SJC Shoots Down Ballot Measure to Repeal Common Core

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Friday, July 01, 2016

GoLocalWorcester News Team

The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts has ruled that the ballot measure to allow voters to vote on the fate on Common Core and PARCC testing is not compliance. The measure will not go before the voters in November.The ruling issued late on Friday morning, states: 

Our conclusion that Initiative Petition 15-12 fails to satisfy the related subjects requirement of art. 48 will prevent the proposed measure in the petition from being placed on the 2016 Statewide ballot. Because this is so, we need not consider the plaintiffs' additional claims that the petition fails to propose a "law," see art. 48, The Initiative, II, § 1, and that the necessary enacting language required by G. L. c. 4, § 3, is absent. 3. Conclusion. We remand the case to the county court for entry of a judgment declaring that the Attorney General's certification of Initiative Petition 15-12 is not in compliance with the limitations of art. 48 and enjoining the Secretary from taking steps to place the measure on the ballot in the 2016 Statewide election.

The decision is a big win for the Department of Education who has sought to retain the standards.

Supporters of the Ballot Measure are Furious

Donna Colorio, the Vice Chair of the Worcester School Committee and has lead the effort to repeal Common Core and the related PARCC standardized testing fired of a sharply worded statesment:

No emotions can express how disappointed we are with the decision of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court today.

Parents, educators, and concerned citizens collected over 100,000 signatures to put this critical question on the ballot, and their voices have been silenced by this disastrous ruling.

This ruling is an example of big special interest money using intimidation tactics with scores of lawyers and public relations machines to do what is best for them and drown out the voices of the people.  The special interests behind Common Core do not want an open and fair debate about education in Massachusetts, so they rely on legal maneuvers and technicalities to control public education in Massachusetts.

The ones who really lost are the students.  They are the ones most negatively affected by this ruling.

We are not sure what the next steps may be, but we are exploring all of our options.  There was never a doubt in our mind that if the truth was brought before the voters in November, Common Core would have ended in Massachusetts and the very best standards in the nation would have been restored.

The special interests may have won this time, but ultimately the people will prevail and overcome a corrupted system that does not represent the children and their future.

We will continue to fight for our children and try to make sure Massachusetts has the best possible education for our students.

Related Articles

• Worcester’s Colorio Is the Big Player in MA Battle to Repeal Common Core
• Julia Steiny: Common Core Standards Freak Out Chicken Littles
• John Monfredo: In Support Of The Common Core in Worcester
• Jean Ann Guliano: Battle Lines Drawn Over Common Core Standards
• Julia Steiny: Common Core Curriculum Standards are Flawed
• Steiny: Common Core Redefines “College-ready” Math in a Good Way
• Paul Giorgio: What Is at the Core of the Common Core Dispute?
• Lawsuit Filed Claims End Common Core Referendum Was Illegal
• Ballot Question to End Common Core Moves to MA Legislature
• Monfredo: Charting a Course Through the Myths and Misperceptions of the Common Core
• Worcester Research Bureau Releases Report Examining Common Core

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