Gov. Scott Walker, speaking Saturday at the National Governors Association convention, called on the state to repeal adoption of the Common Core State Standards for schools. Credit: Mark Humphrey

By of the

Gov. Scott Walker's call for lawmakers to pass a bill in January that repeals and replaces the Common Core education standards might be easier said than done.

Sen. Luther Olsen (R-Ripon), chairman of the Senate Education Committee and a vocal supporter of the standards, said there's actually nothing to "repeal" with Common Core. That's because the standards are not codified in state law; they are voluntary for districts.

What is in state law: a mandate that publicly funded schools administer new state exams in reading and math tied to the standards, starting in the upcoming 2014-'15 school year.

Further, Olsen said that establishing new, state-specific standards could actually shift power away from local school boards to the state, which would seemingly fly in the face of the principle of local control.

Walker's spokesman said this week that the governor's call for a repeal of the standards was in response to a vote Wednesday night by the Cedarburg School Board urging the state to delay the administration of the new exams.

But in an interview Friday with the Associated Press, Walker spoke about the standards themselves, not the exams.

"The goal is to have the standards developed by educators, parents, community members and people involved in education in Wisconsin," Walker said.

But that already happened, according to the state Department of Public Instruction, which has records of participants who helped review and modify the standards, including university professors, curriculum experts, teachers and citizens.

Also, Walker's statement calling for dumping Common Core comes after he has worked with the state DPI for the past several years on education reform issues that all hinge on successful implementation of the standards.

In his 2011-'13 budget veto message to the Assembly, Walker wrote that his budget supported greater accountability and performance in K-12 education by "investing $15 million in the development of a statewide student information system and requiring the Department of Public Instruction to implement new pupil assessment based on mastery of Common Core Standards by 2014-15."

National movement

The common standards movement was meant to address the uneven academic expectations for kids in different states, and to develop some widely agreed-upon, grade-level goals. The hope was to raise the overall rigor in K-12 education, leading to more college- and career-readiness.

In 2009, Wisconsin and 48 other states and territories signed a nonbinding commitment to develop common standards. Wisconsin had begun revising its reading and math standards in 2007, but the DPI saw the national effort as aligning with its own goals.

The Common Core standards in math and English were completed in 2010, and eventually adopted by 45 states, Washington, D.C., four territories and the Department of Defense schools. Some states have started backing away from the standards, however.

The vast majority of Wisconsin districts agreed to implement the new grade-level expectations because they're more specific and rigorous than the state's old standards.

School districts can still use whatever curriculum they want. They could even adopt their own standards, but they will be tested on Common Core-aligned goals via the new state test.

Wisconsin is expected to spend $23 million in state and federal money this fiscal year on testing associated with the Common Core, according to a memo last year from the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau. The bureau could not determine the costs of dropping the Common Core and adopting a different set of tests, the memo said.

Dissension, unease

Republicans — who hold the keys to power in the state — have been divided on the issue of Common Core, with some objecting to the standards and others championing them.

Walker's announcement Thursday got quick support from Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) and some other key Republicans. Vos spokeswoman Kit Beyer said the speaker plans to take up repealing the Common Core next session.

"He looks forward to working again on replacing Common Core with higher standards that are developed in our state."

But Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitgerald (R-Juneau), expressed caution Friday.

"While there may be some support next session for repealing the current standards, developing the new standards that satisfy everyone's concerns will be much more difficult, especially with a superintendent of public instruction that adamantly opposes making any changes," Fitzgerald said in a statement.

On Thursday, Rep. Steve Kestell (R-Elkhart Lake), chairman of the Assembly's Education Committee, called "absurd" the idea the standards could be replaced at the beginning of the legislative session, and attributed the proposal to the fact an election's coming.

Bills to undo the Common Core standards were proposed in the last legislative session, but faced major opposition and did not pass. Walker was largely silent during the contentious debates.

The concerns expressed by public officials reflect in many ways the unease of their constituency.

Some worry that teachers aren't getting enough training and resources; some fear what has become almost an obsession with testing; some have horror stories about changes in how subjects are being taught or how schoolwork is being graded; some resist what they see as too much involvement by the federal government, which offered states incentives to adopt the standards, but didn't write them or force states to adopt them.

Other states

Some states are backing away from the standards.

In Louisiana, Gov. Bobby Jindal, a Republican who previously supported the standards, is in a standoff with the state superintendent over the standards and the Common Core-aligned tests.

Jindal, like Walker, is considered a potential 2016 candidate for president.

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon, a Democrat, signed legislation this week that will trigger a review and possible revision of the standards for the 2016-'17 school year.

Also this week, North Carolina's Legislature passed a bill calling for rewriting the Common Core standards, and Gov. Pat McCrory, a Republican, indicated he would sign it.

As of the end of June, three states — Indiana, Oklahoma and South Carolina — had officially dropped out of the Common Core.

Ted Neitzke, superintendent of the West Bend School District, said nobody cared about the state standards before it become a national issue.

"At the end of the day, any changes they make will be moving a few words around," he said. "I can't imagine them lowering the standards. I'm not worried about it."

State Superintendent Tony Evers said he believed most districts would carry on with Common Core, despite the governor's comments.

"The superintendents in this state get it and the teachers in this state get it," Evers said. "They control this issue. The governor doesn't. The Legislature doesn't. They do. They just need to continue on."

That's just what Olsen expects.

"I think you're going to see districts stay the course on the path they're on," he said, "regardless of what's happening in Madison."

Patrick Marley and Robert Gebelhoff of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.

Common Core, a short history

■2009: Wisconsin and 48 other states and territories commit to develop new common academic standards.

■2010: The Common Core State Standards in math and English are completed.

■June 2011: Gov. Scott Walker signs the 2011-'13 biennial budget act that directs DPI to adopt an assessment that shall "measure mastery of the common core standards."

■2014-2015: Publicly funded schools to begin administering the Smarter Balanced test.