Lack of education standards

Stillwater (Okla.) NewsPress: Earlier this year, Oklahoma’s legislature killed Common Core, which set math and English standards for public schools.

Now, Oklahoma’s State Board of Education cannot agree on a plan to create and adopt new standards. Last week, the state board tabled the new standards process on a 5-1 vote.

It’s the second delay. In July, four state board members sued the state over the repeal of Common Core. They argued the legislators had usurped the board’s authority. The Oklahoma Supreme Court disagreed, affirming the legislature’s repeal.

Oklahoma can’t afford delays if the state board wants to have the initial draft completed by June 2015 and a final draft finished by October 2015.

The state Department of Education developed the process, which calls for creation of four separate executive committees, each with about two dozen members to work on the standards.

A steering committee will supervise the process and a draft review committee will write them.

Until new standards are developed, Oklahoma schools have reverted to the old Priority Academic Student Skills (PASS) standards that were in place in 2010.