NASHVILLE - Efforts to roll back implementation of Tennessee's Common Core standards and testing failed in the Senate Wednesday night.
Education Committee members voted 7-2 against the measure sponsored by Sen. Stacey Campfield, R-Knoxville.
Tea Party and many socially conservative groups have assailed Common Core, which proponents including Republican Gov. Bill Haslam say is needed to provide students with critical thinking, problem solving and writing skills necessary for college and work.
Critics wanted the state to come up with a Tennessee-created testing regimen. But Haslam and Education Commissioner Kevin Huffman say that would be too expensive and they believe the tests developed by the Partnership for Assessment Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) are sufficient.
Also during the Education Committee's marathon session Wednesday, Sen. Todd Gardenhire, R-Chattanooga, again delayed a vote on his proposal to grant in-state college tuition rates to children, not born in the U.S., who came with their parents illegally to country.
Gardenhire's bill would grant the in-state tuition rates to students who spent at least five years in a Tennessee school before graduating from high school.
The bill has met resistence from a number of Republicans on the education panel. Gardenhire argues the students shouldn't be punished for their parents' actions and that a college education will enable them to lead more productive lives.