August 8, 2012
On August 7, The Salt Lake Tribune ran a strongly worded editorial that made clear their position that the 12-3 decision by the Utah State Board of Education to pull out of the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium had more to do with politics than substance. “The big losers — again — in this misguided decision to isolate Utah from the mainstream are the state’s children.”
While Utah is no longer part of Smarter Balanced, there is still strong support for the Common Core State Standards and the state is moving forward with implementation. Since the Common Core State Standards were created as part of a voluntary, state-led initiative, Utah will continue to decide on its future course. News reports indicate that Utah will remain steadfast with Common Core State Standards implementation, and The Salt Lake Tribune editorial page makes its view on the matter clear with the following closing statement: “Utah needs to be part of the Common Core Standards’ effort to help make American students more competitive in the global job market, where Utahns must compete.”
Read The Salt Lake Tribune editorial here.
