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outcomes. He went on to explain:
• "The set of initiatives which have the most chance of reducing the need for remediation is the Common Core. No Child Left Behind (NCLB) focused on the bottom spectrum because too many high schools across the country were graduating students with low level scores and those levels of skills would not cut it, whether they tried post-secondary education or the workforce. NCLB did what it was intended to do. It raised the bottom, but it did not move the needle at all in terms of reducing the need for remediation. The Common Core came out of a perception of chief state education officers and Governors that there should be some consistency among states and that standards needed to be raised. Standards are just a set of expectations. I have hope that college readiness will improve when Common Core is fully implemented."  The SD Chamber of Commerce has also endorsed the Common Core standards, as have all of the education groups including the Teachers, School Boards, and Administrators Associations. The SD Department of Education and the Governor are also in full support of the Common Core.
• These standards have been adopted by 45 states and the District of Columbia.  Here in SD, the Common Core State Standards were adopted by the Board of Education in November of 2010 and they are already being implemented with current investment already surpassing $6 million.
• I appreciate your support and your interest in what is happening in Pierre.  Please be assured that I would like to hear from you.  Call or email me as needed.   We have a number of Cracker Barrel sessions scheduled.  Please check the schedule below. 
• Sincerely,
• Chuck Welke
• District 2 Senate
• Brown, Clark, Hamlin, and Spink
• chuckwelke@gmail.com
• sen.welke@state.sd.us
• 605-216-1467
•
• Cracker Barrel Schedule:
• Saturday, February 8^th at NSU Student Union in Aberdeen 10:00
• Saturday, February 15^th at Lake Norden Community Center 10:30
• Monday, February 17^th at Clark Community Center 10:30
• Monday, February 17^th at Redfield Train Depot 2:00
• Saturday, February 22^nd at NSU Student Union in Aberdeen 10:00
• Saturday, March 1^st at NSU Student Union in Aberdeen 10:00
•