LITTLE ROCK -- An effort to end Arkansas' participation in a test linked to Common Core failed before a legislative panel Wednesday after opponents said it was premature to scrap the assessment while a state task force reviews the controversial education standards.
The Senate Education Committee instead rewrote the proposal to keep using the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers exam, but prohibit the state from extending its contract with the testing group for more than a year.
The tests are based on the Common Core standards, math and English benchmarks adopted by a majority of states that describe what students should know after completing each grade. They were developed by states to allow comparison of students' performance. The Obama administration embraced the standards and encouraged states to use them, but Common Core has faced increasing criticism, primarily from conservatives.
A House-backed proposal would have prohibited the state from using the exam after June 30, but a motion to advance it to the full Senate failed to receive a second. The panel later amended the proposal.
"The amendment is certainly not all that I would want it to be, but it does send a very strong message we need to send that there's a lot of dissatisfaction with the PARCC test," Republican Rep. Mark Lowery of Maumelle said after the vote.
The PARCC exam, which replaced the Arkansas benchmark exam, is being used for the first time in Arkansas this year. Lowery's legislation didn't specify what test the state would use in the future if it dropped the test.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson last month appointed Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin to lead a 16-member task force to review Common Core and recommend whether the state should continue participating in the standards. Hutchinson is expected to soon name the members of the panel, which he has said will include educators, parents, business leaders and students.
The version of the bill advanced Wednesday requires the state Board of Education to consider the task force's recommendations before deciding whether to use the test for the 2016-2017 school year.
"It's one thing to repeal something, but you've got to answer the next question: Well, what are we replacing it with?" said Republican Sen Jim Hendren of Gravette, who proposed the amendment. "I don't think that question's been answered."
State Desk on 03/19/2015