Challenged to the core: lawmakers face the daunting task of enacting the laws and coming up with the funds needed to bring the Common Core State Standards to life.

• Author: Bell, Julie Davis
• Position: EDUCATION - Cover story

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It is either one of the most significant state education reforms ever or just another short-term fix, depending on who you ask. But one thing is for sure, most lawmakers would say they are tackling some of the most sweeping and complicated reforms for grades K-12 they've ever attempted.

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS)--fully adopted by 45 states between 2010 and 2011--now place legislatures squarely in the middle of the most important next step. They must decide which reforms and laws are necessary to meet the initiatives' requirements.

A Movement Begins

The notion of having national academic standards has been bandied about for years. But it wasn't until 2009 when the National Governors Association's Center on Best Practices and the Council of Chief State School Officers coalesced their members' support around an initiative to develop voluntary, state-led standards that the idea took root. Minus the participation of Alaska and Texas, 48 states committed to the idea of the Common Core State Standards and began deliberations in 2010 over whether to adopt them.

Advocates argued that in this era of increased global competitiveness and family mobility, the country needed common academic metrics and goals that all students--whether living in Las Alamos or the Bronx--must measure up to and master.

"We must insist on standards that will prepare our high-school graduates for the demanding challenges they will face," wrote former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and former New York

Schools Chancellor Joel Klein in an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal in 2011. "Recognizing our great need for more rigorous academics, state leaders and educators have come together to create model content standards."

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Soon, business leaders joined the chorus of supporters. "Fifty different sets of standards make no sense," Craig Barrett, former CEO of Intel Corp., argued in The Wall Street Journal. "Common education standards are essential for producing the educated work force America needs to remain globally competitive."

To date, all but Alaska, Nebraska, Texas and Virginia have adopted the new standards.

Cautious Optimism

Today, the core standards movement enjoys wide bipartisan support. "This is the right thing to do, to recognize that we as a country need to do better--and the action is happening in the states," says Delaware Senator Dave P. Sokola (D). Members of NCSL's bipartisan Education Committee voted to support adoption of the standards as long as they remain voluntary and state-led.

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Other lawmakers aren't so optimistic, voicing a concern that the legislative branch has been left in the dark on the pace and progress of the standards. "I am not getting any information about this from our state education department," Wisconsin Senator Luther Olsen (R) says. "Legislators are not getting briefed by our state commissioners about what is happening and what is going to be needed."

Even though the standards were developed at the state level, some policymakers are concerned the federal government will insert its influence...