Business Groups To Defend Common Core In House Hearings

Business and education groups will be in Columbus this week to defend the state’s Common Core curriculum in House hearings. House Bill 597 would repeal the K through 12 math and English standards, which are set to go into effect this school year. Business groups like the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce have been on board ever since Ohio passed its version of the standards in 2010. Chris Kershner with the chamber says companies depend on schools for a certain key part of the supply chain. "The business community is the consumer of the educational product. Students are the educational product. They are going through the education system so that they can be an attractive product for business to consume and hire as a workforce in the future," Kershner says. Kershner says U.S. graduates also have to compete in a more and more global market—so national minimum standards make sense. The Ohio Chamber of Commerce, the Ohio Business Roundtable, and the Association of School Business Officials also support the Common Core. Certainly some specific companies will benefit: for example, two national private testing companies, ETS and Pearson, are contracted to create the new tests for Ohio and 12 other states. But contrary to what some opponents have argued, the curriculum isn’t federally regulated and states aren’t required to purchase certain books or lessons. Opponents of Common Core say the state erred in adopting the benchmarks, which they say cede local control of education to outside groups.