Common Core Spawns Widespread Political Fights. Common Core is Uncommonly Bad Ed. Policy - Chad Mathis. You cannot be a rational, true conservative who opposes Obamacare but supports Common Core education standards. There, I said it. I’ve chosen now to run for public office because I don’t want to see my kids inherit an America worse off than the one I inherited – it gave me the freedom to get an education, practice medicine, start a business, and raise a family. Unfortunately, all of our constitutional protections from an intrusive government are under attack by the Obama administration. The Washington mindset of tax, spend, regulate couldn’t be farther removed from common-sense Alabama values of fiscal restraint and freedom. Health care is one arena we’re seeing this play out in today. That’s why it’s beyond me how anyone calling themselves conservative could support Common Core. I’m the founding board chairman of the Alabama Coalition for Charter Schools.
Frankly, that’s got to change. We need common-sense education reform, not Common Core. HOW DO WE TAKE BACK OUR CURRICULUM FROM COMMON CORE? Gary Stern, education reporter for Lo Hud, is a “not for hire” gun regarding education. He takes a reasoned approach to reporting and makes sure he gets his evidence lined up in a true journalistic fashion..with as little bias as possible. This is his latest comprehensive report on the Common Core. Please follow the links to the interviews with people from different school districts with different needs. If you read and view carefully I am convinced you will see a pattern that goes beyond what Gary points out. His chosen school districts range from poor (and poorly run (Yonkers and East Ramapo) through middling and middle class communities like South Orangetown, Mahopac, Lakeland, Elmsford, to top performing and earning Scarsdale and Chappaqua.
Both groups, however, agree that Common Core’s rushed implementation, age inappropriateness at some levels, top down rigidness, profiteering, and testing/APPR crazes must go. So we are back to the central question. Things have changed. Like this: More Parents Choose Homeschooling Due to Common Core. As Common Core champions like Jeb Bush, Bill Gates, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce continue to attack parents, teachers, and taxpayers for what they claim are “myths” spread about the centralized standards initiative, many parents across the nation are not convinced. WHNT 19 News in Alabama reports a growing number of families making the decision to withdraw their children from school in order to homeschool because of “confusion,” “chaos,” and stress related to the Common Core standards. “It [Common Core] has caused chaos in our house, and it’s not worth it,” said Lori Peden, who has withdrawn two of her children from McBride Elementary in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.
“The teachers are not comfortable teaching it. They’re frustrated. “In math, they take a very long road to go a short distance,” said Peden. Megan King, a parent from Kansans Against Common Core, is also homeschooling two of her children because she is unhappy with the Common Core standards. DAVID BROOKS: When the circus descends / Common Core is being blasted from the right and the left | More Opinions. We are pretty familiar with this story: A perfectly sensible if slightly boring idea is walking down the street. Suddenly, the ideological circus descends, burying the sensible idea in hysterical claims and fevered accusations. The idea's political backers beat a craven retreat. The idea dies. This is what seems to be happening to the Common Core education standards, which are being attacked on the right because they are common and on the left because they are core.
About seven years ago, it was widely acknowledged that state education standards were a complete mess. The National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers set out to draft clearer, consistent and more rigorous standards. This was a state-led effort, supported by employers and financed by private foundations. These Common Core standards are at least partially in place in 45 states. But this makes no difference when the circus comes to town. The idea that the Common Core is unpopular is also false. HOW DO WE TAKE BACK OUR CURRICULUM FROM COMMON CORE? Common Core: Pushback Grows in the Tar Heel State. Photo: Sara Caldwell/The Augusta Chronicle/ZUMAPRESS.com A North Carolina legislative committee has just recommended that the state drop Common Core and replace it with a new set of learning standards that will “meet North Carolina’s needs.”
The state’s general assembly will now decide the fate of the Common Core standards in the upcoming legislative session. Lieutenant Governor Dan Forest (R) has led the opposition to the national standards in the state, encouraging lawmakers and education officials to reclaim state educational decision-making authority. In June, Forest—who also sits on the North Carolina Board of Education—released a video explaining his opposition to his state’s rush to adopt Common Core national standards and tests and lending his support to the board’s decision to review the standards. Then in July, Forest sent the state’s Department of Public Instruction a request for information on the Common Core national standards.
Group: 33,000 students have opted out of Common Core exams.