Welcome back, common-standards addicts. The news today is that Alabama has become the 42nd state to adopt the new learning goals.
Department of Education spokeswoman Anne Graham tells me the vote was 7-2. It seems that this one was no picnic, either; lots of audience input, and the meeting went more than two hours over the appointed time frame. Gov. Bob Riley, who is also a board member, was in attendance, and the man who will soon replace him, fellow Republican Robert Bentley, dispatched a state senator to the meeting to request a delay in the vote. One of his concerns, apparently, is that the common standards mean less local control over education (a concern board chair Joseph Morton sought to allay in his written recommendation). Bentley joins the board next year.
With Alabama’s move, this is where the country stands today on common standards:
