The Idaho House and Senate education committees will hold an open forum to discuss the Common Core agenda, on Wednesday, Jan. 22, from 3-5 p.m. in the Lincoln Auditorium, Capitol building. But unlike previous public forums with legislators, this event will only address pre-submitted questions and will involve a panel of experts answering questions for both the public audience and the legislators.
“We chose a different approach to this event for some specific reasons,” explained Rep. Reed DeMordaunt, R-Eagle, chairman of the House Education Committee. “To be clear, we are not screening or eliminating any questions on the Idaho Common Core topic.”
DeMordaunt says that staffers at his office are handling the questions (the deadline for submissions was Friday Jan. 17, 5 p.m., Mountain Time). “I am aware of one situation where somebody submitted the question ‘How can we obtain more money for education?’ and we did eliminate that question because, while it is important, it is not germane to the purpose of this event,” he told IdahoReporter.com.
“We are also consolidating similar questions, situations where multiple individuals might ask essentially the same question in multiple ways and we’re doing that in the interest of using our time effectively, but we are not screening out any questions,” said the House chairman.
DeMordaunt says that the panel will consist of three “pro-Common Core” individuals and two from the “con” side of the debate. When asked if all the panelists were employed either at individual schools or school districts, he said that “one of the panelists is a parent, the others come from the world of education.”
DeMordaunt added "these folks are not accustomed to being in the public eye, so I don't want to reveal their identities ahead of time. I will tell you, however, that one panelist is our state superintendent, Tom Luna."
“Common Core is a complex issue and it frequently gets entangled in a host of other issues,” Sen. John Goedde, R- Coeur d’Alene, chairman of the Senate Education Committee, told IdahoReporter.com. “We want to get to the truth on this complex issue and get to the facts, and in the time we have been allotted, we believe this is the best format to pursue.”
Further comments from Goedde can be viewed HERE
