A Missouri House subcommittee is considering whether to approve more money for student assessment tests under the new Common Core standards. The standards are designed to implement consistent nationwide standards in math and language arts.
Elementary and Secondary Education Commissioner Chris Nicastro told the committee Tuesday that implementing Common Core in Missouri has not cost the state any additional money, but that measuring student performance under the new standards will.
“We had to go out last spring for bids for a new testing vendor, and the result of that bid came in significantly higher than what we’d been spending previously,” she said.
Nicastro says they’ve requested $30 million in next year’s budget to cover the cost of student assessments, as compared to $12 million in years past.
Gov. Jay Nixon and GOP lawmakers are expected to release their proposed budgets for next year later this month.
