Hillsdale applications hint at links between charter school and Common Core

Published by the Tennessee Lookout, Reporter Adam Friedman – May 16, 2023

Hillsdale College’s affiliated charter schools are asking for an exception in Tennessee law to teach a curriculum linked with Common Core, which state lawmakers banned twice.

American Classical Education (ACE) — the Hillsdale-affiliated charter school group — asked in its five applications for an exception to Tennessee’s Unapproved Textbook law, which is common among charter applications, but the school said it plans to teach the Core Knowledge Sequence, a curriculum with several ties to Common Core.

“You can’t say you’re against Common Core, but for Core Knowledge,” said JC Bowman, Executive Director of Professional Educators of Tennessee. “They’re both ideologically from the same place. They’re very interconnected.”