Idaho lawmakers aim to replace education content standards

By KEITH RIDLER

Associated Press

BOISE — The Idaho House on Monday overwhelmingly approved two pieces of legislation as part of a process to replace the education content standards for the state’s 310,000 K-12 students.

The House on Monday voted 67-3 for a bill to replace the Idaho Content Standards for English language, arts, mathematics and science. The House also approved 60-8 a resolution to discard the current standards.

Backers say the change is needed to have Idaho-based standards. The legislation now goes to the Senate.

Republican Rep. Lance Clow, chairman of the House Education Committee, said the new content standards could be implemented later this year if the rest of the plan falls into place.

“It's been a long arduous trip to get here, and I'm happy it came off the floor with real strong support, and I'm confident the Senate will mirror what the House did,” he said.

The Idaho Content Standards are heavily based on Common Core standards. The Common Core standards are benchmarks adopted by more than 40 states to describe what students should know after completing each grade.

The new Idaho Content Standards aren't markedly different, Clow said. He said the English language, arts and mathematics had the most changes, while science standards had relatively few changes.