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It Could Cost Indiana $125 Million To Avoid The Common Core

Gov. Mike Pence CREDIT: SHUTTERSTOCK
Gov. Mike Pence CREDIT: SHUTTERSTOCK

Indiana’s Legislative Services Agency released its report on the expected costs of implementing the state’s alternative to the Common Core and found they could be as high as $125 million.

The reason for the high cost begins with the initial switch and development of the new standards, costing $26 million. This comes after the state already spent $6 million to adhere to the Common Core before Governor Mike Pence (R) signed the legislation rejecting the federal standards in March.

The rest of the costs come from retraining programs for the state’s teachers, which could be as high as $2,000 a teacher. However, if adequate online resource are secured, as Fordham Institute notes, the costs could fall to $500 a teacher. This means the final price tag could range from $32.5 million to $125 million.

Indiana is not the only state that could end up spending more to reject the federal standards. In Louisiana, which is considering doing the same as Indiana, it could cost as much as $25.2 million to replace the Common Core standards.

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Last month, Indiana became the first state to openly reject the Common Core education standards over concerns of state sovereignty despite the close similarities between Indiana’s proposed replacement and the federal standards. The opposition to the Common Core is still worth it, regardless of cost, to Indiana state legislators. Republican state Sen. Dennis Kruse, the author of the bill that rejected the Common Core, told Associated Press, “It is justified to have our own assessment for our own standards” and that “the Legislature will appropriate the funds.” Kruse did not state from where those funds will be appropriated.