Board says Common Core leaves more questions than answers

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — The beginning of the school year is just weeks away, but the New Hanover County school board is already questioning the new Common Core curriculum and how it will impact your child.

“I’ve had concern expressed to me that it is watering down the curriculum and that we’re lowering the bar instead of raising the bar,” said Don Hayes, Chairman of the New Hanover County board of education,” said Don Hayes, Chairman of the New Hanover County Board of Education.

Following the lead of Lt. Gov. Dan Forest, Hayes asked for a resolution to pause curriculum changes at Tuesday’s board meeting.

“To me there’s a concern about testing; there’s a concern now that there’s too much testing going on,” Hayes said. “There’s concern about the expense associated with Common Core as there are hundreds of millions of dollars that could possibly be spent. There’s just so many things that we don’t have answers for.”

While board members across the state continue to question Common Core teachers say the best answer is on display in the classroom.

“It is about emphasizing skills that are workplace ready, college ready life skills that mean that my kid or the kids that are in my classroom are going to have a more likely access to success in the workplace later,” said Laura Hunter.