NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Gov. Bill Haslam is visiting schools in each grand division of Tennessee on Tuesday to drum up support for Common Core education standards.
The Republican governor starts the day at Cedar Grove Elementary in Smyrna, followed by a visit to Indian Trail Intermediate in Johnson City. He wraps up the tour at Lexington Middle School in Henderson County.
The governor is trying to shore up support for the curriculum and testing standards that he has called crucial to improving education in the state.
A broad coalition of Republican and Democratic House members last week passed a bill seeking to delay the implementation of the new standards by two years.
The Senate would have to agree to those provisions before the measure would head for the governor's desk.
In other news related to Common Core, legislation that would require any data collected under Tennessee's Common Core standards only be used to track the academic progress and needs of students has been approved by the Senate.
The bill sponsored by Republican Sen. Dolores Gresham of Somerville was approved 31-2 on Monday evening. The House overwhelmingly approved the legislation 81-9 earlier this month.
The standards are intended to provide students with the critical thinking, problem solving and writing skills needed for college and the workforce. They have been voluntarily adopted by 45 states.
One of the main criticisms of the standards is that they could lead to the sharing of personal student data with the federal government. The proposal seeks to prevent that.