Georgia Senate Votes to Nullify Common Coreselfnews Post SB167 titled The Act to Restore Educational Authority to Georgia Citizens would enact measures to prevent the outsourcing of educational power from local communities to unaccountable federal bureaucrats.it would also withdraw the state from following Common Core standards. The bill moved quickly after it was introduced on Feb. 19 by Sen. William Ligon Jr., along with five cosponsors. While touted as a state initiative, the federal government is deeply involved in both the formulation and implementation of Common Core. Federal Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan positioned Common Core as a once in a life time opportunity for the federal government to create incentives for far-reaching improvement in our nations schools. Constitutionally, the federal government should not be involved in education at all. Common Cores proponents deceptively claim that the curriculum is not the handiwork of federal bureaucrats because it was conceived by the National Governors Association (NGA) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). However, they were only put in charge of Common Core because it is illegal and unconstitutional for the Dept. of Education to issue a copyright. In fact, the NGA has received tens of millions in taxpayer cash from the federal government over the course of many years. Common Core gives the feds the power to collect all kinds of data from children including Social Security numbers, blood type, records of school attendance, supposed learning disabilities, religious affiliation, disciplinary records and parents income information. The curriculum also eschews classic literature in favor of drab government technical manuals. Common Core implementation is already causing test scores to plummet in places that have yet to take action against it. SB167 promotes decentralized government and takes control from unaccountable federal bureaucrats and puts it back into the hands of the people. The bill will now move to the Georgia House for consideration. ACTION ITEMS This article first appeared on Tenth Amendment Center. 