Common Core Voted Down Unanimously in Bradley County, TN

by Denise Wilburn and Jim Horn

Bradley County Schools was the first school district to formally stand against linking teacher license renewal to Tennessee’s value-added assessment system, an outlandish idea that passed on October 17, 2013.  Pressure across the state built, and late last month the State Board of Education announced plans to shelve those plans. 

Such leadership at the local level in Bradley County, Tennessee is very much alive and well, with the local Board standing up once more for children’s and teachers’ rights to learn and teach in ways that protect their constitutional rights to privacy and democratic decision making.

Responding to the Bradley County County Commission's request to quantify the impact of the Common Core implementation on students and teachers, the Board of Education wrote, discussed, and unanimously passed the following resolution February 6, 2014. 

According to board member, Chris Turner, the Board collected concerns and issues from teachers and principals across the district to prepare the resolution.  

Other counties are likely to use Bradley County's work as a template for similar action.  

This is how democracy works, and it is how public schools will be taken back from the billionaires and high-rolling foundations that now run the the Department of Education in Tennessee and elsewhere.