Although frustrated by this month’s three-vote defeat of a bill to reconsider Common Core national education standards or related tests, former Kansas Board of Education member Walt Chappell is resolute: “House Bill 2289 [to repeal Common Core] is still alive.”  The Common Core opponent expects a repeal bill to be re-introduced in 2014, but in the interim, Chappell, president of Educational Management Consultants, believes a “groundswell of activity from teachers and parents” is necessary to make that bill law.  He plans to spread the word about Common Core, and assist parents and teachers in outreach to their communities. “We need to give them a voice,” Chappel said.  Twelve Kansas legislators abstained from voting on the bill, which went down 55-58. It would have prohibited the state board of education from adopting national science standards, and had a committee study Common Core’s academic quality and costs to implement. Common Core is a list of what children must...