Two Ways TN Legislators Running For Congress Explain Common Core: Denial Or Regret

It’s been primarily conservative groups protesting Common Core. This is a photo from a Sacramento protest. Many see the standards as a federal take over of the education system. Credit: Steve Rhodes via Flickr

Common Core has become political kryptonite in GOP primary campaigns for Congress. And two Tennessee legislators running for higher office helped vote in the new educational standards, but they have very different ways of defending it.

“I’ve always been against [Common Core],” says state Sen. Jim Tracy (R-Shelbyville), who is running against incumbent Congressman Scott DesJarlais.

“We voted for Race to the Top, but we never voted for Common Core,” Tracy says when asked about legislation that helped Tennessee position for a $500 million education grant. “Common Core was not in there. It said we voted for higher standards.”

Technically speaking, the legislation that passed in 2010 during a special session of the General Assembly did not say the words “Common Core.” But it’s mentioned more than a dozen times in the actual application for the money.

State Rep. Joe Carr (R-Lascassas), who is running for U.S. Senate, simply says he regrets voting for that bill and wishes he could undo it.

“We were given two horrific choices,” Carr told a Tea Party group in 2013. “And I made the wrong choice.”

While Carr effectively voted for Common Core, he’s using the education standards to attack his opponent, U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander, who has appeared with Gov. Bill Haslam to advocate for keeping Common Core in Tennessee.

Both Carr and Tracy say they’re for higher standards, just not Common Core, which they say has been hijacked by the federal government.

The U.S. Department of Education hasn’t required the use of Common Core, but it has incentivized adoption by offering grant money (i.e. Race to the Top) and flexibility under No Child Left Behind.