SPRINGFIELD - Veteran lawmakers and Capitol insiders know well that when a committee chair sends a proposal to subcommittee, it's a polite way of deep-sixing the legislation. A bill goes to subcommittee, and that's the end of it, not to see the light of day.
And that's exactly where State Rep. Dwight Kay's (R-Glen Carbon) House Resolution 543 to delay the implementation of Common Core curriculum stands Thursday - in a "Special Issues" subcommittee - with a promise that the House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee will take up the measure with a full hearing in the "near future."
However, Rep. Kay continues to listen to constituents and talk to House colleagues about the concern among parents, teachers and administrators as to the expense associated with setting Common Core standards into affect in Illinois. A study by the Pioneer Institute, a non-partisan, privately funded research organization, estimates that Common Core will cost Illinois schools $773 million over the next seven years, something which concerns a growing number of Republican and two Democrat House members.
Downstate Democrat House members Brandon Phelps and Jerry Costello II signed onto Kay's effort this week, making the call for Common Core delay bi-partisan - a crucial step in the Democrat-controlled Illinois House.
Stop Common Core Illinois worked with Kay to get 1003 witness slips filed in support of Kay's resolution, while 93 filed opposing the effort.
Erin Raasch, who hosts the Stop Common Core Illinois Facebook page says the work the group did was noticed by committee members during Wednesday's hearing.
"We only had about 24 hours and the witness slip is confusing to fill out. Believe me, the committee noticed that we got all those signatures. They were counting on nobody even knowing about the hearing. We put them on notice that this IS a BIG problem!"
They're hoping the pressure continues and that the committee does hold the hearing on Common Core they promised.
