NASHVILLE (AP) — Gov. Bill Haslam's administration discouraged a schools director who signed a petition critical of Education Commissioner Kevin Huffman from remaining among speakers to a Senate committee evaluating common core standards in Tennessee schools.

The Chattanooga Times Free Press (http://bit.ly/16iYKru ) reports that Lawrence County Schools Director Bill Health had been scheduled to speak in favor of the standards at the hearings taking place in Nashville on Thursday and Friday.

But when he acknowledged that he had joined with 54 other superintendents in signing the petition, Haslam's chief of staff, Mark Cate, decided that his appearance in the hearings might become a distraction.

Haslam, a Republican and a supporter of the common core, has said he was disappointed by the petition from superintendents.