The Common Core debate is far from over. Thursday afternoon the House Education Committee took up Senate Bill 812, Maintain State Authority Over State Standards, aka the Common Core Bill. They replaced the Senate language with language from the House version, HB 1061, Replace CCSS with NC’s Higher Standards. The bill passed in the Committee by a 27-16 vote. Here’s the score card:
These Representatives voted yes:
Dean Arp (R-Union)
Brian Brown (R-Pitt)
Dana Bumgardner (R-Gaston)
George Cleveland (R-Onslow)
Jeff Collins (R-Nash)
Josh Dobson (R-McDowell)
Jeffrey Elmore (R-Alleghany)
Jon Hardister (R-Guilford)
Craig Horn (R-Union)
Frank Iler (R-Brunswick)
Charles Jeter (R-Mecklenburg)
Bert Jones (R-Rockingham)
Jonathan Jordan (R-Ashe)
Donny Lambeth (R-Forsyth)
Chris Malone (R-Wake)
Susan Martin (R-Wilson)
Larry Pittman(R-Cabarrus)
Michele Presnell (R-Haywood)
Jacqueline Schaffer (R-Mecklenburg)
Phil Shepard (R-Onslow)
Michael Speciale (R-Craven)
Paul Stam (R-Wake)
John Torbett (R-Gaston)
Rena Turner (R-Iredell)
Harry Warren (R-Rowan)
Chris Whitmire (R-Henderson)
Roger Younts (R-Davidson)
These folks voted no:
Larry Bell (D-Duplin)
Marcus Brandon (D-Guilford)
Tricia Cotham (D-Mecklenburg)
Susan Fisher (D-Buncombe)
Rosa Gill (D-Wake)
Rick Glazier (D-Cumberland)
Charles Graham (D-Robeson)
Larry Hall (D-Durham)
Marvin Lucas (D-Cumberland)
Paul Luebke (D-Durham)
Grier Martin (D-Wake)
Graig Meyer (D-Orange)
Mickey Michaux (D-Durham)
Paul Tine (D-Dare)
Joe Tolson (D-Edgecombe)
Winkie Wilkins (D-Granville)
These folks were not at the meeting when the vote was taken:
Alma Adams (D-Guilford)
Rob Bryan (R-Mecklenburg)
Becky Carney (D-Mecklenburg)
Leo Daughtry (R-Johnsotn)
Jimmy Dixon (R-Duplin)
George Graham (D-Craven)
Dennis Riddell (R-Alamance)
Jason Saine (R-Lincoln)
The chairs normally do not vote unless there is a tie and in this case there wasn’t, so the chairs of the education committee Linda Johnson (R-Cabarrus) and J.H. Langdon (R-Johnston) did not vote.
A vote by the full House is expected next week. Because there are differences in the Senate and House versions, we expect the bill to go to a conference committee to hammer out the differences. It would then go to the governor who has expressed concerns with the idea behind both bills. There are still a lot of questions and this debate is far from over. What we do about Common Core is one of the most critical decisions the 2014 General Assembly will make on education policy in North Carolina.
