Brookhaven — The Brookhaven Tea Party will host a meeting Monday at 6 p.m. featuring a variety of state and local legislators discussing new educational standards in Mississippi.
The program, “Exposing Common Core: The good, the bad and the ugly” is aimed at informing residents about the Common Core State Standards, which are a set of nationally adopted standards.

“From what I can see, (Common Core) is not good,” Brookhaven resident and event organizer Kendall Boutwell said. “It leaves parents and teachers out of the equation and not having any say in the matter.

“We’re just trying to let the public know what’s going on.”

Mississippi adopted the standards in 2010 with the goal of having them fully implemented in kindergarten through 12th grade in English language arts and math by the 2013-2014 school year.
The new standards are expected to be more rigorous and provide a consistent clear understanding of what students are expected to learn.

The Mississippi Senate Conservative Coalition released a statement in July saying they would be taking a closer look at the curriculum citing more overreach from the federal government, higher-than-expected costs, potentially lower overall standards and possible race-based standards.

The program Monday will be presented by Rita B. Anderson from the Central Mississippi Tea Party issues committee.
Special guests who have been invited to speak include Rep. Becky Currie (R-Brookhaven), Sen. Angela Hill (R-Picayune) and Sen. Melanie Sojourner (R-Natchez).

The program will be hosted at the State Bank State Room at 112 E. Cherokee St., in Brookhaven.