I have been hearing from an increasing number of constituents about the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Wisconsin adopted the Common Core standards in 2010.  A key reason was that in previous years, Wisconsin had been criticized for its ambiguous learning standards and for setting the student proficiency bar too low – at one of the lowest levels in the country. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Evers, not the Legislature, made the decision to adopt the Common Core standards.  The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction’s (DPI) website has a page about the standards.

The state budget made some changes to the implementation of these standards in order to further evaluate whether this is the best option for our schools. The budget calls for:

• Suspension of further implementation of CCSS in our public schools

• An analysis by the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau to determine the costs of implementing or halting CCSS (the report was released in August)

• A comprehensive evaluation of CCSS by DPI – including three  DPI public hearings

• Creation of a Legislative Council study committee to study the Common Core standards – including three public hearings

Last week, the Assembly and Senate leadership created special select committees on Common Core that will hold joint legislative public hearings around the state. The hearing schedule was released this week. All hearings will take place from 2 to 8 p.m.:

If you are unable to attend one of the public hearings, you may call, write, or email me to share your thoughts. In addition, you may submit written testimony in a Word document to the Assembly Select committee’s chair, Rep. Jeremy Thiesfeldt, at Rep.Thiesfeldt@legis.wi.gov.

The state’s Natural Resources Board approved public hearings that will be held by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) on proposed rules relating to implementation of the Deer Trustee Report. The report recommends changes to the way the DNR manages the deer population. In total, 35 hearings will be held around the state, and the closest one to the 67^th Assembly District will be in Eau Claire on October 22. The hearing will take place from 7 to 9 p.m. in the DNR Service Center conference room. Click here for a list of all 35 hearings.

The Assembly will be in session next Tuesday, October 8. We will be taking up a number of bills, and I encourage you to view the sessions live or afterwards on WisconsinEye. To preview the legislation to be discussed, you can use the Legislature’s InSession feature on the home page closer to the start of the session.

Sen. Terry Moulton and I had a great listening session this past Wednesday in New Auburn. I want to thank everyone who came out to share their opinions, and to remind those who weren’t able to make it that they can always call or email my office at any time.