Oregon Public Broadcasting

Washington, Oregon and Idaho are considering whether to adopt the same school standards as 45 other states.

The so-called Common Core standards would apply to English and math for kindergarten through 12th grade. Idaho education officials are touring the state, explaining the standards to teachers and administrators.

Right now, every state decides for itself what it wants its school children to learn, often taking years and spending millions to determine what those standards should be.

The governors and state school superintendents from 48 states decided they could save money if they worked together to develop one set of standards. Earlier this month, they released benchmarks for English and math.

Cindy Johnstone is the math coordinator for the Idaho Department of Education. She says teachers around the state are enthusiastic about the new standards.

Cindy Johnstone: "It's nice to have a common understanding of other states to make sure that our students, when they graduate in Idaho, they can be competitive with other people in other states and be competitive globally."

Education officials in Idaho, Oregon and Washington will spend the next several months deciding whether to adopt the new standards.