Senate Bill 2161 is thought to be a vehicle to end Common Core in Mississippi, but the bill does not provide that guarantee.
"I remain firmly committed to ending Common Core in Mississippi," Gov. Bryant said. "This bill does not accomplish that goal, and I cannot in good conscience sign it into law."
The language of the final bill does not task the Board of Education or the Department of Education with ending Common Core in Mississippi or developing new Mississippi-based standards for public school students.
The original version of the bill provided a clear end to Common Core by instructing the Mississippi Board of Education to adopt and implement new standards and to take no further action in implementing Common Core standards.
The final bill creates a study committee to address Common Core standards but does not require the Mississippi Board of Education to consider or adopt any of the study committee's recommendations. The House of Representatives in an earlier version of the bill had inserted language to require the Board of Education to accept at least 75 percent of the study committee's recommendations.
"Over the past several years, Mississippians' concern about Common Core has increased steadily. Parents have strongly expressed their dissatisfaction with a system many feel replaces their right to a voice in the education of their children with a centralized, top-down approach that cedes an uncomfortable amount of influence to a federal agenda," Gov. Phil Bryant said.
"This bill provides no requirement that the Mississippi Board of Education or the Mississippi Department of Education must do anything to abandon Common Core."
"Had the Legislature maintained the original intent of Senate Bill 2161 as authored by Sen. Videt Carmichael, I would have quickly signed it into law without reservation and announced that Mississippi was ending Common Core and replacing it with standards developed by Mississippians for Mississippians."