COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio Rep. John Adams (R-Sidney) announced at a June 4 Ohioans Against Common Core rally that he is circulating a discharge petition to force a floor vote on Common Core repeal legislation.

“Why do we choose to use federal standards? Money. Politics. Failed leadership,” Adams said after quoting from national commentator George Will’s recent dissection of Common Core.

“Today we have leaders who have forgotten where they came from and who put them here,” Adams continued.

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Regarding complaints from Republican Governor John Kasich’s apologists that conservatives don’t understand how the political process works, Adams — a former Navy Seal — said, “I know what protocol is, and I know the chain of command. Well, this isn’t the military.”

Ann Becker, a political activist and former teacher from the Cincinnati area, discussed the House Bill 237 (HB 237) discharge petition with Rep. Adams and posted their conversation in the following YouTube video.

Becker also shared an interview with Rep. Andy Thompson (R-Marietta), the primary sponsor of HB 237 and another of the speakers at yesterday’s Ohioans Against Common Core event.

Rep. Thompson explained that although the bill — introduced last July — has received two hearings in the House Education Committee, he doesn’t expect a committee vote because chairman Gerald Stebelton (R-Lancaster) opposes it.

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Adams, Thompson, and Rep. Pete Beck (R-Mason) have already signed the HB 237 discharge petition. If 50 Ohio House members sign the petition, the bill will go to the House floor for consideration before the entire body.

There are currently 60 Republicans and 39 Democrats in the 99-member Ohio House. Including Adams, Thompson, and Beck, HB 237 has 14 cosponsors.

Rep. Adams, the assistant majority floor leader, is term-limited at the end of the session. As a result, he is one of few elected Ohio Republicans willing to publicly criticize Gov. Kasich and Kasich’s allies in legislative leadership.

Ohioans Against Common Core has been working since before the introduction of HB 237 to inform parents about Common Core, building up pressure on Republican leaders to get Ohio out of the national program.

“Common Core is not a fad,” Ohioans Against Common Core spokeswoman Heidi Huber said at yesterday’s rally. “Common Core is the final step — the capstone — to the federalizing of education.”

“You cannot support local control and support Common Core. We know that.”

Huber also reminded rally attendees that state legislators are meant to be a “firewall” protecting citizens from  federal government overreach.

“We’re not demanding or asking for anything that we’re not guaranteed, or that they haven’t taken an oath to do,” Huber insisted.

Huber encouraged Ohioans to talk to their representatives about signing the discharge petition during the current recess in order to force a floor vote following the November election.

Authored by Jason Hart