Education Commissioner Kevin HuffmanNASHVILLE – A spokesman for Republican Gov. Bill Haslam says a group of GOP tea party lawmakers who want Education Commissioner Kevin Huffman to be fired or to resign “chose a political stunt instead of constructive dialogue.”
“Education is one of the most serious issues for the future of our state, and the governor believes there is a more productive way to discuss something so significant than through a letter by a small group of legislators more interested in trying to get headlines than substance,” said Haslam spokesman David Smith in an email.
Fourteen Republican lawmakers, including Rep. Joe Carr who is running for U.S. Senate, signed the letter to Haslam, released Thursday calling on Huffman to resign or Haslam fire him.
At issue is the state’s Common Core curriculum standards as well as related testing for K-12 students.
The lawmakers, who have previously criticized the Common Core standards and associated testing, cited last month’s delay in test scores as raising questions about the education department’s integrity and what they call Huffman’s “misguided leadership.”