W.Va. Superintendent Proposes Common Core Repeal

West Virginia’s top education official is proposing a repeal of the state’s Common Core based education standards in exchange for a new set he says will ensure West Virginia students are both college and career ready.

State Superintendent of Schools Dr. Michael Martirano presented the West Virginia College and Career Ready standards to the West Virginia Board of Education Friday.

The standards were written by West Virginia teachers, higher education professionals and other stakeholders after public forums were held across the state. The forums allowed anyone- from parents to politicians- to both question a panel of education experts on the standards themselves and provide specific comments for changes.

The result, according to Martirano, was the revision of 101 specific K through 12 education standards.

Martirano’s newly proposed College and Career Ready standards were placed on a 30 day public comment period. Board members will enter a final vote to repeal the current Common Core based standards and replace them with the new College and Career Ready standards in December.

Lawmakers attempted to repeal the state’s Common Core based standards during the 2015 legislative session, but the bill didn’t make it out of a Senate committee.

Legislators have since discussed a 2016 attempt at repeal during interim sessions, but Martirano said  Friday should the state school board approve the standards in December, legislative action will no longer be necessary.