Oklahoma Senate votes to ditch Common Core

The battle over educational standards returns to the Oklahoma House, as the State Senate voted Tuesday to repeal the state's 2010 decision to join the coalition called Common Core.

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) have come under a great deal of fire from conservatives, who see it as an attempt by the federal government to take over education in the various states.

But in reality, CCSS is an initiative of the National Governors Association, and is a coalition of states, not a federal agency or bureau.

In fact, 44 other states adopted those standards, but in several of them the battle rages as well.

Many who do understand that CCSS is not federal still have serious objections to the amount of time spent on taking tests.

Educators say they're not opposed to being held accountable for how well they instruct students, but don't want to impose so much testing on students.

TPS officials have pointed out that for the state to come up with its own standards, a lot more time and money will have to be spent, and no one currently knows what those new standards will look like.

It's also unfortunate, say educators, that they've spent about four years preparing for Common Core, only to have lawmakers suddenly get cold feet at the last minute and "throw the baby out with the bathwater."