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The only thing missing was the popcorn
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It was a clear sun-filled morning as folks began to make their way to the Plaza and on up the the Gallery on each side of the House floor. The excitement was palpable. Grassroots activists felt that they were finally going to see the fruit of the labor that had gone on for many, many months.
The House had a very long calendar and the target legislation [ was moved to the 'heel' of the calendar. The anticipation grew!
 After nearly three hours, the House finally took up HB1129. You can go and SHOULD go HERE to watch the debate [move slide over to 2:48]. With all the high drama, the only thing missing was popcorn!!
Let me say here: Legislators are elected to, ah..... actually REPRESENT their constituents!! Imagine that!! There had been much frustration about their inability to carry out the job they were elected to do, especially on the Common Core topic. That is why this plan was developed.
Twenty-seven amendments had been filed on HB1129. Rep. Timothy Hill 'took the well' and the debate started.
Early on the subject of 'fiscal notes' was brought up by Rep. Judd Matheny. A bill on the floor Monday night was supposed to give Fiscal Review more time to get these done, but overnight, some notes had 'magically' appeared on some of these amendments. Of course, 'fiscal notes' are easily used to kill bills.
The first few amendments were adopted on a voice vote, then the House Clerk remembered that 12 members (R's and D's) had sent him a letter asking that all votes be recorded. So they went back through the already passed amendments and posted a vote on them.
 Minority Floor Leader Craig Fitzhugh (D-Ripley). sponsored two amendments: one to "postpone further implementation of Common Core", but the most important one would delay the use of PARCC for two years, which will have the most immediate impact and it passed 88-0!!
Because of the threat of fiscal notes, the process was stopped and a vote on the amended bill was called. SB1266, as amended, passed 82-11. You can go HERE to see all of the votes, but understand that there are a lot of procedural votes on the list.
To understand procedure: SB1266 had already passed the Senate and was sent to the House. When Rep. Hill 'took the well' the first thing he did was to 'substitute and conforme' to the Senate bill. Then the house was working on the Senate bill.
Now SB1266 will go back to the Senate on a 'message calendar', probably on Monday, then it could be placed on the Senate Floor on Thursday.
That is, provided it will not be sent back to the Finance Ways and Means committee.
Sooooo.....while this is a victory to certainly appreciate.....we are a 'long way from home'. To all those who participated in the events this week:
THANK YOU!! DON'T STOP NOW!!
See action item to right.
And to our courageous legislators (Republicans and Democrats) who worked so hard to make sure that they DID represent their desires of their constituents:
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Tenn. House votes to delay Common Core standards
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 Tennessee lawmakers voted to delay the Common Core education program for two years, as opponents staged an ambush Thursday morning on the floor of the state House.
A coalition of Republican and Democratic lawmakers used an unrelated bill on American government to force a reckoning on the controversial new teaching standards. Lawmakers voted 82-11 to freeze in place Common Core, which has been rolling out gradually over the past three years, and put off new testing that goes with the program until the 2016-17 school year.
"Let's get it right," said House Minority Leader Craig Fitzhugh, who led the fight. "We're just moving too fast."
The vote served as a rebuke of Gov. Bill Haslam and Education Commissioner Kevin Huffman, who have pressed ahead with Common Core. They argue the standards are needed to bring Tennessee's public school system up to speed with those in other states.
The day before the vote, Haslam sent lawmakers a letter urging them not to unravel the standards or delay the testing. To do so, he wrote, "would be a disruptive and costly endeavor for the state as well as the districts, schools and teachers that have been implementing the standards for some time."
The governor took a more measured approach after the vote.
"Today's votes are one step in the legislative process, and we will review the amendments to assess their impact," said David Smith, a spokesman for Haslam. "Tennessee has come too far to go backward. The governor will continue to stand up for higher standards and relevant testing of those standards."
The Haslam administration still has time to defeat the legislation, which now goes to the state Senate.
Late amendments
The floor fight began to take shape Wednesday night, when opponents of Common Core filed two dozen late amendments to House Bill 1129, a measure filed by state Rep. Timothy Hill that required schools to teach the "values of American government," including the U.S. Constitution
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House votes to delay Common Core implementation, testing for two years
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The House voted Thursday to delay further implementation of Common Core standards and related testing for two years in a display of unity between conservative Republicans and Democrats that marked a sound defeat for Gov. Bill Haslam and his education allies.
The votes emerged from a convoluted and heated House floor fight - the terms "fiasco" and "shenanigans" were hurled by critics during debate - that bypassed committees where anti-Common Core bills have been corralled for weeks without a hearing.
The bill used as a vehicle by Core critics (SB1266) had already passed the Senate under sponsorship of Sen. Frank Niceley, R-Strawberry Plains. It now returns to that chamber for a straight up-or-down vote on the House amendments.
Niceley, himself a Common Core critic, said he will urge fellow senators to approve the House action as "friendly amendments" and believes they will do so - possibly next Thursday. A Senate sign-off would send the bill to Haslam's desk and a gubernatorial decision on whether to acquiesce or veto.
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NOTE: If someone forwarded this email to you and you would like to receive more like this, click HERE to Register. For more information about Tennessee Eagle Forum, go HERE.
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ACTION: Please (politely) contact all the state senators [found HERE] and urge them to "Concur with the Amendments" the house placed on SB1266.
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House Overwhelmingly Votes to Delay Common Core, PARCC
The Tennessee House of Representatives this morning voted to delay any further implementation of the Common Core State Standards in Tennessee and to delay the use of the Pearson Assessment of Readiness for College and Career (PARCC) until July 1, 2016 - effectively a two-year delay in the process.
The vote in favor of the legislation was a resounding 82-11. The vote was a surprise, as two amendments offered by House Minority Leader Craig Fitzhugh were adopted. An amendment to delay further Common Core implementation, including the adoption of new standards in science and social studies was approved by an 80-6 vote.
On delaying the PARCC testing, the vote was 88-0.
If Tennessee goes forward with a delay in PARCC participation, it will join Florida and Kentucky, who have already decided to stop using PARCC to assess their students' mastery of the Common Core State Standards.
Procedurally speaking, the bill has already passed the Senate in a different form. It will now be sent back to the Senate to ask that body to concur in House amendments. The Senate can choose to adopt the House amendments, in which case the bill would be sent to Governor Haslam for his action. If the Senate does not adopt the House amendments, the bill goes back to the House. The House can then either 1) remove the amendments or 2) refuse to remove the amendments. If the House refuses to back down from its original action (which passed with more than 80 votes), a conference committee will be appointed to sort out the issue.
The vote to delay Common Core and PARCC ended a particularly bad week for Governor Haslam's education policy agenda.
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