Under pressure from common-core opponents, Maine Gov. Paul R. LePage signed an executive order last week declaring that the state’s schools are fully in charge of the academic standards that guide their teaching. Maine adopted the common standards in 2011.
Conservative opponents of the Common Core State Standards had pressed the governor, a Republican, over concerns that local control over education was being eroded and that student data would be inappropriately shared as part of the initiative.
The order proclaims that it is “the right of local school units, not the state, to develop and or adopt curricula and instructional approaches consistent with state learning standards.” It also bars the state from applying for federal grants that require the state to use the common standards.
