My children are out of school (thankfully!!), but I do have grandchildren and the debate over Common Core is about as hot as this mid-August afternoon, so I decided to check around to see what all the flap is about.<\/p>\n
This is what I found…<\/p>\n
We have a new set of national standards for education called the Common Core.\u00a0 At first glance it comes off innocently enough… state Governors realized that children in different states were being taught at different levels & speeds and decided to set standards, grade by grade, that are uniform across the country.\u00a0 That way it doesn\u2019t matter where a child grows up they will be on the same level of education as other American children all across the United States.<\/p>\n
It sounds ok so far. I mean, who doesn\u2019t want kids to do well?\u00a0 I want them all to excel\u2026 your kids, my kids, their kids\u2026 all of them.\u00a0 And saying, for example, that every Kindergartener in America ought to be able to do certain things\u2026 count to 100, tie their shoes, etc. and so on grade by grade\u2026 it\u2019s hard to find anything wrong with that.<\/p>\n
So what\u2019s creating the big political controversy over Common Core?<\/p>\n
Turns out\u2026 Common Core isn\u2019t so innocent, or simple, after all. When I went to their website, www.corestandards.org<\/a>, I found something very interesting.\u00a0 The standards that the government has come up with require a certain type of curriculum\u2026 one that was not previously being taught in schools.\u00a0 And as the website explains, there are \u201ccosts associated with the Common Core, such as training teachers to teach the standards, developing and purchasing new materials, and other aspects of implementation.\u201d<\/p>\n Ok\u2026 so now we\u2019ve moved beyond just a set of uniform standards and we\u2019ve reached a point that the government wants to dictate what and how our children are taught. And this new form of education is so different from the way that children were being taught before that new schoolbooks would need to be purchased and our teachers would need to learn<\/em><\/strong> how to teach that way.<\/p>\n I\u2019m beginning to see where there could be a problem\u2026 and controversy. BUT, if it\u2019s good for our kids in the long run, ok then.\u00a0 Let\u2019s buckle down and do this thing.<\/p>\n Well, that\u2019s what most states have started doing and that\u2019s also what has stirred the issue to this level of political controversy. It seems there are problems with the standards, the curriculum, the testing, on-going funding, and especially the federal government involvement in it all.<\/p>\n Here are some of the concerns parents, teachers, and the general American public are voicing\u2026<\/p>\n 1) The curriculum and tests are \u201cconfusing, developmentally inappropriate, and so hard that even good students can\u2019t do well on them.\u201d ~ Rebecca Steinitz (an English professor at Ohio Wesleyan University where she ran the Freshman Writing Program)<\/p>\n Click the link below to see her entire email to President Obama.<\/p>\n http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/blogs\/answer-sheet\/wp\/2014\/04\/23\/parent-to-obama-let-me-tell-you-about-the-common-core-test-malia-and-sasha-dont-have-to-take-but-eva-does\/<\/a><\/p>\n 2) In some school districts, teacher performance evaluations are being linked to the testing results, but teachers feel that there are too many uncontrollable variables for this to be fair.\u00a0 There are a lot of factors that affect test performance\u2026 Did their students go to bed on time and get a good night\u2019s sleep?\u00a0 Did the students eat a healthy breakfast that morning?\u00a0 Are they panic-test-takers?\u00a0 And realistically\u2026 do they even care enough to do their very best on this (confusing) test?<\/p>\n 3) Data mining by the federal government: Personal student (and family) information is recorded during testing.\u00a0 In order to compare test results state by state, this information will have to be sent and analyzed on a federal level.\u00a0 This means that the federal government will now be receiving and storing a family\u2019s personal information through student testing.<\/p>\n 4) Some folks are not happy that federal dollars \u2013 Race to the Top funds and No Child Left Behind waivers \u2013 are going to this new (and controversial) program.<\/p>\n 5) Once the federal funds run out in each state, the additional costs of Common Core will fall to taxpayers.\u00a0 So\u2026 our tax money (mine and YOURS through federal funding) is being spent on the front end and then additional tax money will be required from us locally to keep this new program running.<\/p>\n 6) Listed last here, but this is a biggie for a lot of folks\u2026 \u00a0federal government \u201coverreach\u201d.\u00a0 Although Common Core wasn\u2019t developed or mandated by the federal government, federal dollars (Race to the Top funds and No Child Left Behind waivers) went into enticing states to adopt the national standards.\u00a0 This along with Common Core\u2019s other ties to the federal government is seen by some as the federal government encroaching (without Constitutional authority) on our individual freedom to educate our children the way we see fit\u2026 the concern is that we are losing control over our own children\u2019s education.<\/p>\n Those are just a few of the issues people have with Common Core. The overall problems are actually so bad that many states (ours included) are delaying further implementation of the standards.\u00a0 And three states \u2013 South Carolina, Oklahoma, and Indiana \u2013 have already dropped the program, with several other states moving towards dropping it as well.<\/p>\n Perhaps Indiana\u2019s Governor, Mike Pence, said it best when talking about replacing Common Core with their own state standards\u2026 \u201cWhen it comes to setting standards for schools, I can assure you, Indiana\u2019s will be uncommonly high.\u00a0 They will be written by Hoosiers, for Hoosiers, and will be among the best in the nation.\u201d<\/p>\n So it boils down to this\u2026 Common Core affects all of us whether you have a child in school or not. It\u2019s a very serious subject that every tax-paying citizen needs to learn more about because it\u2019s YOUR money that\u2019s footing this bill\u2026<\/p>\n Here are several links to get you started exploring the issue for yourself.<\/p>\n I\u2019d love to know what you think!<\/p>\n http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/blogs\/answer-sheet\/wp\/2014\/04\/23\/parent-to-obama-let-me-tell-you-about-the-common-core-test-malia-and-sasha-dont-have-to-take-but-eva-does\/<\/a><\/p>\n http:\/\/www.usnews.com\/news\/special-reports\/a-guide-to-common-core\/articles\/2014\/03\/06\/the-politics-of-common-core<\/a><\/p>\n http:\/\/www.csmonitor.com\/USA\/Education\/2014\/0803\/Common-Core-education-standards-why-they-re-contested-left-and-right<\/a><\/p>\n http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/2014\/08\/08\/new-york-common-core-test_n_5659604.html<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" My children are out of school (thankfully!!), but I do have grandchildren and the debate over Common Core is about as hot as this mid-August afternoon, so I decided to check around to see what all the flap is about. … Continue reading