During a town hall meeting yesterday in Fair Lawn, N.J., Governor Christie spoke out on the Common Core-aligned PARCC tests. Christie reportedly urged parents not to opt their children out of PARCC testing, so it could act as a barometer of whether parents were “getting their money’s worth” from public schools. The PARCC tests, originally adopted by twenty- three states, are now only active in twelve states after substantial opposition from parents and teachers alike.

Despite the looming unpopularity of the tests, Christie was quoted as telling the concerned parents at the event: “I’m not going to kill PARCC before we even take PARCC.” Christie was also quoted as saying, “When the results come back, I may have grave concerns about PARCC… I’m not yet concerned, but I am aware. Let’s wait for the statistics to come in.” So, it is clear that Gov. Christie’s “grave concerns” with Common Core do not yet extend to the tests that are being administered as part of Common Core.

Joshua Pinho works for American Principles in Action.