After Lobbying Against It, Haslam Signs Bill Delaying Common Core Test

Gov. Bill Haslam addresses hundreds of education writers gathered at Vanderbilt University this week. Credit: TN Photo Services

Governor Bill Haslam has signed a bill into law that will delay testing associated with Common Core. His signature comes after lobbying hard against the legislation.

The Haslam administration put on a full court press this year to save the Common Core standards, which they were able to do. But the associated standardized test – known as PARCC – ended up being delayed by at least a year. The state’s education commissioner has called that a “terrible, terrible decision” on the legislature’s part.

Common Core supporters urged Haslam to consider a veto. But he signed the testing delay anyway.

“While I didn’t like that, I think it was – in my mind – much more to be preferred than backing up on the standards being implemented in our classrooms,” Haslam told education writers gathered at Vanderbilt Monday.

The legislature passed the Common Core testing delay nearly unanimously, which means a veto could have been easily overridden, though legislator would have had to come back for a special session to do so.