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Hello House Legislative Colleagues:
I have been asked by a number of House members to explain the
amendments to HB 1461 that will be debatedthis on the House floor.
Above I have attached the amendment and have color highlighted it
to
hopefully make it easier to follow. I will also explain the
amendments below--what they Do and what they Do Not do.
There is also attached a diagram of the verbiage from Anita
Thomas for clarification purposes of the amendments.
Here is the summary of the Amendment to HB 1461:
1. SECTION ONE
This section withdraws North Dakota from the Smarter Balance
Assessment Consortium--SBAC, otherwise known as
Common Core, which was originally located in the state of
Washington, that ND joined in 2010 by signing aMemorandum of
Understanding, MOU, to join. This MOU was signed in 2010 by
Governor Hoeven and Supt.
Sanstead. I certainly do not recall the Legislature being
informed or involved in this decision.
In 2013, Supt. Baesler signed a new MOU committing ND to full
participation in SBAC. Again, no input from the
Legislature. In 2014, the state of Washington transferred its
responsibilities and authority over SBAC to UCLA--the
University of California Los Angeles. This transfer of authority
to UCLA required a second MOU to be signed by NDand Supt. Baesler.
Through a signature of Robert Marthaller to a new MOU with UCLA, in
November of 2014, the ND
DPI joined North Dakota to the new UCLA organization, thus
committing ND to abide by the rules and authority of UCLA's
new entity in charge of Common Core standards and assessments. As
we speak today, the control of the
education decisions for ND now rest in the hands of UCLA. The
sovereignty of the state of North Dakota for educationdecisions is
gone.
Section One requires the Supt. of Public Instruction to withdraw
from all consortiums and entities that are affiliatedwith SBAC,
UCLA and any other entities we might not know about, and provide
these entities notice that ND is
withdrawing. This action will give ND and the Legislative
Assembly back our state sovereignty over our educational
decisions in North Dakota, as Article VIII of the North Dakota
Constitution requires. It DOES NOT RESTRICT SUPT.BAESLER FROM ANY
OTHER DUITES OR ABILITIES TO PERFORM HER JOB, AS SOME HAVE
IMPLIED.
SECTION TWO
Section 2 limits the ability of the Supt. Of Public Instruction
to put us into back into or commit North Dakota to anyother entity
like SBAC, Common Core, UCLA, etc. that we just withdrew from,
without legislative approval first. This is
the only Limitation on the authority of the Supt. Of Public
Instruction in this amendment to HB 1461---Contrary to whathe
Opponents of HB 1461 are attempting to get you to believe. For
verification, please contact Anita Thomas at
Legislative Council.
SECTION THREE
This section stops the tests--assessments--- that Common Core
through the NDDPI,either have already begun in North
Dakota or are about to begin. Already across t he country
numerous states either have or are in the process of withdrawing f
rom these assessments.
Additionally, many states are in the process of totally
withdrawing from Common Core, just as HB 1461 will do in
NorthDakota. Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana has filed a lawsuit
against the federal government regarding Common
Core and an additional lawsuit has been filed in Missouri.
SECTION FOUR
This section establishes a committee of thirteen NORTH DAKOTA
CITIZENS, CHAIRED BY THE
SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION, to work to establish North
Dakota's new standards and methods to
assess our children. To insure fairness and balance in the
selection of these committee members, the bill requires thatthe 13
members of the committee will be appointed by the Speaker of the
House, the Majority and Minority Leaders of
the House and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate as well as
the Senate Majority and Minority leaders. The goais to assure that
we have the best people selected who are unbiased and properly
credentialed.
coming Wednesday
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The committee's charge is to develop the North Dakota content
standards and assessments for the areas of English
Language Arts and Mathematics that are internationally
benchmarked. The committee will deliver its report and resultsto
Legislative Management by August 2016.
SECTION FIVE
Declares this bill an emergency.
So, Legislative colleagues, that is the amendment we will be
debating . Your decision is quite simple frommy perspective. If you
want North Dakota to regain our state's sovereignty over the
decisions of North Dakota's
education system, you would vote to pass the amendments I have
described above and then vote to pass HB 1461.
On the other hand, if your are ok with allowing out of state
entities and the federal government to make our education
decisions for North Dakota and our kids, then you will vote
against HB 1461.
You and I are receiving emails from parents, teachers, concerned
citizens all over North Dakota, asking this
Legislative Assembly to listen to the people and withdraw ND
from Common Core. There are thousands of people in our state
who are asking you to help them and their children regain our
education control back in North Dakota.
I believe whatever we come up with in North Dakota will be far
superior to what we have now with Common Core. I
hope you will decide that way as well.
Thank you for listening.
Jim
Representative Jim Kasper
Chairman Government & Veterans Affairs Committee North
Dakota House of Representatives1128 Westrac Drive
Fargo, ND 58103Office Phone: 701-232-6250
Cell Phone: 701-799-9000
Office Fax: 701-232-0796Office Email:
[email protected]
Wednesday
mailto:[email protected]
