Part 4 - Arguements AGAINST Common Core: Arguments AGAINST Common Core As you can probably guess, Common Core has its critics, who typically focus one or more of the following concerns. 1. Cost Critics claim that Common Core will be very expensive to implement and maintain. The only study on the cost of implementing Common Core standards and assessment nationwide estimated a price tag of about $16 billion over seven years. But the truth of the matter is that no one really knows what the final price tag for Common Core will be. For this reason—and others—critics have already labeled this initiative ObamaCore. Critics of Common Core charge that most states acted irresponsibly when they adopted the standards because they did not first have a firm understanding of its price tag. Many states saw the Race to the Top funds as a way to pay for immediate education expenses and failed to see that they were signing on to something that would be far more expensive. 2. Quality Critics argue that rather than pushing all states toward high standards, Common Core is encouraging a coalescence in the mediocre middle—so, for example, while Mississippi’s standards appear to get stronger by adopting Common Core, the standards in Massachusetts get weaker. Several curriculum experts—including Ze’ev Wurman, Sandra Stotsky, and James Milgram—have examined the math and English language arts standards very carefully, and they have discovered some alarming concerns. In fact, because of these concerns and others, both Stotsky and Milgram—who served on the Common Core’s validation committee—refused to sign the final validation report. 3. Privacy The 2009 “Stimulus Bill” required states to begin tracking students in a database—starting in their preschool years to their entry into the workforce. This database will link students’ results on Common Core-related assessments to other private personal information. This database will be available to a wide variety of departments within the federal government. While supporters of Common Core claim that the system employs measures to protect the anonymity of students, critics have pointed to studies that demonstrate how these measure might not be as secure as supporters assume. But the larger issue remains about whether collecting such private information is consistent with the role of government expressed by the Founders. 4. Constitutionality The biggest concern of Common Core critics to date has been the federal government’s ever-increasing role in education. The 10th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution established the principle that the “power” to oversee education belongs to the states. This longstanding principle of local control of education is reiterated throughout our laws and government codes. For generations, Americans have understood that the constitutional authority for education rests with the states, not the federal government. Critics of Common Core see these standards as federal overreach and a violation of both the letter and spirit of federal education law and the U.S. Constitution. Supporters of Common Core like to portray these critics as far-right extremists who are paranoid about a government takeover. But this is not true. Diane Ravitch, a respected historian of American education, is hardly a darling of the far right—especially in recent years. On Feb. 26th of this year, Ravitch wrote the following in a piece titled “Why I Oppose Common Core Standards.” Her comments below summarize many of the central concerns that most critics have. I have long advocated for voluntary national standards, believing that it would be helpful to states and districts to have general guidelines about what students should know and be able to do as they progress through school. Such standards, I believe, should be voluntary, not imposed by the federal government… For the past two years, I have steadfastly insisted that I was neither for nor against the Common Core standards. I was agnostic. I wanted to see how they worked in practice… After much deliberation,…I have come to the conclusion that the Common Core standards effort is fundamentally flawed by the process with which they have been foisted upon the nation. Ravitch then goes on to explain her opposition to Common Core: Their creation was neither grassroots nor did it emanate from the states. In fact, it was well understood by states that they would not be eligible for Race to the Top funding ($4.35 billion) unless they adopted the Common Core standards. Federal law prohibits the U.S. Department of Education from prescribing any curriculum, but in this case the Department figured out a clever way to evade the letter of the law. Forty-six states and the District of Columbia signed on, not because the Common Core standards were better than their own, but because they wanted a share of the federal cash. The response from Common Core supporters regarding federal overreach has been surprising weak. Michelle Rhee, the former chancellor of the D.C. public schools and a well-known education reformer, is a strong supporter of Common Core. In a speech last Thursday to political and business leaders in my home state, she said, The vast majority of states have adopted the standards. I’ve heard some rumblings from folks who say we don’t like it when the federal government is telling us what to do. We don’t like that. You know what you should not like? The fact that China is kicking our butts right now. Get over feeling bad about the federal government and feel bad that our kids are not competing. I certainly hope that this country’s commitment to the Constitution does not simply hang on something as fragile as a “feeling” that we need to “get over.” Rhee’s cavalier critique of those who are concerned about federal overreach is troubling, but I—for one—appreciate her honesty. Most supporters of Common Core try to hide behind words like “state-led” and “voluntary.” But anyone willing take an honest look at what transpired between 2009 and 2011 would conclude that many of these cash-strapped states already under the burden of budget shortfalls and expensive NCLB requirements were seduced by a high pressured, time sensitive sales pitch for adopting the standards that included relief in the form of money and waivers. Yes, the states are ultimately responsible for selling their constitutional birthright for a bowl of porridge, and given more time, perhaps many more states might have rejected such a poor bargain. But perhaps, it’s not too late.
Posted on: Fri, 14 Jun 2013 01:22:15 +0000
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