wanted excellence in education, not the mediocrity that these national standards will produce."
Common Core was developed by the National Governors Association and the Council of State School Officers to establish new standards in english and math.
Local districts can set different standards but must measure students using tests based on Common Core beginning next year.
