Director, Commonwealth Policy Center

With science standards in education being hotly debated in Kentucky, it is being reported that Governor Beshear will override the vote of a legislative review committee and implement new science standards. 

Debate ensued over the Next Generation Science Standards and whether their purported standards were sufficiently rigorous. Some conservatives expressed concern that the standards are overly beholden to evolutionary methods; while others criticized the standards for failing to address even basic scientific principles. 

According to the Lexington Herald-Leader,

The science standards were developed by a 26-state consortium, including representatives from Kentucky. Scientists and science teachers representing many of the nation's top universities helped in the process, state education department representatives said.

Holliday said that if the standards aren't implemented, Kentucky schools would be left to continue working under the state's existing science standards, which he called "woefully inadequate.

Despite the measure's defeat of a 5-1 vote, Governor Beshear is insisting that he will use the power of his office to implement the new standards. According to Education Week,

"Governor Beshear fully supports the science standards adopted by the Kentucky Board of Education and is disappointed that the … subcommittee did not approve them today," the governor's office said in a statement, the Courier-Journal reports. "The governor views these standards as a critical component in preparing Kentuckians for college and the workforce."