This past January, the Virginia State Senate passed a bill (SB185) that would end state history and science testing for all 3rd graders. In response, Common Core posted this blog, in which we expressed our concern that this bill could cause these two critically important core subjects to be granted less prominence in Virginia’s school curriculums. Common Core shared this post with every state legislator in Virginia, in the hopes that the delegates would heed our arguments and abandon any effort to move forward with the bill.
Today, Common Core is excited to report that we have just received an update on the status of SB185 from the offices of Virginia delegate Bob Tata. We were informed that the Virginia House Committee on Rules has voted to table the bill and that SB185 will not be passed in the 2012 legislative season. We are extremely grateful to Delegate Tata for this update, and are pleased that Virginia’s lawmakers have taken this step to ensure that the teaching of essential core curriculum content remains a priority in Virginia’s public schools.
Emily Dodd