The furor over an attempt to repeal Common Core in Alabama has put a halt to the latest efforts. The repeal bill, as passed by the Senate, may not yet officially be dead, but it’s going nowhere fast.

The bill, filed by Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh, R-Anniston, sped through the Senate, but hit a roadblock when it came to the House, where Rep. Terri Collins, R-Decatur, holds the key to passage.

The bill was not on Collins’ committee agenda this week, and she told AL.com it is not scheduled for next week, either. “There’s no need for people to worry about it at the present time,” Collins said. “We are still looking at it, reviewing it, looking for unintended consequences.”

Those unintended consequences refer to language in the bill saying Alabama couldn’t take part in any test or curriculum that used national standards. That could affect something like participation in the NCAA or the Alabama High School Athletic Association---anything connected with education that has a national affiliate or educational requirement.

So that search to weed out all of those unintended consequences will take a while, it seems.

This all started when Marsh appeared to surprise educators and other lawmakers, including the Governor, with an announcement via Facebook video late in the day on March 19. Marsh said Common Core would be eliminated because it wasn’t improving Alabama’s rank among states in terms of academic achievement.

When word got out that Marsh made the announcement and further, that 23 of 27 Republican Senators signed on to the repeal, teachers and education groups went into high gear on the phone, through email, and on social media to make sure lawmakers understood a few things:

Alabama “dropped” Common Core standards in 2013, when it ended its agreement to participate with other states in the state-led consortium behind Common Core. Alabama’s learning standards were developed in large part from the Common Core, but Alabamians re-worked the standards three times: 2014, 2015, and 2016. The recently-proposed math standards sidelined by Gov. Kay Ivey , were written entirely by Alabamians.

Meanwhile, business and military leaders, also began to voice objections, telling Republican lawmakers that the repeal would hurt economic growth in Alabama. The warnings didn't reach Senators in time, as they passed the bill 23-7---with an amendment to make sure Advanced Placement and national certification for teachers would be permissible---along partisan lines.

But they must have reached House members, who immediately slowed down the bill.

House Speaker Mac McCutcheon, R-Monrovia, told AL.com late last week that there is still a lot of work to be done to understand what has happened in recent years with education standards.

McCutcheon said last week, "We're not trying to kill the bill, nor are we trying to rush the bill through. We're trying to do due diligence to make sure we have all the facts, all the information. Could the bill be substituted? Could it be amended? Could it be fixed? And in that process, that's what we do as legislators."

McCutcheon also said that lawmakers wanted to be cautious in debates about revamping standards, that "we want to make sure that we are looking at all the aspects of the child's education rather than just take a buzz word of Common Core and take something away that's needed within our education system."

When asked what teachers, who continue to reach out to lawmakers, should focus on for now, McCutcheon said, “Keep doing what they’re doing, and take care of our children and educate them under the curriculum that they’re using now.”

"We as a legislative body will be deliberate in our actions, keeping in mind that the children are what's the most important issue, and their education."

Marsh clarified to AL.com that his larger concern, greater than his objection to the standards themselves, is his lack of faith in the Alabama Board of Education, whom he has described as “dysfunctional.” The state board has seen a number of controversies in recent years, and Marsh and other lawmakers have taken note.

The Board and state department of education were in turmoil for some time, struggling to deal with myriad issues including a finding by federal officials that graduation rates were misreported, the short and controversial tenure of Massachusetts native Michael Sentance as state superintendent, and an ongoing lawsuit pitting long-time educator Craig Pouncey against former state board member Mary Scott Hunter and a lawyer employed by the department of education.

Multiple bills were filed last year aimed at shaking up the board, but none gained passage.

Collins was one of those who filed a bill last year, aimed at restructuring the board. “I felt like we saw a lot of chaos” at board meetings and work sessions, she said. “We saw arguing [among board members]. We didn’t seem to have a clear-cut vision.”

Collins’ committee approved a bill today, sponsored by Committee Vice Chair Rep. Danny Garrett, R-Trussville, to limit the state’s eight elected school board members to two terms of office, effectively disqualifying three current board members and limiting two others to only one more term. That bill now moves to the House floor.