SEN. DAN PATRICK REQUESTS TAG OPINION: COMMON CORE VS. HB 462 - 12.29.13
Friday, April 4, 2014 at 02:39PM
City On A Hill

http://www.educationviews.org/common-core-hb-462-sen-dan-patrick-files-offic ial-tag-request

Subject: "Sen. Dan Patrick Requests TAG Opinion on Common Core Standards vs. HB 462"

Requested by Sen. Dan Patrick on 12.20.13 - Accepted by Texas Attorney General on 12.23.13 -

Sen. Dan Patrick's official request to the Texas Attorney General:

Re: Request for an Attorney General Opinion to determine whether Texas' school districts violate the law [HB 462 passed by the 83rd Legislative Session] by using Common Core to teach state standards.

Excerpts from Sen. Dan Patrick's request:

HB 462, which is now law, prohibits the State Board of Education from adopting national

curriculum standards developed by the Common Core State Standards Initiative to comply with a duty imposed under statutory provisions relating to courses of study in the public school curriculum and student advancement. It also prohibits a school district from using Common Core State Standards to comply with the requirement to provide instruction in the essential knowledge and skills [TEKS] at appropriate grade levels, and it prohibits a school district or open-enrollment charter school from being required to offer any aspect of a Common Core State Standards curriculum.

Finally, the law prohibits the Texas Education Agency from adopting or developing a statewide standardized test based on Common Core State Standards. However, certain school districts within Texas are currently using Common Core to teach the Texas state standards.

Accordingly, I submit to your office the following question in request of an Attorney General Opinion:

Does a school district using Common Core in any way to teach state standards [TEKS] violate the law?

==========

Subject: Request for Opinion (RQ) (Texas Attorney General's Office)

From: Texas Attorney General

Date: Dec 27, 2013 3:23 PM

RQ-1175-GA

Go to:

http://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/opinions/opinions/50abbott/rq/2013/pdf/R Q1175GA.pdf

Received: Monday, December 23, 2013

Re: Use of the Common Core State Standards Initiative by Texas school districts to teach state standards

Requestor: The Honorable Dan Patrick

Chair, Committee on Education

Texas State Senate

Post Office Box 12068

Austin, Texas 78711-2068

*I inserted the capital letters on "Common Core State Standards" and added bracketed information for clarification to the public. - Donna Garner

Donna Garner

Wgarner1@hot.rr.com

Article originally appeared on City on a Hill Radio Show (http://cityonahill.squarespace.com/).
See website for complete article licensing information.